Haňule z Kyjova

I totally forgott to write down something yesterday! Maybe it’s because I had a skypecall and chatted with many people… So to sum up the weekend. On saturday I could sleep till 10am, the family went to their tomb to pay their respaect, because it was the Tom sweaping festival on saturday. After lunch there came two Jamies cousins and took me o a cinema. We watched Captain America II, and it was good:) I also met another of their friens and we went for dinner. That was again somtehing special for me – a pot og soup that was cooked at the table. In it was a duck and then we could add some stomach, intestines, cabbage and so on. Actually it was really delicious :))

On Sunday I woke up wih a start and went for a trip with two of the English teachers – Sarah and Bunnie. We went to a hometown of Bunnie, she is aboriginal, so that place is little special (in Fuxing). It is in the mountains and it’s tradition is in collecting young bamboo shoots.

By the way we stopped at a Chiang Kai-Shek mausoleum. There was a lot of chinese tourists again. The mauseloeum isn’t very big, and there is the coffin inside and the building is guarded by two not-moving guards (they should be more then 178cm heigh). You shouldn’t take pictures of the coffin but I did and I hope nobody saw me

Then tehre is a “park” which is full of Chiang Kai-Shek’s statues. It looks a little like in horror movie, only his statues all around you! These were brought here by people who didn’t want his statues at their schools or other public places.

me and the aboriginal teacher Bunnie eating mango ice cream

Then we went to see a waterfall in the mountains. It was really like form aa chinese painting – the treas, the waterfall, a small altan under it, and the high mountains above. They built a small view point above the waterfall – a “skywalk”. It was directly above the waterfall and the floor was made of glass so you could see down! Really something for a preson with little acrophobia!!

For lunch we went to Bunnie’s uncle. He has a resaturant which belongs to the 100 best resaturants in Tawian! The food here was really delicious, and also traditional for the aboriginals – some wild pig’s meat, bamboo shoots, some leaves from forest…

Back to Taoyuan we went literally stuffed with food. So Sarah suggested to go do some sports in an entertaiment centre. We tried softball (which is more difficult than I thought:)), billiard, small bowling and darts It was fun!

After that, still not hungry we went for a “smaller” dinner. After 3 weeks I had to use knife and fork and it was sooo weird!

Today, on Monday, I had 3 classes and lunch with students. Before lunch I went to swimming pool for the first time. The boy there (also lifeguard) doesn’t speak English at all, so I had to use legs and hands to ask were should I change into swimming suit:)) Then, because you have to wear a swimming cap, I wanted to byu one from him and I used the first real sentece in my life – to ask how much for it I’ll defintely remember this to the end of my life

Some students asked me out and we decided to visit the night market on Friday, so I’m really looking forward to that!

Today’s my birthday, I’m turning 25 – a quarter of a century! And I have to say that I gave myself one of the best gifts – my trip to Taiwan! Eva and I decided to go for a trip, because the 4th of April is also their Children’s day and they have a holiday. She took also her friend Yuan-Yuan and Jimmy, the class leader. SO there was 4 of us standing on the platform in the morning and waiting for the train to Taipei. The train took about 50 minutes, I took some sweets form CZE so we tasted it during the journey. When we arrived to Taipei we took the MRT (which goes sometimes underground and above ground too) and went to the ZOO.

People waiting for MRT are very organised – see the lines on the ground – that’s the waiting line

There was really a lot of people. First we wanted to take the Gondola up to the mountains above Taipei. The queue was long but in the end it took us maybe 20 minutes to get to the cabin. And it was worth it! The view was perfect and the experience too.

One of the cabins – Hello Kitty is a must

Taipei 101 from distnace (and little inclining )

We ate our lunch in the ending of the gondola. We had some stinky tofu and sausages and also something that was probably a cuttle fish – it had a lot of tentacles and was white, like this:

…..and was delicious! :)))

Than we went to the ZOO. It was really crowded here, many people, and very noisy… We’seen some animals but many were sleeping after lunch:) we’ve sepnd there 3 hours walking around!

