Taiwan has been an interesting stop for me. I decided I wanted to venture onto this island after being in mainland China. Why? I wanted to improve my Mandarin Chinese, and to compare and contrast the cultures and the peoples. The Taiwanese culture still holds some elements of traditional Chinese culture, yet is a lot more Western in many aspects than China is. The smoking on public transportation seems to be nonexistent, unlike Taiwan's counterpart China where you cannot get away from the smoke! Also evident is that the level of English overall is higher, or should I say that there are more people in Taiwan who have a decent grasp of English...more so than in China. That is good and bad. Good because communication is easier, bad because I would rather be communicating in Chinese and learning many times. The Taiwanese people also don't make a large loogie sound and spit all over the road as I found occurs a lot in China.
I have spent most of my time here in Taipei, the capital. It is a well-connected city that is pretty cheap! Somehow I have been spending too much money though :( It is quite well-connected by the metro too! The metro runs from either 5 or 6am until midnight which is quite convenient! The only issue is for the night owls like me who frequent late night venues, and rest assure Taipei has a fair share of them...more than any other spots in Taiwan. I visited Yehliu National Park while here, which was an ornately adorned mix of varied rock formations, showing the effects of the environment on the rocks! Super cool, check out the photos on facebook! I also got the opportunity to visit Taipei's third largest city, Taichung! I had a nice time there, seeing another modern element of Taiwanese culture!
I have been working on learning how to speak Mandarin Chinese with people on the street and people I meet. I have learned how to write the names of the two cities I have visited (Taipei and Taichung) in characters...and have a napkin with my name written on it, although I have not memorized that one...it's COMPLICATED! I feel like I should have learned how to write more in my time here, but at least I am learning a little bit. If I come back, for sure I will begin learning how to write more and turn my speaking abilities up a notch!
We have experienced an earthquake and typhoons here, WHOA! Everything is okay, but let's hope there are no issue with my flight out to Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday June 20th! More to come soon!!
I have spent most of my time here in Taipei, the capital. It is a well-connected city that is pretty cheap! Somehow I have been spending too much money though :( It is quite well-connected by the metro too! The metro runs from either 5 or 6am until midnight which is quite convenient! The only issue is for the night owls like me who frequent late night venues, and rest assure Taipei has a fair share of them...more than any other spots in Taiwan. I visited Yehliu National Park while here, which was an ornately adorned mix of varied rock formations, showing the effects of the environment on the rocks! Super cool, check out the photos on facebook! I also got the opportunity to visit Taipei's third largest city, Taichung! I had a nice time there, seeing another modern element of Taiwanese culture!
I have been working on learning how to speak Mandarin Chinese with people on the street and people I meet. I have learned how to write the names of the two cities I have visited (Taipei and Taichung) in characters...and have a napkin with my name written on it, although I have not memorized that one...it's COMPLICATED! I feel like I should have learned how to write more in my time here, but at least I am learning a little bit. If I come back, for sure I will begin learning how to write more and turn my speaking abilities up a notch!
We have experienced an earthquake and typhoons here, WHOA! Everything is okay, but let's hope there are no issue with my flight out to Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday June 20th! More to come soon!!
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