My adventures in Taiwan continue to accumulate and yet I relate none of them to my loyal audience. Where are my manners?
Some weeks ago, near the middle of September, a fellow Shane teacher and friend from training, Rory (name changed as always, guys!) and I hopped a train and went to Fulong Beach, which is about an hour's journey from Taipei Main Station in Taipei City. We'd been planning the excursion for a week and were worried we'd be rained out, but fortunately the day was bright and clear and promised to be fairly warm.
Rory lives in Neili (some forty minutes southwest of Xinjhaung) so he got on the designated train first, and I joined him when the train got to Taipei Main Station. I was filled with no small amount of fear that I would get on the wrong train and end up in God-knew-where in Taiwan. Fortunately, this did not happen, as despite being labeled in Chinese the Taiwan train system is rather foolproof, and Rory and I met up in car 3. We stood for most of the trip, since everyone is assigned a seat but it became quickly obvious that not everyone stays there, until a pair of seats were abandoned by some alighting passengers and we confiscated them quickly.
Rory had, thankfully, been to Fulong Beach before, so we departed the train at the right stop with no mishaps. Fulong is a very small village. The road leading away from the train station is the main one, and the rest are small roads that meander through a variety of short buildings housing businesses and homes. The beach we were going to was actually part of the property owned by a hotel, although they allowed other people on the beach for a fee of NT$100, which isn't a whole lot.
What shocked us was that, when we got the beach, the guard at the gate informed us it was closed. With Rory and I lacking Chinese ability and the guard having no English, we were obviously not able to communicate with each other beyond that. So Rory and I decided to investigate the visitor's center and see if there were other beaches along the coast we could visit--after all, we'd come all the way there! What we found out from someone at the center was that the beach was closed because of the recent typhoon.
So the sun was shining and the weather was pleasant, but the beach was closed for the typhoon. Baffling, really. This story has a happy ending, though, because we walked about one hundred feet down the street to the entrance of another part of the beach, which was separated from the hotel's beach by two thin inlets of water running from land to sea. After we set up a spot for ourselves, I crossed those shallow inlets and used the hotel's own washrooms to change into my bathing suit. (Sometimes it's good being foreign, nobody questions you when you're walking around on hotel property.)
It was a really nice day out. There wasn't much to do in Fulong besides be on the beach, so Rory and I stayed there for most of the day, occasionally going in the water (which was apparently not allowed but no one stopped us, this place was really informal) and talking about our respective Shane schools and home countries. Rory is from New Zealand, so I had a fantastic time learning about "togs" (swim suits) and "jandals" (flip flops) and that New Zealand's animal population consists almost entirely of birds.
BIRDS, you guys. I love birds. A whole country of birds, though?! I am going to New Zealand someday for this.
When it got a little darker we left the beach and grabbed dinner at a restaurant modeled after Africa. The food was pretty good, and behind me I could still hear the waves hitting the shore. Taiwanese and foreign kids were playing on a little playground nearby, and sometimes I marvel at how similar human life is no matter where you go. Kids are always the same.
The trip back was pretty uneventful; the whole day was uneventful, which was very nice on a weekend. I'm teaching 22.5 hours a week, which doesn't sound like much, but it can be draining. I like teaching, but social interaction can be exhausting for me, and when I have to be the source of all entertainment all the time while making sure everyone is involved and learning something, I often finish the day looking forward to solitude and silence. So it was nice to have such a laid-back day at the beach, with no pressure to do anything except absolutely nothing.
I definitely want to go again next year, during the hot part of the year and when the main beach is open. :)
Some weeks ago, near the middle of September, a fellow Shane teacher and friend from training, Rory (name changed as always, guys!) and I hopped a train and went to Fulong Beach, which is about an hour's journey from Taipei Main Station in Taipei City. We'd been planning the excursion for a week and were worried we'd be rained out, but fortunately the day was bright and clear and promised to be fairly warm.
Rory lives in Neili (some forty minutes southwest of Xinjhaung) so he got on the designated train first, and I joined him when the train got to Taipei Main Station. I was filled with no small amount of fear that I would get on the wrong train and end up in God-knew-where in Taiwan. Fortunately, this did not happen, as despite being labeled in Chinese the Taiwan train system is rather foolproof, and Rory and I met up in car 3. We stood for most of the trip, since everyone is assigned a seat but it became quickly obvious that not everyone stays there, until a pair of seats were abandoned by some alighting passengers and we confiscated them quickly.
What shocked us was that, when we got the beach, the guard at the gate informed us it was closed. With Rory and I lacking Chinese ability and the guard having no English, we were obviously not able to communicate with each other beyond that. So Rory and I decided to investigate the visitor's center and see if there were other beaches along the coast we could visit--after all, we'd come all the way there! What we found out from someone at the center was that the beach was closed because of the recent typhoon.
So the sun was shining and the weather was pleasant, but the beach was closed for the typhoon. Baffling, really. This story has a happy ending, though, because we walked about one hundred feet down the street to the entrance of another part of the beach, which was separated from the hotel's beach by two thin inlets of water running from land to sea. After we set up a spot for ourselves, I crossed those shallow inlets and used the hotel's own washrooms to change into my bathing suit. (Sometimes it's good being foreign, nobody questions you when you're walking around on hotel property.)
It was a really nice day out. There wasn't much to do in Fulong besides be on the beach, so Rory and I stayed there for most of the day, occasionally going in the water (which was apparently not allowed but no one stopped us, this place was really informal) and talking about our respective Shane schools and home countries. Rory is from New Zealand, so I had a fantastic time learning about "togs" (swim suits) and "jandals" (flip flops) and that New Zealand's animal population consists almost entirely of birds.
BIRDS, you guys. I love birds. A whole country of birds, though?! I am going to New Zealand someday for this.
When it got a little darker we left the beach and grabbed dinner at a restaurant modeled after Africa. The food was pretty good, and behind me I could still hear the waves hitting the shore. Taiwanese and foreign kids were playing on a little playground nearby, and sometimes I marvel at how similar human life is no matter where you go. Kids are always the same.
The trip back was pretty uneventful; the whole day was uneventful, which was very nice on a weekend. I'm teaching 22.5 hours a week, which doesn't sound like much, but it can be draining. I like teaching, but social interaction can be exhausting for me, and when I have to be the source of all entertainment all the time while making sure everyone is involved and learning something, I often finish the day looking forward to solitude and silence. So it was nice to have such a laid-back day at the beach, with no pressure to do anything except absolutely nothing.
I definitely want to go again next year, during the hot part of the year and when the main beach is open. :)
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