國際志工第六週來台心得

Class 203 presented and introduced Taiwan to me this Monday; they talked about the aborigines, food, tourist spots, festivals, and a few others. They also bought me breakfast, which was minced turkey rice and duck noodles with thick soup. It was a good presentation even though their English was basic. I got to know Taiwan better through them and I really appreciate the time and effort they had put into this presentation. Tuesday this week was New Year’s Eve. After school, I went to one of the cinemas in Chiayi City to watch American Hustle with the other teachers. Then, we walked to an open place opposite the building where the government of Chiayi is situated. We watched a bit of the concert but did not stay there for the countdown to year 2014 as the place was too crowded. Instead, we walked back to the train station in Chiayi and waited one hour for the train to go back to Dalin. On the first day of New Year, I followed three other teachers to Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village – a theme park. We got there at 10 o'clock and started walking around the whole area, playing all the rides - except the ones meant for kids - and sometimes stopping to take photos. Out of all the rides we or I went on, the relatively exciting ones were the UFO Gyro Drop, Mayan Adventure and Caribbean Splash. We also watched one of the performances by the aborigines showcasing their traditional dances. Apart from that, we sat the cable car for a round trip to Sun Moon Lake since the cost had already been included in our entrance fee. The sun’s reflection on the lake made the water shine and sparkle brightly; it was beautiful. In the afternoon, after lunchtime on Thursday, one of the teachers in the school took me out to Meiling Scenic Area in Yujing, Tainan – just below Chiayi County – to see the national flower of Taiwan i.e. plum blossom or mei hua. It took us one and a half hour to get there – longer than the expected time of one hour. We walked around the place looking at the plum blossom flowers for about one hour before going up to a very curious spot called the Mysterious Aura Square. It is a round spot where if you stand in the middle, you can hear the echo of any sound you make - voices, claps, stomps etc. Also, only you can hear the echo, other people standing anywhere else will not be able to hear it. It is really intriguing and got me interested in knowing how this mysterious event occurs. Saturday started off with a wedding lunch in a restaurant a stone’s throw away from the school. One of the teachers in the school had got married and this lunch is done on a smaller scale in Dalin for the teachers who could not make it to the wedding ceremony a week ago; I was invited to attend as well. We had something like a 10 course meal and it was a hearty and delightful one. Then, I went to Guanziling in Tainan with two other teachers. When we first reached, we had a look at the Fire and Water Spring where, as the name suggests, there is fire and water at the same time. This is because the natural gas far below the ground is able to rise through the holes in the rocks rendering the fire seeming to burn eternally. After that, the teachers brought me to one of the hot springs to let me experience soaking in hot springs. I didn't really like it at first as I would prefer cold over hot anytime. After soaking for a while though, I got pretty used to the heat and started enjoying it. After one hour, time was up and so we left Guanziling to have dinner in the Carrefour night market back in Chiayi city. The next day, we went to Taichung to visit the Gaomei Wetland in the morning. However, as we were planning to go down into the water, we had to wait until the tide is low. We first went to a baseball field in Taiping to watch a local baseball game. It was pretty interesting to watch and to get to know the rules better as it was my first time watching a baseball game through my own eyes. Then, we went to Wuqi which was near the Gaomei Wetland to have seafood lunch. Afterwards, we went to a temple also not far away to have a look and kill some time while waiting for the tide to fall. When it was time, we got to the wetland and noticed that the wind by then was much stronger as compared to earlier in the morning. Nevertheless, we braced ourselves to walk down the walkway, took of our slippers and waded into the water. The water was freezing cold but it was fun altogether; we also managed to get a good view of sunset behind the fast spinning wind turbines. We left at around 6 o’clock and had dinner at the Qingshui Service Area which is one of the most visited rest areas in Taiwan. Since we were already there, we took a little walk around after we have had our dinner. The most attractive part of this service area, in my opinion, would have to be the toilet. It is the biggest toilet I have ever seen in my life which makes me wonder why does it even has to be that big. Then again, that could be the reason that made this place famous.