If you look closely that white thing is a little panda, but we were very far from it and it was sleeping. We could see also big pandas, but they were too far and quickly moving to take pictures so we at least took this one:

After all that walking we felt really tired, so we took a short nap on the closest bench:

AND then full of strenght we went to the night market to eat again! at the night market there came 3 more boys from the school, so it was more of us tasting and buying everything. This one was slightly bigger than the one in Zhongli, and after 7 o’clock it was so crowded that we could not pass nearly. It is good that we went there earlier or we would not eat at all. I tried many differentthings, like a crab, than some cheese pastry filled with beef, noodles with sesame oil, sour chicken, roasted chicken hearts and “ass”, and many other I don’t remember and I didn’t take pictures because my camrea batteries went off At least the crabs here:

the night market…

And I also bought myself a new t-shirt – I love Taiwan

When we were full we went back to the train station and home! It was a great day, full of beautiful memories. It was fun and I aslo practised a little the pronunciation by reading the animal signs. And I learned a brand new sentence, how to say – I don’t underestand when you speak chinese

Today was the last day of this week at school because tomorrow is a holiday – the children’s day! I came to school earlier cause two girls from 301 – Tina and Jacey, wanted to talk to me. And why?? They gave me some small gifts and a beautiful cake! I like it sooooo much! Thanks girls!

Than I had my chinese dancing, so I came earlier to ask the teacher to teach me the choreography a little more slowly that I can follow it better. She was very kind and we went through it for 15 minutes. Kung-fu class was today cancelled cause the teacher was out of school.

I had also a lunch with students from 301. They were very nice and tried to teach me the chinese chess. It’s a game with 16 black and 16 red stones, but these stones have different function (as in our chess) but there are signs in chinese, so you can say one from another. Difficult to explain – you have to play it! And after the game they told me that I can keep the stones and everything! Another B-day present – thanks so much!

In the afternoon I went to arts class, but they were watching a movie about National Palace museum, so I couldn’t practice calligrpahy. Suddenly 2 girls from class 308 came and asked me to come with them to their class. So I went and they prepared for me a suprise! All classroom sang to me “Happy birthday” and they gave me many cards that all of them wrote wishing me good luck and many other things. It was so nice I nearly cried I ran for the cake and divided it with them because I wouldn’t eat it all by myself. And some of them are taking me tomorrow to Taipei to see the ZOO and maybe something else – that would be a surprise for me! I’m so excited about it!

After school I went with Elaine to Taipei to say hello to Rosemary. We met also Peter again and they introduced me to Victor, a teacher from HongKong and he said we can go somewhere next Saturday. For dinner we went to Korean restaurant. And it was ssooo delicious – I ate a lot of everything! Pie se ho li chian Rosemary!

Oh yes and I also tasted the Taiwanese beer and the result? If here was czech beer I think I would stay in Taiwan forever

Today I had also free day, so I decided to go to see the Yuan Ze university. It is the seat of AIESEC people. Winnie took me from the train station and we walked there on foot. The university has several buildings and 2 dorms (divided for boys and girls). It might be a little bit bigger than, f.e., Mendel’s University, but not much. Winnie studies there management and accounting. We had lunch at a resturant there, and also some of other AIESECers joined us. I had some filled and fried dumplings, which were really very tasty.

This is one of the buildings – the newest one and very modern. It is a faculty of technologies and something lie that:) It was huge, and very airy inside, with maybe 10 stories.

After lunch and a little talk I went back to school, because I promised Eva from 308 to have celebration dinner after the exams. We went to a nice resturant and ate delicious noodles with fish (and miso and curry). Talked a lot, and they taught me 3 tongtwisters. I think I will never learn it! it’s way toooooo difficult! Exept from this nothing else happend. And now I’m going to practice the tongtwisters!!!!

And this is the class 308!

And I live here: https://www.google.com.tw/maps/place/No.+7,+J%C3%ADl%C3%AC+4th+St,+Zhongli+City/@24.9820819,121.250995,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x346821f008f48b31:0x6582a6dfa7e71360?hl=cs

And the school is here: https://www.google.com.tw/maps/place/Gu%C3%B3l%C3%ACn%C3%A8il%C3%AC+High+School/@24.977916,121.256274,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x346821fb8de882b3:0x49871745b671eff3?hl=cs

Ohhhhh and I totally forgot to do an april joke today

Because the students have some exams these two days, I’m free! And also some of the teachers. Elaine wanted to take me somewhere else first, but after our conversation with teacher YiCai (arts teacher) we decided to go to National Palace Museum in Taipei. I was so excited, because teacher Yicai is very good painter too and he really understands chinese paintings and calligraphy. We arrived to the museum at about 11:30 and dear Yicai treated us for lunch first. So we went to this good restaurant directly in the complex of buildings of museum. They order me some other traditional food. First I had a rice cake with some meat, shrimp and garlic sauce, then some fried oysters (which were really delicious). Most interesting was a soup that, as I was told, is served for good luck and was made of pigs legs – so the bad luck will walk away. I had to eat the skin of the boiled pigs legs, but it wasn’t too bad (probably I’m getting used to all these weird things).

