The Highlight Reel

As Natalie hinted at in our last team post, our GSE itinerary has kept us quite busy, making it difficult to find time to write a little bit about our experiences in Taiwan. I (Hailey) have a bit of free time and want to offer to our readers "The Highlight Reel" of the past two weeks - leaving space for more commentary later!

Ready? Here we go!

DAY 7 - TUESDAY, MARCH 24

The highlight of another day in Nantou County had to had to be our afternoon in Xitou Forest.

Xitou Nature Education Area, also known as Xitou Forest Recreation Area, is one of Taiwan’s most noted attractions in Nantou County along with Sun Moon Lake and Cingjing Farm. Located in Nantou Lugu Town, Xitou Nature Education Area (Xitou Forest Recreation Area) has an altitude of 1,150 meters with an area of 2,500 hectares, comprised of an experimental forest of the National Taiwan University (NTU), and diverse varieties of plants include red Chinese cypresses, ginkgo trees and cypress. It is also an excellent place for bird-watching as more than 7,000 bird species have been spotted in the area. With the average temperature about 16.6 degrees Celsius, it is a popular summer resort in Taiwan. 

 Source. 

The day ended with a formal Rotary meeting with the RC of Nan Kang, where we gave our presentation and exchanged banners.

DAY 8 - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25

At the Taiwan Historical Cultural Museum, we learned more about the folk history of Taiwan and observed every day artifacts from the last 300 years of Taiwan’s history.

Later that afternoon, Barry and Kyle picked up some custom-designed kicks from Dr. Air himself, the man behind the air cushions in your Nikes.

DAY 9 - THURSDAY, MARCH 26

At 1:47am on September 21, 1999, a massive earthquake struck the central region of Taiwan. More than two thousand people lost their lives that night, as many buildings collapsed completely. The following aftershocks continued to ripple through the country for days following the initial blow. It was a horrific disaster that affected much of the country, and especially Nantou County and Taichung County.

We were given a tour of the 9.21 Earthquake Memorial Museum, which was a former high school that the government persevered in its ruined state to showcase the awful damage and to use as an educational center. At one point during our visit, we sat in a mock classroom while a simulator rocked the room so we could feel what it would have been like to experience this catastrophic geological event.

In addition to that memorable tour, our lunch hour was special because we attended our first lunch Rotary meeting since arriving in Taiwan. Also, the Club meets in English, so we could understand all of the meeting! This began the start of our time in different sectors of the enormous and diverse Taichung City.

DAY 10 - FRIDAY, MARCH 27

Unfortunately, due to rain in the forecast, our plans to go hiking in the mountains were canceled. Instead, we visited the family factories of a couple of Rotarians, and we learned a little bit about their businesses.

That evening was the kick off to the District Conference, and we attended a formal banquet honoring the RI Representative Gregg E. Podd and his wife Pam, who were visiting from the USA.

DAY 11 - SATURDAY, MARCH 28

The 37th Annual Conference of Rotary International District 3460 may be the most elaborate and entertaining District Conference on the entire planet! More than 4,000 Rotarians attended the conference and scores of artists and guests performed between ceremonies. Barry is going to share more about the experience in a post-to-come. However, I will go ahead and share with you that we ended up on stage - and on the local news!

DAY 12 - SUNDAY, MARCH 29

Team Leader Barry got up on the big stage to give a presentation on District 6980. He did a great job representing the Rotary Clubs of Central Florida!

After spending over 9 hours in the conference on Saturday, we were grateful to be excused from the auditorium shortly after Barry presented. We then spent the rest of the day with several members of the Taiwan GSE Team - touring local markets of Taichung, eating street food, and even doing some shopping! They are a great bunch, and we can't wait to show them Central Florida!

Barry, Fabio, and Magic

Sharon, Yvonne, Hailey and Natalie

DAY 13 - MONDAY, MARCH 30

One cool thing we did on Monday was visit Easen Hardware Corporation. You can read more about their business on their website.

Another very special part of this day was spent in the home of Lee Ku-Mo, a famous Taiwanese calligraphy and artist. He welcomed our party with Chinese tea and hand-signed books of his artwork.

Finally, I got pretty excited to eat shark fin soup at dinner that night. Would you give it a try?

DAY 14 - TUESDAY, MARCH 31

We enjoyed the day with a club full of Rotarians all in their 30s and visiting some of famous landmarks of "New Taichung City" - like the City Government Building and the National Opera House.

And that's a wrap for March! Stayed tuned for more insights and updates.