Mystery Land Part II

Here you go Danielle, here's the rest of the Mystery Land Adventure.
So Chinese New Year was quickly approaching, by then Brad would have been working for about 1 month, and me for a couple weeks....we definitely deserved a holiday but had absolutely no plans and not much money. I was just hunting for some live music, trying to figure out if any bands actually came to Taiwan, when I saw it.....the banner offering 2 days of live music at an undisclosed location in the mountains of southern Taiwan. For the first time in my life I clicked an internet banner. The only way to get to the festival was via their shuttle bus. It was either the music festival of a life time, or a clever way to exterminate foreigners. We decided to take our chances.
2 days before we went out and bought a tent and sleeping bag.
The night before we actually pulled out a map and did the math. We realized it was a little further than we were anticipating, with the bike's speed restrictions and Taiwanese traffic we were looking at a 9 hour drive. It was too late to get train tickets and this would've been cheating anyways. We also realized that our only map of Taiwan, which wasn't much of a map to begin with, ended a solid couple of hours before the destination.

We left early the next morning, knowing that it would be a small miracle if we even made it to the festival. Surprisingly we made it to the shuttle pick-up point before dark. We only got lost once and met tons of foreigners going to the same festival on the road.

Night 1-Social Ackwardness and Campfire Mingling
It was definitely dark by the time we made it to the aboriginal mountain village and set up the tent, although we were just happy it was a field and not a gas chamber. The festival didn't start until the next day but for those with long drives getting there in the morning wasn't an option. There was a definite sense of what now? in the air.

Day 1-Let the Festivities Begin
By the next morning it felt more like a camping trip then a music festival. Daylight revealed the most breath-taking scenery imaginable. There wasn't a shower but rumours of a river sent the fest-goers out wandering. I think Brad and I were the first to find our swimming hole, but I can't really remember. It was a little slimy looking at first, but was missing the dirty stench of the Taichung rivers, which was a plus. I didn't really plan on swimming, or even touching it. But one wrong step on a small cliff changed that, once you get your feet wet you might as well enjoy it. Some other people happened upon our little hole shortly after and they had no problem diving right in (some naked). Put me and my dirty hippiness to shame. Eventually we got hungry and remembered that there was supposed to be music. The walk back turned out to be long, hot and very much uphill. Went back and stuffed ourselves with veggie burgers-I don't think anybody is going to appreciate how fantastic that was. The first veggie burgers eaten in Asia, grilled and smothered in bbq sauce...uuuuhhhh (homer drool). Brad ended up opening the show with some whimsical bearded guy, who shall henceforth be known as beard. It was a small turn-out but considering the heat and the fact that tents, toilets and stage were all in the same area this was a good thing. Most people didn't even stand up until it got dark, very chill, just a bunch of kids lying around in the hot sun listening to live music.
All in all the music was pretty amateur, but nobody cared. There were a couple fantastic bands, one funk/ska type band from Taipei called......Public Radio was just awesome. The big show of the night was Shambala or something like that, "spirtual" rappers from the U.S. An interesting choice for a rock festival, kind of comical....but I fell asleep so they couldn't have been that good.

Day 2-Woohoo and Then Some.
Day started with the discovery that there was no water (it wasn't drinking water anyways so it's not like anybody was dying, but flushable portapotties are only a good idea when you can flush....and sometimes you just wanna brush your teeth). We headed to the river and tried not to think about the walk back. We had a couple nice swims in our underwear, for some reason it hadn't crossed my mind to bring a bathing suit. We met more people at the river, some old, some new and swapped stories. As usual we stayed until we just had to have a veggie burger. The music didn't make a lasting impression, the rappers were the big show again but nobody seemed to care that much. By the second day everybody's reservations had dissolved and everybody seemed to need to get a little more partying out of their systems before they went home. It was like one big happy family. If you spend your days teaching kids, sooner or later you've gotta let loose and just about everybody there was an English teacher. When the music ended Brad, our new friend Phil, this guy who was touring from Africa and a couple Aboriginal teenagers ended up jamming. It was one of those out of this world experiences for everybody; African drumming, guitar and this haunting Aboriginal chanting. Sadly all good things must come to an end. Nobody was paying any attention to time but it got light really soon after we went to sleep....the tent was baking.