For your information the National Palace museum offers a collection of more than 650 000 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts from different eras of Chinese history. All those treasures were originally situated in Palace Museum in Beijing, but due to the Chinese Civil War many of those artifacts were evacuated to Taiwan under the order of Chiang Kai-Shek. The building itself was built in 1960s and big vaults to store the treasures were made in the mountains that lie in the back. Many Chinese (mainlanders, how the taiwanese call them) travel here to Taipei to see their own treasures! And pay for them! And it is the truth that there were only chinese groups in the museum and only a few other foreigners…

It is a pity I couldn’t take photos inside the museum, but I hope many of those beautiful things will remain in my memories. First we went for special exhibition of Shen Zhou (1427-1509), artist from Ming Dynasty. The artists in this era were very alike our Renaissance artists – educated in many ways, like painting, calligraphy, poetry, and sometimes also medicine and fortunetelling. His works were delicate and splendid. Actually it was a real luck that we went this day, because this particular exhibition will end with this day! And I started to really like the chinese painting! There are some of his works that I have seen today (photos googled ) :

Shen Zhou’s work

one of the most famous pieces  – jadeite cabbage

and pieces of pork made out of a stone – really looks tasty

and how it looks when cooked (the first two pieces)

The chinese painting is like calligraphy. You need only your brush, ink and water. But there are many ways how to make the stroke, many ways how to combine water and ink to make the strokes more or less dark and emphasize one part. When learning chinese painting, you usually start with calligraphy, continue with small paintings of bamboo and orchids. I think most astounding paintings are simple flowers and than landscapes. Paintings are usually accompanied with a poem or few words about the painting or about the feeling of the artist. When you understand the words, you can better perceive the painting and find your own hidden meaning.
Then we also saw some marvellous pieces of pottery and ceramics from different eras. Some only with simple glaze and some decorated with colours, mostly blue, but in later times also with many different colours. Last thing to see was collection of furniture and some modern works of chinese painters.

The museum will take much more than a day to see everything. Teacher Yicai tried to explain all the pieces, their composition, how they were made and also the purpose and what we can see behind the strokes, so we spend there more than 5 hours and didn’t see half of everything exhibited there.

Thank you teachers for this beautiful day, for the commentary, translation and gifts!

On saturday I went with English teacher Elaine and her friends Rosemary and Peter to see a tea farms in Pinglin near Taipei. We arrived to Pinglin and went by a long and new pavement around a river. The road took us around several tea plantations going uphill. The season for collecting leaves will be in 10 or 14 days, so now the tea leaves were not very big, just starting to grow. When collecting the leaves you have to take the heart and two other leaves under it, so you can!t make it with any machine, only with your hands. That’s the reason why is the tea so expensive. I tried to chew few leaves and it tasted really of tea

Because it was very hot and no shade where we could take a rest, we decided not to go the whole route and go back for lunch. We drove down to the centre of the city and stopped at a resturant. There we could choose from fresh vegetable and some fish and shrimps and they cooked it for us! It was all very delicious and served with a very good green tea with a very storng aroma. I ate also the little fish, also with tehir heads and tails and inides! and the shrimps too! But it was really good when you got used to the crunchy feeling

We also stopped at a bakery, which is very famous in the surrounding area. There were special cakes which are made for wedding or for birthday and other occasions. I took a picture of them but you won’t feel the beautiful smell of it all.

..for wedding

..for b-day

a christian church!!!

We went also to a Tea museum and the security man here was so nice that he allowed us to go in without paying! A foreigner is a rarity even here. I could read something about the history of tea growing in Taiwan, see the traditional equipment for tea-drinking…

Than we went higher to the mountains. The road was very zigzag, turn every few meters and quickly rising, so it was a little adventorous journey. After a while we stopped at a temple. This temple was bigger than the one we have in Nei-li, the monk here was very nice and wanted to talk a lot. He said the temple has also a facebook profile We could make a wish to the gods here. You take to peaces of moonlike shaped wood and ask the god for helo and guidance. Than you throw the peaces to the ground and if they stay one from front side and one from back side the gods will make your wish come true. Also the wish you can say in any language so I for a long time used czech

The view from the temple wasn’t very nice, because it was going to rain and the clouds were very low. But the wind was filled with water and all fresh and also soft. I like their mountains. They are very high and look different and beautiful.

