Miss Procunier in Taiwan: First Week in Taiwan

This past week has been a busy one. I've been at TAS for the past week everyday from about 7am to 3pm or later. It is such an interesting school. The music program is great and very large. Elementary general music has been a blast, but a lot more tiring than what I was expecting. The students are excited for music everyday which helps make teaching them very enjoyable.

On Wednesday night I went to a hot spring north of Taipei in a suburb called Beitou. I traveled by the MRT (mass rapid transit) with Asmara and Alex. We met up with Asmara's husband and one of his co-workers at the MRT station at Beitou. The co-worker is a local of Taipei and was able to show us the proper way to soak in the pools. The four of us had a very relaxing time. I had a great conversation with an Australian about the differences between America and Australia. The area we were in is very historical. Japanese kamikaze pilots would spend time relaxing here before going on their last flight. The hot springs we went to were some of the cheapest in the area at 40 NT (about $1.25).

On Friday night I went into downtown Taipei and watched a performance of Chinese drumming and drama. Having Western ears, it was very different to listen to this music. The drumming and acrobatics were very impressive. This type of entertainment has more audience involvement than performances in Europe and America. It was a great experience.

On Saturday I went with a group to Dansheui. It is a port city north of Taipei. We walked in a day market looking for food. We saw many body parts of animals that I would never think about eating. The people over here sell all parts of the animals. Even when selling fish or chickens or other birds they will leave on the heads of these animals. For me this was very alarming at first, but now I'm starting to get used to it. We found one of the oldest temples in Taiwan called Langshan Temple in the middle of the market. We wandered out of the market and went to the water. There we could see the river and the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day and we could see all the way back into downtown Taipei. We took a small ferry ride to the fishermen's wharf. It was very fun to be on the water. After the ferry ride we went back into Taipei. We had dinner at some TAS's teachers' home and listened to a man named Doug talk about the history of Taiwan. It was a very full and fun day.