Day 3-Ouch
Moral of the story-careful what you wish for. After cursing the heat of the sun, I dozed off and woke up to rain falling on the tent. Seemed appropriate. The last two veggie burgers had thawed and then frozen into a blob, which they grilled up for us anyways. We were invited to go further south to a beach for a couple days, but it was raining and we could feel it in our bones that the adventure was ending. On the bus ride down, nobody spoke, compared with the excited chatter on the way up the mountain. About half way through the drive home we decided to quit for the night. We found a motel just off the highway, which turned out to be gorgeous. the bathroom had a big jacuzzi, the bed was the first soft bed I've seen in Taiwan. We slept for about 12 hours in that bed that made our way the rest of the way home.
Sorry, a little long. It was just a really fun adventure, it seems like this is the sort of thing that keeps the expats in Taiwan for years. Soon we'll be heading to Spring Scream, a much bigger music festival down in the south.

Mystery Land Music Festival

We had heard that there would be two days of music and dancing in the mountains. So, we loaded up the motorcycle with a tent and a few other things and plowed 9 hours down to the south of Taiwan. There will be more posted soon!!! Jacqui wants to tell this story... and she's really busy with work right now. cheers til then.

Dakeng Scenic Area :: You need a bike to hike!

We found the Stairway to Heaven!

DaKeng scenic area was a wonderful surprise when we arrived in Taichung city. We had heard a lot about the hotsprings and mountain trails in Taiwan, but DaKeng surpassed any expectations that we had. It takes us about 15-20 minutes on motorcycle to get to the start of the trails. To this date, we have only conquered 2 of the 8 trails. The best part about Dakeng (and Taiwan as a whole) is that there seem to be no rules.
These trails are excellent. Hundreds and hundreds of wooden logs are wedged together to form gapped, helper-steps up the mountain. In some spots, you can see where logs had, at some point, collapsed down slippery mountain slopes. Not to fear however, as a new series of lumped logs has been placed over the disaster area... making it... more dangerous? Taiwan just screams "OPEN YOUR EYES! If you think something is dangerous, then turn back! If not, then you have no one to blame but yourself". It's a great concept: being obligated to your own safety.

The trails have different levels of difficulty, we have yet to tackle the most difficult. It is always a fantastic time once you finish a trail, because there is usually a big party happening at the trail end. We usually have several people eager to offer us a fishy treat or just willing to attempt an English conversation. I'm not sure if it is a stereotype in Canada or not... but it should be: People from Taiwan are the most kind and gentle people you will ever meet.

We hope that the pictures of DaKeng we have posted will do the area some justice. More soon about DaKeng. Apparently, there is someone named Boston Paul who has a music/art/book house in the area..... XPATS are known to cram his house and throw amazing musical sessions... we'll let you know.

Home Sweet Home

Finally, with two contracts signed, we could begin looking for an apartment that would be convenient for both of us. We did some looking on the internet and made some phone calls... but nothing was really happening there... Then, we followed up a lead from Jacqui's coworker. We met an insane woman named Miss Lee, who could speak English quite well... although obviously crazy... she would end up being our landlord....yikes. She showed us a beautiful 3rd floor apartment (3 balconies, kitchen, 2 huge bedrooms, 1 big office, 2 bathrooms, rooftop hangout, free gym, underground parking, 24 hour surveillance, internet, fully furnished, utilities included, department store right around the corner, right in the middle of the city)... this was the first real apartment that we had seen... but we we're still living in a hotel.... and sometimes you can just tell a good deal when you see it. We signed the contract and moved in the very next day. Almost forgot, all inclusive rent = less than 500 CDN per month.

Gotta love that Taiwan!

Meet Our Pets! Dukie & Black Dog

We picked up some wheels. Some older wheels, but they roll none the less. For Jacqui’s 15 minute drive across town a 19?? SYM Duke 125cc. Creatively named “Dukie” by the rider herself, this monster is held together by duct tape. We purchased the scooter from a foreign teacher who was leaving Taiwan in a hurry. We met him at a local department store to check out his sweet ride. A failed attempt at using the kick stand, left the seller in a real pickle as his scooter crashed to its side in the middle of a busy street….. “So, do you want it?” he said…, as the scooter lay dead on the road. He wanted 2000NT dollars… we gave him 1000 and we went on our merry way. For 30 bucks Canadian, we walked away with a scooter that rolled…. but real loud (no muffler). Since then we have put on a new muffler for another 30 bucks Canadian and she has run great for over 2 months.

