Taipai, Taiwan

I finished my contract back in May of this year, but am now getting the opportunity to update my pictures. My goal was to visit New Zealand in order to find the town I wanted to live in after I finish in S. Korea. On my way down south, I learned that it was cheaper to stop over at several countries rather than take a direct flight to NZ! My buddy, Josh, happens to live in Taipai, which I've been wanting to visit for a long time. After all, this is where I originally thought I was going to live when I was first considering living overseas. So, it was great to see my traveling buddy from last year, a great friend & also see the place I thought I was going to live!

Taoist temple on the way to the beach.

Yilan Daxi's Honeymoon Bay, about an hour outside of Taipai, where I tried surfing for the first time!

After a beautiful day, & even a little rain, the beach became fairly silent.

The train ride back was fun, & we were able to meet some of the local surfers. I believe my buddy, Josh, still keeps in touch with them.

From time to time, the train would start pouring water from the air vent above; all of us got a little wet on the train ride home. However, despite the leaking roof, this guy was happy to put on a show for the whole train. Here's he's getting warmed up for his acrobatic debut.

After several times of these train talents, another guy from the train next to us had to come over & make an attempt of showing him up. He couldn't compete at the same level as you see here.

Changing of the guards at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

Josh lives right next to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. They're currently changing the name to the National Taiwan Democracy Hall.

Here's a view of the hall at night. They were doing some restorative work in the whole area while I was there.

National Concert Hall near the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.

Behind The Concert Hall.

Viewing the The National Theater & The National Concert Hall.

Entrance of the National Taiwan Democracy Hall.

Same entrance, viewing the opposite direction.

On all sides of the National Concert Hall are beautifully landscaped areas.

The whole Memorial Hall area is surrounded by this long walkway wall. It separates the busy noise from of the city & allows a relaxing region inside this park. Some of the public want this wall removed because it reminds them of the past, when walls kept the common public out of closed areas.

A friendly, hungry bird I was able to capture with my camera.

A view of Taipai 101, the world's tallest building in three of the main four categories. It towers over Taipai!

While the camera doesn't do it's height justice, it's quite an industrial marvel.

Here's a view from the top of Taipai 101! Quite a polluted day, but you can gather how much taller this building is than anything else around it.

This is the dampening weight, tuned mass damper, allows the Taipai 101 to withstand earthquakes, typhoons or any other high wind storms that may attack it's integrity .

An Iris I found in the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall area.

Teaching

This year in Jeju-do was great! This island has a different look & feel than the mainland, & this is why I've decided to stay for one more year!

This posting is dedicated to the students I have taught this year. I took these photos about three months ago, & since then I have had many different classes & students. Unfortunately, many of the students don't like to have their pictures taken. So, I only have a fraction of the classes/students I would enjoy posting.

Adorable...

This is a video still; so it's not that clear. One of these days I'll post all the videos... The girls' team is praying for a good throw at the English board. They really want to beat the boys!

"Okay class, please listen to Zach Teacher. " To show respect, this is how I'm addressed, "Zach Teacher. "

"Yeah, whatever Zach Teacher!" Perhaps I'm interpreting this incorrectly. Maybe Eddie is really stating, "I thoroughly enjoy this particular English lesson & am greatly appreciative of your teachings today. I can't wait to study phonics & our grammatically simple, conversational sentences."

This is before they knew I had a camera.

This is after they learned of the camera.

Cindy, her English name, is focusing on an English assignment.

In this kindergarten class, one of the kids is caught in the act of digging for something.

This is what happens when you lose control of the class.

This is what happens when the class is motivated.

The peace sign will live on forever.

They seem to be more interested in writing my name on my water bottle.

As opposed to one of the earlier class photos, this class enjoyed their picture being taken.

Pencil cases are very popular, & I couldn't resist taking a picture of this one.

What?

Don't you dare point that thing at me young man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why am I teaching again? Rough day...

Sure, I'm tired... Go ahead & play Heads Up Seven Up.

Paul is not usually this happy to study English.

I think I caught them doing something, but I'll never know.

An English motivational activity using dice.

I just enjoyed the expression on the right.

One of the middle school classes.

The students attend many private schools, so it's no wonder they become creative with their pencils. This is a fully functional mechanical pencil cleverly hidden in a glue case.

A snow day might disappoint one student.

Taekwondo is fairly popular here. The style & grace are brilliantly displayed on this tree which will then shower snow on the both of them.

The day is over, I can take off my indoor slippers & head home.

A view of the outdoors, taken from the hallway. It's time to go home!

Out of Town

Presented below are pictures from outside the town of Seogwipo.

An area on the mountain where many were sledding on the snow.

One day riding, I happened to meet the Jeju city mountain bike club.

Mountain biking has allowed me to see areas I wouldn't have normally seen. This is looking south on an overcast winter day.

My rides sometimes lead me to different places. If these areas could tell stories...

The island has many interesting rock formations & many are on display.

Pedestrian bridge at the Cheonjeyeon waterfall area.

Cheonjiyeon waterfall, not to be confused with the Cheonjeyeon waterfalls.

I just really enjoyed the depth of this photo.

The following 5 photos are from the largest island off the coast of Jeju Island.

This island, Udo, has a black sand beach on one side.

It also has white sand beach on the other side.

It also has some caves to explore. The shutter was open for 8 seconds in order to capture this much light.

This is the same cave looking toward the ocean, exactly opposite direction of the last photo.

Volcanic rock with a white sand beach! I wish my camera could capture the beauty of it!

Christmas Day!

A friend of mine from Busan came to visit on Christmas Day. She & I hiked up the mountain after the allowed hours. It was great because there was so little traffic!

It was such a beautiful day above the clouds!!! It was the most peaceful Christmas I've ever had!

At night we came back to enjoy close friends & a campfire type BBQ.

Jungmun Beach

Eventually, the night settles upon us all.

Viewing East from a viewpoint above.

The beach becomes quite serene in the evening hours.



Survivor!

There's a group that gathers regularly, called Survivor, that operates much like paint ball. Yet, instead of paint balls we shoot hard plastic bb's. I think I'm now a member of a team called the "Black Pumas."

I don't know... They do this in the movies right?

Tom & me horseback riding.

An amazingly clear day on the eastern most land mass on the island. Well, as you can see, there is only a small man-made strip of earth still connecting this section of land to the main island. This photo looks over the ocean at the highest peak in S. Korea, Hallasan, as the sun is setting for the night.