Rolling on the River

This weekend I went river rafting on the Hantan River in Cherwon, Gangwondo. Fortunately, due to all the rain, the river was higher and faster than it's been in years. So, what is usually a yawn of a paddling trip turned into an actual rapids experience. We nearly flipped a few times and at one point were run into the raft in front of us so hard that the guide fell into our raft and the raft we hit flew into the air, sprinkling paddles, people and sandals everywhere. I have to say, it was more fun than I expected it to be. The water was cold though, I can't imagine rafting in a river flowing high with snow melt... brrrr! I was enough of a wimp when it came to just the rain water.

As I said before, the river was faster than usual. So fast, in fact, that we had to cancel the scheduled bungee jumping that was to take place afterwards (no, I wasn't planning on jumping). Instead, we went to the remains of a historic government building where North Koreans used to torture South Koreans *shutter*... It wasn't quite the light activity that I had expected for the day.

They did double back around on the bus so that we could take a picture of the place we WOULD have gone bungee jumping... which I felt was unnecessarily cruel for those that actually wanted to do it. So I took a picture of it, as can be seen here:

I do not have any photos currently of the river rafting. There was one water-proof camera on our raft so I hope to be shaking down those photos soon. When I have them, I will post them.

So, Caving...

Will have to happen another weekend. I woke up late and then took the wrong bus to the wrong bus station. Now I'm home again 4 hours later and have decided that today would be a good day to go read in the park and fall asleep.... yeah, I'm going to be lazy - how's that for an adventure?

Also...

For no other reason than this is just really funny (sorry kids, close your eyes):

Cookies or bust dagnabbit!

The reason it took me so long to get that last post up is because I was sick most of last weekend and this week has been an endurance test with the amount of work I've had to do without losing my cool at shifting working conditions. Sometimes I feel like I've been tasked with washing my laundry without the use of water for no reason other than it makes for great entertainment.

This weekend I hope to go caving. Looks like I'm going alone to, as most of the people I know really aren't into doing stuff that's not drinking yourself into a coma. Anyone up for an adventure?

Taiwan Final!

I wanted to include in a separate post some additional places I visited in Taipei. I also wanted to say again that I was really impressed by the beauty of the city. Places like Democracy Memorial Park (Above) were amazing surprises. The monument in the center of the park is actually so massive that there is an entire museum underneath it. The park also had its own performance theater and concert hall. At night, the park is filled with the sounds of musicians warming up their instruments as well as various clubs practicing hip-hop dancing, yoga and kung-fu among other activities. It was a bit of fresh air from Korea where everything feels like it's on top of you at all times. In Taipei I could feel alone, but I still felt like there were people around. I really loved the city! If I decide to change countries, I may just go to Taiwan.

FYI

Today I submitted my completed graduate school application!

More interesting posts to follow...

Taipei Part 3

I went to the Palace Museum on Friday where I was shocked by both the scale and beauty of the building. Also, by the fact that it's roughly freezing in the building at all times in the middle of the summer heat. (ok, not really, but it IS 21 degrees C in there, which for me is cold) I took some time to explore the gardens around the museum and feed the fish, which is something awesome that you can do at about every pond in Taipei. Don't freak out there environmental people, we have to buy the fish food, and there's a limited amount for the day - I'm not feeding them nickels. Just the scale of this building is something to behold. One person told me that the museum (which is 3 full buildings) contains roughly 600,000 artifacts from Chinese-Taiwanese history. This includes pots, weapons, clothing and, most of all, calligraphy. The scrolls and tapestries go on and on and on in this place. From official state documents to poetry and art, every style is examined. It made me wish I knew more about it.

While I was getting back on the subway (which is way better than ours.... get on it, America!) I was kidnapped by a group of traveling international students. In particular, a very sweet indivudual by the name of Kim picked me up and had me follow the group to a big computer expo and then on to  Taipei 101 tower. Along with Heidi, Vivia, Tim, Fatih and others - these guys really made my day.... and here they are!

That would be Taipei 101 tower behind us. Some call it the tallest building in the world. True, the one in Dubai is taller, but it's not finished yet. Either way, at 509 meters tall... it's nothing to sneeze at. We went to the 91st floor where you can go out onto one of the lower roofs. Unlike the Empire State Building though (which is the only other tall building I've been on the roof of), it's actually nice to be out there because of the wind barrier.

Stay tuned for the action-void conclusion!

Temple Video (extension of part 2 )

This is one of the temple buildings. I thought I'd take a video to try to capture some of the feel of the place. Lots of chanting, drumming and incense*. Marvelous!

Sure this could have been included in the previous post, but - hey, you want it or not?

* - It took me around 2 minutes to figure out how to spell this word... what's wrong with me?

Taiwan Part 2

So, I've been sick, but I'll get to that later.

My second day in Taipei I rode the Maokong gondola to the Zhinan Temple. By the way, for those who are uncertain about heights, the Maokong gondola is a pant-wetting experience - let me show you what I mean:

Of course, the view was spectacular... wet pants aside.

 There I got to spend a really relaxing day reading, walking around and talking to people who were not used to seeing white people around. One person said "I never see white people here!" It was great.

I had a lot of tea that day... which lead me to the bathrooms... By the way, can someone, ANYONE, explain how anyone could be comfortable in the following room, because I have trouble peeing when someone walks by:

Having said that, I'll try to refrain from mentioning urine again for some time. (no promises)

Regarding Taiwan Part 1

So, I went to Taiwan this last week and let me make something clear for those who have already asked me. No, Taiwan is NOT Thailand. It is a separate country off the continent and no, I didn't ride an elephant while I was there because that's not where they live. Taiwan is off the coast of China and 90% of the people speak Mandarin. Now that the geography lesson is out of the way...

Taiwan was so much more than I expected it would be! I had a great time! It is a beautiful country and Taipei is unlike any Asian city I've seen so far. In fact, it feels almost like a European or American city with its many coffee shops, parks and museums along with what can only be described as a very cosmopolitan culture. It is not surprising that many of the Taiwanese refer to their country as "Asia's America". 

I stayed in a Hostel, pictured below. I stayed in a room with 3 other people and there were about 5 rooms in the hostel. In the mornings and early evenings the common room was full of chatter and I seldom had a conversation in a single language. Most of the people staying at the hostel were Korean, but there were also people from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Holland, Denmark, China and Mexico floating around.

The one view is from inside my room and the other is the roof where we had outdoor showers. The accommodations were rustic and not for everyone, but I loved it.

My first day there I spent a great deal of time walking the length of the city. My first stop was Longshan Temple in the Center of Taipei. This is where Sunday's picture came from. The entire inside of the temple is full of people meditating, bowing and burning incense. The site was pretty spectacular. I felt a little bad taking photos, so i didn't take too many.

After visiting the Temple I walked down through the city and just sort of took it all in. More later!

Back from Taipei!

... and I'm sick. So I'm not going to do any writing right now. So, here's a picture!