To add to my previous statement that the Taiwanese like to shop and get foot massages, well they also like electronics! Mom and I made our way to the mecca of electronics wholesale today in a gigantic 5 story building with everything from cell phones to cameras, to security cameras, to ipad2’s to labtops and desktops and home servers and you name it, they had it. We decided to take a cab there with the address written in Traditional Chinese so that the taxi driver knew where to take us.
When we arrived, we asked at the information desk where we could find a memory card reader and a bag for mom’s camera and the woman told us nicely in English to few booths we should go to. We immediately found the memory card area and bought a reader, yay! So now I can take my photos off my cf cards. We then had to go up to the 5th floor to find a camera case for mom, which we eventually did find the store and after a little debate, we found a nice neoprene one for her.
We did look at all of the other floors in the building quickly and then we decided we should head back home because mom wanted to work on her lecture a bit more as she was getting nervous that it’s coming up next week already. So we exited the building and then crossed the street and it took us a few minutes to hail a cab in the correct direction and then we headed home. About 5 minutes after we arrived at home, dad came home as well from his teaching in the morning and he had brought some lunch home- tofu, mushrooms and dumplings. Then we all got to work on mom’s presentation and spent the next 2 hours in dad’s living room going through each slide carefully.
Tonight was the evening that dad was filming an educational teaching video for the hospital where he had spent the first two weeks here. We decided to come along to see the hospital and for moral support. We were picked up in a car from the dorm and it took about 35 minutes to get there, but it was a wonderful drive as today was the first day it didn’t rain, but it was still completely overcast and we were able to see the outskirts of the city and the mountains surrounding it. This is a very nice city with so much history and interesting architecture. We arrived at the huge, beautiful, almost brand new (opening in 2008) hospital. You almost didn’t even feel you were in the hospital.
We went up to the teaching floor where dad had his office and he showed us around and then he went off to do his teaching and mom and I were taken on a tour of the hospital and watched a video about the department and the fact the building is the first green certified hospital in the world, (we think). If not the world, certainly in Taiwan.
We were then taken up to our host’s office on the top floor where we were given two wonderful gifts- a bag of teas and a wedding present of a porcelain plate with two birds by a famous artist that I don’t know his name yet.
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| The view from the corner office. |
They also gave us a good shrimp dumpling noodle soup that we started to eat and then dad and the woman who had helped dad this whole time get around the city and the hospital joined us for dinner. It was such a nice experience!
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| Mom trying not to look at the vegetarian option! |
It was getting late and we wanted to get home because we have to pack as mom and I are adding a little extra trip to our trip and taking the bullet train early tomorrow morning to the central region of Taiwan to a place called Sun Moon Lake where we are staying for a night at a place on the water and where we can explore some aboriginal tribes. So depending on if we have internet or not, it may be a couple of days before I am able to post again. I think that we are closer to adjusting to the time now, which is definitely a good thing. Oh and my feet are killing me.
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