This was another one of those weeks that went by too quickly. Before I knew it, it was the weekend and I can barely recall the events of the week. I'm sure there were some interactions with students, particularly in the form of classes, there were tests given and papers graded, and none of that was particularly exciting. But, the work week is a necessary price to pay for an enjoyable weekend.
You remember those crazy nights in college where you stayed out all night, getting yourselves into one crazy shenanigan or another? Yea, I remember those nights too, but in Taiwan, they don't stop when college does. In Taiwan, most bars tend to close when the customers leave (or when the bartender wants to be done) rather than at a set closing time, so it is quite possible to find yourself finishing the night at 6 or 7 in the morning. Lucky for me, I occupy my time with much cooler activities, so I don't find myself leaving the bar at this time, instead I find myself leaving karaoke at this time (I love my life).
Now, don't go thinking only a few hours of sleep could take away from my Sunday activities. This afternoon a few friends and I went out to a city in Taichung county called Houli. While it may have its own train stop, it does not have much to see, except for the beautiful biking trails. From the moment you step off the train it is apparent that this is a biking city, which will strike you most prominently when you are swarmed by 10 different people offering you flyers to show that their bike rental company is the best (even though it is essentially identical all of the other companies). We rented a couple of bikes from one of these shops and covered about 25km of trail. It was an excellent use of an afternoon.
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| Biking over the river in Houli. |
Well, wish me congratulations, I finally got my Taiwanese driver's license (as they say, third times the charm). After a rough patch with both the written exam (due to translation issues) and the practical exam (due to balance issues), I met my goal and can now legally drive in Taiwan (though I'm pretty sure legality has never stopped anyone from driving in Taiwan).
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| This is my driver's license! Look how happy I am about being able to drive! |
Did you know that Taiwan has been undergoing a water shortage for the last few years due to a low amount of water during the rainy seasons? I didn't know this either until about an hour ago when I ran the washing machine (which is my Sunday tradition) and instead of a clean batch of clothes received a note saying the water would be shut off until Monday or Tuesday. This really wouldn't bother my too much, except that I had no forewarning, and my clothes were left sitting in the water of a half-filled, non-functioning washing machine. My frustration with the washing machine led me to look into the issue, where I learned that the concerns about shortages has caused rationing in the various counties of Taiwan, but the central counties (including Changhua), are usually not as affected because of our reservoirs (like Techi in Taichung) and the tendency for rain to occur year-round (whereas, in the north it is common for there to be a lot of rain during the winter and not a lot of rain during the summer, and in the south it is common for there to be a lot of rain during the summer and not a lot of rain during the winter). So, now you know one of the ways Taiwan is being affected by global warming (and, if you are like me, you have probably thought while reading this "Taiwan is an island, isn't it? There must be something they can do with all of that water located all around them.").
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