On our way home they made me a round-car-trip around Taipei 101 It was fun. We stopped directly under the building so that I can take a picture, but it was tto close to get it whole.

Than we went to Rosemary’s sister. They live in Taipei in a very good area of flats. They have completely newly furnished and designed flat with beautiful new wooden furniture from a traditonal trea which has a strong fragrance. Thier dughter is very interested in chinese culture. She plays a traditional instrument “guzheng” so she played us some songs before dinner. The family offered me to stay for few nights if I wnat to know more about Taipei, and I was very glad to accept their offer.

We got home very late, so I went directly to bed. In the Sunday morning, we went with homepa to his classmates meeting somewhere in the outskirts of Zhongli. We had a barbecue in a garden. By a taiwanese barbecue you must underestand that they start with some vegetable, than pork meat, some mushrooms, sweet potatoes, corn, after that you get their soup, dessert, than you continue with fish, shells, shrimps, and other seafood and than you are so full that you feel like you will never eat again!

I didn’t write anything yesterday, cause I was too tired and also it was very ordinary day. I went to school at 9, I stopped at Irene and hleped her decorate a little board in her office:) Than I had my chinese dancing and kung-fu classes. In the chinese dancing we did a choreography, which I really couldn’t follow, because the others are doing it for many months and this was my first time… Next week I have to stop by the teacher and ask her to teach me that more slowly. In the kungfu class we did the same as last week , but more slowly, so it was good. I learned nearly every move, and didn’t feel as lost as last time. The teacher also said I’m a very smart student Although I forgot everything in one day I think it will get back more easily next time.

I had a lunch with girsl from 308, which is becoming one of my favourite classes. I stopped there after lunch, when I was going to arts class, to show them my calligraphy and they were pretty impresed by my work Thank you guys! Then I stayed for 3 hours at arts class with the exchange students. Mary told me that it is so unfair, that they are doing it for 6 months and I’m here only 2 weeks and I’m better then they are in calligraphy and also kungfu

The teacher of art (his name is something like Icai, I don’t know how to write it in pinyin) gave me this time only blank paper to try writing without the red helping lines. It was much more difficult to write and to keep the strokes in the right distance and size, but on the other hand it was more liberating. The teacher has really high expactations of me, because he has not given the exchange students only a blank paper yet.

Today I had 3 classes in a row in the morning, so my throat was a little sore after that. But these were good classes. In the first 305 there were some active students, and I went to play volleyball with them after school. They enjoyed taking photos with me and making faces and so, boys mostly Than the class 301, which was very active class, and it was real fun to talk to them, they had good questions and there were many sympathic boys The last class was 302. They prepared also something for me. One girl introduced me their school dancing group. They do street dance, and are pretty good. I think it’s this group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ntSXT_iFs

Other boy introduced me something I still can’t underestand well. I told you about this military office and that children have to take some kind of practice in handling the gun and they also go once to a real shooting range and shoot from a real guns. So they have also this kind of dance with giuns – not a real ones but wooden. And it looks really good, but it’s a bit startling for me. I couldn’t find a video of this but when I do I will show you.

I had lunch with in 308 today again. I really like these guys, and they suggested that they will take me next Friday to Taipei! So I’m really looking forward to it! A funny thing happened dduring that. Because students are supposed to take a nap or rest from 12.30 to 13.00, or at least be quiet. And the mlitary officers take care of it, and they wlk the corridors and maintain silence. I have these lunches usually somewhere else, but today we had it in the classroom, and suddenly the door opended and an officer wanted to scold the students, but suddenly he realised that I’m here too and he backed out of the door  quickly as if afraid of me They had PE class after lunch so I went with them and played a little volleybal (although I had a skirt today ) In the afternoon I talked little with Sarah and did soem calligraphy, but today the new stroke – a special hook – was so deliquate and hard to do, that I left after an hour of hard work. After school I played some volleyball with the 305 class. And for dinner we went with family for a chinese duck with noodels. It was really good with soysauce and the noodels were brilliant.

I’m going to bed, today was really hot , 30 degrees C, and all those exersices made me tired. And tomorrow? I will go to a tea farm!!! soooo excited!!!!!!

P.S.: For your information, there are 5 types of calligraphy – seal script, the Clarical script, the cursive style, the semi-cursive style and the regular style. The one I am practicing is the regular style, which is closest to the words we use nowadays.

