Leaving Kaohsiung

    We left Kaohsiung on June 30th and I thought I would take this opportunity to look back on our time there and write about some of my favorite things and best memories. We were definitely sad to be leaving and I hope we get to come back someday. I've been trying to write in more detail about some of our experiences while in Taiwan and as I finish those entries I'll post them but for now some general impressions upon leaving Kaohsiung.
   Perhaps the most dramatic thing we noticed upon arriving in Kaohsiung was the politeness and helpful nature of the people. Our very first week in Kaohsiung we went for a hike on Shoushan. We were trying to find the trail head for the trail we wanted. We didn't seem to be in the right place and finally asked someone. He explained that we were at the wrong trail head and told us to wait while he got his car so he could drive us to the correct trail head. Then he realized there were too many of us for one car so he called a friend to come by with another car and help drive us to the trail head.  Shortly before we left Kaohsiung Margaret took a leather handbag into a local leather repair shop to be repaired. They refused to accept any money for the repair. Their explanation was that the only material they required was enough thread to hem up 2 foot long seams that were starting to unravel so there was no point in charging her for materials. Furthermore it wouldn't take them long to sew those two seams so it was no charge. They just asked her to come back the next day. At that point she insisted on giving them some money.  Rori had a similar experience when she brought in some clothes to be repaired. She was initially told no charge and finally hid some money in the shop as she was leaving. People are also almost Japanese in their politeness. They yell out a welcome when you enter their shop. They bow when they thank you. They take your money or credit card with both hands and return your change and receipt with both hands and a bow. The politeness and personality of the people is why we jokingly referred to Taiwan as "Chinese Canada."
  The kindness of the people was also exemplified by our landlord. Shereen Chung and her husband Ben were originally planning on relocating back to South Africa by the time we arrived in Kaohsiung so they were happy to rent us their beautiful home right on the Qianzhen river. Their plans changed at the last minute but rather than canceling our reservation they moved into a smaller apartment for the duration of our stay. In the process they became our friends and guides.  Shereen worked at the kid's school and ended up driving them back and forth to school almost every day. They also took us out for meals or brought food by the house so they could introduce us to their favorite things. Several of us became big fans of Taiwanese fried chicken and other foods they introduced to us. They also introduced us to Karaoke. This isn't just people drunkenly singing pop tunes. Its a multi-hour social activity. You rent a room in a huge karaoke complex. Some are the size of apartment buildings with multiple floors of dozens of karaoke rooms. Then you order a lot of food and drinks to be delivered to your room. Then you spend hours eating, drinking, and singing with your friends. I'm the worst singer you have ever heard and figured there wasn't a chance in hell I would ever do this. I hate to admit it but I had a great time. Hopefully Shereen and Ben will come visit us someday in Colorado. Margaret and Rori are already talking about a visit to South Africa.
   The house also came with Ben's mother living on the ground floor. She would often cook wonderful food for us. We would reciprocate by buying flowers, fruit, or scallion pancakes for her at the local markets. It would sometimes turn into an arms race where we would buy her something only to have make some huge amazing bowl of food for us which then prompted us to feel like we hadn't done enough and needed to get her something else. This would just result in more food from Grandma. Sometimes we had to declare a cease fire.  However her smile when ever you would bring her something was so infectious that we inevitably broke the cease fire.
  The kindness was also exemplified by the kids' friends at school. Piper and Sydney made several very close friends and are already trying to figure out how to see them back in Colorado. Several friends may also visit Syd while we are in Malaysia. They even got invited to their school prom. The last week we were in Kaohsiung was especially great. The girls spent several evenings roaming around town with their friends.  I think it was their first real taste of urban independence and it was great that they got to experience it in Kaohsiung. The subway system is very easy to use and the city is very safe so they got to be independent in a very safe and easy environment.
   Syd also made a bunch of friends through ultimate frisbee. Initially she thought that her frisbee game would languish in Taiwan but it turns out that ultimate frisbee is a big sport here with many teams. Syd ended up practicing with a team made mostly of college and medical students called "Hao Ku"  It's kind of a multilingual pun. Hao means good in Chinese but is pronounced like "How" and Ku means cool so the team name is sort of "How Cool." They were all surprised that she was only 15 but let her practice with them. They took her out for milk tea and snacks. They invited her to play with them in some local tournaments. When she left to go home they sent her with some really cool team jerseys and hats.
  Nick didn't have the freedom to run around town with his classmates but did make a bunch of good friends. Most of them bonded over their love of on-line video gaming. Given that you play those games together even if you are on opposite sides of the world I suspect Nick will keep playing with them on-line after we get home. He is also looking forward to another semester in Taiwan with them and one classmate is apparently talking about trying to go to school in America for a semester.
  I think we will all miss the food. I'm sure the kids will list some of their favorite foods. Kaohsiung is full of night markets serving all sorts of great street food. This can be as simple as a squid on a stick or as complicated as a pop-up hot pot restaurant with little tables and stools so you can have hot pot on the street. Margaret discovered a soup dumpling restaurant which quickly became her favorite. Sydney found a place that made beef noodle soup that she loved. Nick loved the fried rice from a roadside stall down the street that Jake and he called "Lucky Chin Hair Fried Rice" named after the owner's long lucky chin hairs. I really liked the beef wonton soup at Syd's beef noodle place and also a place we called "The Meat Stick Place"  They had trays of different meats and vegetables on skewers. You pick the ones you want and they grill them for you and serve them with a cold beer.
  In the end Kaohsiung probably ended up being the perfect place for us. It was Chinese but cleaner, easier, and more friendly than many places we could have ended up. The kids' school and classes were almost entirely in Chinese but the fact that they had a separate international track meant they were at least more used to having international students around. We are already talking about going back for a semester during Nick's time in high school and looking forward to it. Syd is even trying to figure out how she can join us while in college.

