After being in Taiwan for a few days, I can confirm that Taipei is a very large and exciting city. I also know now that if you are not careful and don't get enough water, it is easy to get sick! The heat and humidity had taken a temporary toll on my well being, but I am once again feeling great and inspired by everything we have seen and done so far.
On Monday, we visited the Wang Tea Company, which was the 5th factory in Taiwan. They use time-honored traditions to create different varieties of tea. We were able to see the whole process, from people separating the stems from the tea leaves by hand to the oxidation process required to make black tea. It was cool to see the humble makings of a company that exports its products all over the world.
We also visited the Taiwan National Palace museum, which houses thousands of ancient Chinese artifacts. We were not able to take pictures, so I drew some instead. We were able to explore the night market on Monday night, where thousands of people go to buy food and hang out. There are several carnival games set up, and me and a fellow classmate played a game in which we popped balloons with an air-soft gun. Afterward, we were told that we had to share our prize! Rather than fight over a stuffed animal, I let him keep it.
On Tuesday, we got to meet students from the National Taiwan Normal University, who welcomed us with a small party. We played games, some involving chop stick proficiency. Needless to say, I didn't do too well. Every single person we met has been exceptionally friendly and eager to teach us about Taiwan. My new friend, Li Chen, will be visiting U of M - Flint during this year's fall semester, so he was very interested in learning about the United States. He was awed when I showed him pictures of the Frankenmuth SnowFest (where people come from around the world to build snow and ice sculptures), because he has never seen snow before! I was impressed with all of the students' ability to speak English - I was not expecting to make so many friends and share so many laughs with the people here!
On Monday, we visited the Wang Tea Company, which was the 5th factory in Taiwan. They use time-honored traditions to create different varieties of tea. We were able to see the whole process, from people separating the stems from the tea leaves by hand to the oxidation process required to make black tea. It was cool to see the humble makings of a company that exports its products all over the world.
We also visited the Taiwan National Palace museum, which houses thousands of ancient Chinese artifacts. We were not able to take pictures, so I drew some instead. We were able to explore the night market on Monday night, where thousands of people go to buy food and hang out. There are several carnival games set up, and me and a fellow classmate played a game in which we popped balloons with an air-soft gun. Afterward, we were told that we had to share our prize! Rather than fight over a stuffed animal, I let him keep it.
On Tuesday, we got to meet students from the National Taiwan Normal University, who welcomed us with a small party. We played games, some involving chop stick proficiency. Needless to say, I didn't do too well. Every single person we met has been exceptionally friendly and eager to teach us about Taiwan. My new friend, Li Chen, will be visiting U of M - Flint during this year's fall semester, so he was very interested in learning about the United States. He was awed when I showed him pictures of the Frankenmuth SnowFest (where people come from around the world to build snow and ice sculptures), because he has never seen snow before! I was impressed with all of the students' ability to speak English - I was not expecting to make so many friends and share so many laughs with the people here!
Our next company visit was to KPMG, a financial firm whose home is the 62nd through 68th floors of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. This is the world's 3rd tallest building, and every time I looked out of a window, no matter what side of the building we stood on, I was awe-inspired by the gorgeous view. KPMG gave us a demonstration and tour of their business, which is very professional and aesthetically pleasing. The firm provides audit, tax, and advisory services to other businesses. I was impressed with some of their big name clients, such as Citibank, Microsoft, and PepsiCo. It must be awesome to work inside of the Taipei 101 and see a beautiful view every time you come to work.
Our visit to Asus was very impressive. After watching an excellent presentation about the company and its new products, including the Asus Fonepad, we were able to test out new devices for ourselves. The FonePad 2 is sleek and seems the next logical progression for the smart phone market - it's sold as a package that includes both a smart phone and a tablet, which can lock together to instantly transfer data between the two. Our tour of the Asus building revealed just how awesome it would be to work for the company - it has a full sized swimming pool, an exotic hot tub with a view of the city, a large work out room, a employees' cafeteria, and a beautiful courtyard that is shaped like a motherboard. I think just being in the building would bring out my creativity as an employee, for there is artwork throughout the skyscraper - including a large Mona Lisa picture made out of computer chips.
Unfortunately, I had not drunken much water throughout the whole day and as we returned to Taipei 101, I began to feel sick. I imagine a number of factors are what led to me puking in the food court - not only was I dehydrated, especially after drinking a coffee, but I had tried sushi for the first time at lunch and I hadn't slept very well the night before. So, I became the first person to get sick on our trip. Dr. Laurence, Carol, and Danielle were kind enough to take a cab with me back to the hotel before the rest of the group returned. It was quite a crazy cab ride, as Carol told the driver to hurry and we sped down back alleys and through traffic. After drinking water and getting plenty of sleep, I was revitalized and ready to be the group leader on the following day!
Unfortunately, I had not drunken much water throughout the whole day and as we returned to Taipei 101, I began to feel sick. I imagine a number of factors are what led to me puking in the food court - not only was I dehydrated, especially after drinking a coffee, but I had tried sushi for the first time at lunch and I hadn't slept very well the night before. So, I became the first person to get sick on our trip. Dr. Laurence, Carol, and Danielle were kind enough to take a cab with me back to the hotel before the rest of the group returned. It was quite a crazy cab ride, as Carol told the driver to hurry and we sped down back alleys and through traffic. After drinking water and getting plenty of sleep, I was revitalized and ready to be the group leader on the following day!
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