Next day started well, I slept for nearly 10 hours but I needed it, because I felt a little sore throat yesterday. In the morning I had two classes, one in class 118, where is also the exchange studetn Janek. The other was with Elaine in 308. These children were pretty actvie and gave me some gifts – a game were you try to find a watch, then some food, a hole bunch of bananas, a beautiful scarf which was made for the 100 anniversary of Taiwan. They also gace me this egg they really eat, but it looks like this:

and is called a century egg. You can imagine that the taste was very strong and like a bit rotten But I had to be brave and I took two bites in front of them because else I wouldn’t get their respect And I also enjoy the way they enjoy giving me some really different food and waiting what would I say to that. :)))

I had also a “lunch table” with other students. This time all girls, so we had a little girlish talk:) Then I went again to the arts class to practice a little calligraphy. With my new book it is so great! I can read how to do the strokes properly and the order of them is described here. I hope once I can write my own new year’s pamphlet!

After school I stopped at the playgrounds and girls from the class 308 started talking with me, I had a little race with two boys from this class. Then they invited me for dinner, so we went to a restaurant. I had some noodles with tomatoes and fish, and it was really delicious. We stopped to have some drink too, and I think this will be one of my favourites – green tea with orange juice and pearls. Then we came back to school. They usually stay there and study and prepare for the next day and they leave after 8 o’clock or later. I didn’t want to go home yet, so I went to their classroom and we had a chat till nearly 9pm! They were great, a lot of questions and very cheerful people with good spirits! Tomorrow I might go to their PE class if I feel better, and I will hve some chat during the lunch brake with them!

Sarah today told me more about the relationship between Taiwan-China-Japan. I will write here tomorrow…….

I thought today would be an ordinary day, but it turned to a very special one. I had 2 classes in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first class with teacher Elaine was a special class more concentrated on science (math, physics and biology). And it was full of boys! and only a few girls. It was really fun with them, they were very active and curios, boys making jokes One of them sang me a song that yesterday Sarah taught me. It was so sweet, nearly like a love song Also in the next class, specialized in English, there were pretty good singers, a boy and girl performed for me a short song, which I liked a lot.

After lunch, which I had with another group of students, I went with Elaine to the arts class to ask the teacher more about calligraphy. The teacher (whose name I always forget!!!) was prepared for me. And he gave me a book about calligraphy in English, HIS OWN BRUSH!!!, some papers to practice and a bowl for water and ink! I nearly cried, because that’s one of the most beautiful gifts I was ever given!

The last class today was with Jonathan, the only man teacher of English. I did ordinary introduction of CZE, the students asked some questions and one of them gave me nice cup from 7eleven, so I can use it at school. In the evening we went for another brilliant dinner, and I am getting used to eating the blood cubes Then I had a lesson of chinese with homepa….

Yesterday I tried, for the first time, local train! And it was so easy. I just had to go one stop, form Neili to Taoyuan, but when there are those chinese signs you don’t know where you are going Fortunately they have it written in the train also in latin. The slow train is more like our metro or tram, full of people that stand in the train. Very convenient thing here is the Easy card, with which you can get everywhere and don’t have to pay for the ticket in cash. I went to Taoyuan for a dinner with AIESEC people and other exchange participants. Their names are Valentina (Italy), Katerzyna (Poland) and Jess (Malaysia). They are all very active and sweet girls and I hope I can see them more.

Nearly forgot to say, that for lunch we went to a nearby town (20minutes ride) to a local restaurant in a traditional house. What looked at the first sight as some seafood, was in fact stomach of a cow But with ginger and soya beans and sour sauce it was surprisingly good

Today I had free morning again, so I went to the arts class to try some more caligraphy. This time we concentrated at oblique strokes, which are a bit different form the horizontal and vertical. It is so nice to have a chance to do something so different, and I have to be really concentrated and my head is all clean after that.

I volunteered today to help Sarah in her classes, because she wasn’t feeling very well, and also as a substitute for an absent teacher. Than I had also Irene’s class , students of 1st grade. They prepared for me a surprise. In groups they tried to describe me something that’s typical for Taiwan. So mainly they gave me some food, like a cake made of pig’s blood with rice, fried chicken, a dessert made of soya beans and pearl tea. They were very well prepared, but some were very shy to talk more:)

So I had 4 classes today – all the afternoon, and I was feeling really energetic after (maybe because I ate so much ), so I sit for a while at the grounds of school watching students play volleyball and basketball. Then I started talking with some girls and we had a race for 100 meters:) I won it! But it’s because I have longer legs Maybe I will join their PE class on Thursday!

This is really a bit different form our schools, we usually just go home after school. There the children play games or just go walking around the playground. And after that they often continue to their cram school lessons!! Such hardworks!