A New Take on Cultural Villages

It is rare for me to say that a week passed slowly, but this one certainly did.  If I had to guess why, I would say it comes down to patterns.  I live a fairly predictable life, my class schedule is essentially the same each week (with my weekends providing new experiences as often as possible), even my meals don't vary much.  This week, I wasn't allowed to immerse myself into my pattern because I was covering classes for several other teachers on 4 out of 5 of the days, which required additional planning time and commute time.  Fortunately, a longer week makes for a more rewarding weekend I feel.

There exists, in the mountains of Nantou county, near Sun Moon Lake, an attraction called the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village.  When you hear this name, what do you picture? Houses that depict ancient taiwan? Food that represents the culture? Roller coasters and log flumes? Don't laugh, while the latter probably didn't come to mind, it is certainly present in the village.

Gathered together at the front gate of the Formosan Cultural Aboriginal Village.

On Saturday the franchise organized an outing for teachers and TA's from all five of the schools to visit an amusement part for the day.  We met at the school at 8 in the morning and carpooled to Nantou (which took just over an hour).  From the parking lot you find yourself in a European-style garden, the opposite of what you expect to find in the middle of Taiwan.  It boasts the title of 'largest European Garden in Taiwan' but this part of the park is barely notable.  I have to assume it is more appealing when the weather is warmer so a larger selection of flowers can be in bloom, but the recreations of European-style statues, bell towers, and fountains didn't impress me much.  

A view across the European Garden

Thankfully the park area inside the main gate, containing both the cultural village and amusement isle, was significantly more exciting.  As a child I was terrified of most amusement park rides, especially roller coasters.  My little brother would jump in line and try everything, while I sat around feeling too scared of being upside-down or experiencing sudden drops.  I am so glad I got over that fear, because now I really like amusement parks, and I like to think there is no ride I can't endure (though I still tend to avoid water rides, not out of fear of water, but out of the distaste for being soaked all day).  The amusement park itself was not very big, and the small crowds gathered this weekend, meant that we could ride anything we wanted, as many times as we wanted, without waiting.  The best rides for me were the UFO Adventure, which is an 280ft drop tower, and Mayan Adventure which is a suspended roller coaster that with g-force of 4.5g.  There were also a variety of children's rides (which we weren't ashamed to ride) in the indoor zone called Aladdin Square.

The first 'ride' you see when entering Amusement Isle: A 'One Piece' 3-D Theater

The third section of the park, providing the name for the entire attraction was the cultural village.  Here, nine of the fourteen recognized aboriginal tribes of Taiwan are represented through recreations of their ancient homes, demonstrations of their handicrafts, and descriptions of their lifestyles.  The employees are all aboriginals from the tribes represented who dress in traditional clothing and provide live demonstrations of various skills including dancing, weaving, carving, and games throughout the day.  

Target-shooting with blowguns in the cultural village.

The rest of our weekend was spent in Taichung.  Saturday evening was spent celebrating the 1-year anniversary of a couple of our co-teachers.  The 'Taiwanniversary', as we have taken to calling it, may not seem to be very important from an outside perspective, but it is a major achievement for a first year teacher.  We see expats come-and-go, some so quickly they never make it past training week, others get fired, still others are too free-spirited to stay through a whole contract, but to make it through a year shows dedication.  Then this afternoon we were at it again, first with some dancing at the Filipino disco, then a much over-due Greek dinner, a perfect ending to the week.