The whole Kaohsiung crew. Minus Jake who left already for Fiji and Cody who was missing that day.

I've recently thought of 3 other things that were pretty unique to Taiwan and which I definitely will miss.  The first was the trash and recycling trucks. Trash pick up is 3 times every evening except Wednesdays and Sundays. The trash trucks play the Fleur-de-lis song so to us they sound like ice cream trucks.  Recycling trucks follow them on some but not all runs. I never really figured out when to expect the recycling trucks but the trash trucks came around 5pm, 7:30, and 9:40 or so. When you heard the ice cream truck music you grabbed your bag of trash and headed for the corner with all your neighbors. They would be using this as a chance to socialize and catch up and it was probably the times I felt most like we belonged to the neighborhood. When the trash truck pulls up everyone throws in their trash and then slowly heads home. The nice thing about this system is the neighbor hood is incredibly clean. No trash cans or dumpsters. No trash sitting around for more than a day to draw bugs and rats. Plus there is a sort of community pressure to not be wasteful. You don't want to be the one hauling three big bags of trash when everyone else has one little one. I know...

The next thing was all the neighborhood pools and spas. We actually got passes to three different ones. My favorite was Nan-Ho.  The Taiwanese love these places and you see all ages there hanging out for hours. They generally consist of a lap pool or two with some people swimming laps and others doing water exercises. Then there are all sorts of hot tubs of various temperatures. Some are single sex. Some are mixed. Some have all sorts of colorings and herbs in them. There is usually also one that is literally ice cold. Finally there are what I call the car wash jets. These are various shower jets which move back and forth or pulsate like jets in a car wash. You can either stand in front of them or lay on stone slabs under them and get pummeled by them. They are so forceful they can leave bruises.

The last thing I just realized I missed was my favorite snack. I called them rice triangles. I think they are also known as kelp snacks. You can also find them in China, Japan, and Malaysia but I think they might have reached their pinnacle in Taiwan. Its a hand sized triangle of rice with some sort of filling wrapped in seaweed(like the nori used for sushi) and then in cellophane. The cellophane is cleverly designed so it both wraps the whole product and also separates the seaweed from the rice so the seaweed stays dry and the rice stays sticky. Some how you pull a zipper on the cellophane and then pull the cellophane to the side. This somehow pulls the inner and outer lays of cellophane all out together so that you both unwrap the food and pull out the cellophane separating the nori from the rice. You are left with a little package all ready to eat. In Taiwan the 7-11's stock at least a dozen different flavors (pork, vegetable, chicken, shrimp, mackerel, and many others). I got to where I had one almost every day