Taiwanese Soap Operas

Hello Everybody.

I am currently riding on a train from Ilan to Hualien. It is supposed to be a two-hour train ride. The trains seem to run on time here so we should arrive at Hualien at around 4:30pm. One of Yi-Chen’s dad’s friends is going to pick us up and take us to our hotel. Hopefully they will have the Internet because then I will be able to send this to you.

This morning we woke up and Yi-Chen was driving me crazy because she was too hooked on Taiwanese soap operas to find out what the plan was for the day. It’s funny when you are totally helpless in a foreign country. I REALLY wanted to know the plan and I had no way of figuring it out except to wait for Yi-Chen. Eventually when I said I was leaving to go get on the Internet, Yi-Chen gave in and came with me.

Our first stop with the tour group was at the Taiwanese liquor factory. There are some funny things about this place. The most popular brand of beer in Taiwan seems to be “Taiwan Beer”… it is made by the government. The government is also the leading producer of cigarettes in Taiwan. Imagine the lawsuits that would result from that in the States!

Next we went to a visitor’s center where the curriculum was based on shrimp, crabs and fish. I can’t think of the name of it now but it is on some of my photos. Our first activity at the center was fishing. We learned to fish with net traps. I caught FOUR fish! It was totally old school and fun. It made me feel like I was on Lost or was a Survivor all-star or something. Yi-Chen didn’t get in the water but I had fun chasing the fish over to her and she managed to catch a few that way.

There was a wedding going on at the center in the area where we were eating. That was an interesting thing to watch. This will be best described in pictures. You and I beat the pants of this shindig mom. I think that we should become wedding planners in Taiwan. Yi-Chen claims this is a lucrative business and if this event was an example of the competition, then we are golden.

This evening we just messed around in Hualien. We had some friends of Yi-Chen’s dad pick us up at the train station and then show us around town. We went to a cool lookout over the Pacific Ocean. Yi-Chen told me that I swim home because mom was probably missing me. I did a quick calculation and decided that swimming six thousand miles was probably not the best option for me ;~>

We went to dinner in a fun little place for the locals. We had some really good stir fry noodles and pork and some egg flower soup. The whole meal for both Yi-Chen and I cost a whopping six dollars. It was probably my favorite meal of the trip. This is funny because two nights ago Yi-Chen’s dad bought us fish that cost $180US dollars per kilo. That fish couldn’t hold a candle to tonight’s six-dollar dinner.

There is no Internet connection in the house we are staying in tonight, so you won’t get this until tomorrow. I will send it when I get the chance.

I hope everyone is well.

Katy :~>