Next on the list of purchases: a cruiser. We had always planned on driving around the island on motorcycle adventures, and so we headed out to find something that would work for us.

A couple weeks looking in the English teacher ads, and we found a nice cruiser that hadn’t been run in over a year. In Taiwan, repairs are dirt cheap, so we were looking for something that had some serious flaws…. We took a gamble on this bike… we’ll let you know how it turns out in the long run.

The bike’s owner had moved to Hong Kong, so it was his friend who was selling the bike. The bike was in terrible shape. It obviously needed an oil change, some basic fixes... and god knows what else. We talked him down to about 200 bucks Canadian and took the gamble.

Next, we found a great local guy who fixes up bikes and speaks enough English to communicate. He completely overhauled the bike (shocks, fuel line, chain, engine treatment etc…). Eric did a really great job on the bike and she has run great for well over a month. We hope to get a year or two out of the old girl. Oh ya, she’s old alright…. 1993 125cc SYM Husky “The English Teacher Special”. It only has a 125cc engine, which is very small compared to a north American bike….. trust me though…. with the traffic here, you don’t want to be going any faster than 70. She cruises very gently at about 65 on open roads. We’ll see what happens.

Taichung City :: XPAT oasis

We packed up our gear in Hualien.... two huge black suitcases, two huge double backpacks and a 12 string guitar. We were loaded down pretty heavy to say the least. I suppose if you consider the fact that we were moving... not just travelling.... the load was pretty light. Have you ever seen an Asian train in a movie? you know... packed to the brim with lads and lasses... well its true, there are lots of people here. Getting those bags on, and off the train, was definitely an experience we won't soon forget.

We ended up crashing in a Lonely Planet recommended hotel which featured a great view of the train station. Little did we know, we would end up living in the Fu Chun hotel for a month or more... on and off. (let me explain the on and off bit)

The School was called Little United Nations Academy. We found the job ad on the very popular tealit.com (teaching english and living in taiwan). The positions seemed great. They were looking for two teachers, the pay was very high, no experience needed and was located just outside the city centre, where rent would be much cheaper. Perfect! we got a call back within a couple days and went in for an interview. The school was gorgeous, the students were fantastic (we had learned a few things about demo lessons at this point... the dos and don'ts) and we got the jobs! We were quickly moved out of Fu Chun and into a practically rent free apartment near the school. We were so happy that we went out and bought some pillows and a duvet for our bed. Semi-settled at last!

Looking back on it... we realize now that there were lots of signs that things we're just not right with the school. The staff being obviously unhappy was one sign... but there was many... we don't really want to go into too many details.... it was ugly. real ugly. we got fired after one day and had to move our increasing mound of crap back to Fu Chun hotel.
(The main reason that we got fired, if you must know, was that we were making a big stink about the contract they wanted us to sign. The contract allowed them to have complete control over our stay in Taiwan and afforded potential teachers zero rights in the event of a dispute. There are lots of contracts like this in Taiwan... sign them at your own risk. Technically though we didn't get fired as we never got around to signing a contract.)

This was the lowest we had been in a long time. Taiwan was kicking the crap out our spirits. We took a day to clear our heads.

We were left with no choice, we worked together, got super serious, and were dedicated to getting the best of this Taiwan we thought we were so prepared for. Out of nowhere, a Joy English School contacted us for interviews. We went in there with our best suits on, and wowed them. They were only looking to fill one position, although they wanted to hire both of us. We had realized by that point that finding a job for a boy in Taichung city would be much more difficult... so Jacqui allowed her much less desirable male friend to sign the contract and begin work the next week.

There are two types of schools in Taiwan. Buxibans or cram schools, which operate after regular school hours... 3:00pm - 9:00pm, and privately run elite English kindergartens... 9:00am - 5:30 pm. Joy is a Buxiban. Jacqui on the other hand started a small bidding war for her teaching services, between several competing private kindergartens. Because we had come to Taiwan without any contracts or paperwork, we were essentially free agents in what seemed like a dead market.... but things were really starting to pick up. Jacqui had a whole series of interviews and demos... schools we're telling her to call them back before she signed with a different school. Finally, we had the upper hand. Jacqui ended up signing a great contract with one of the most elite kindergartens in town. Season Arts offers very competitive pay and a top notch facility. The private kindergartens also allows teachers to participate in (paid) field trips, activities, cooking lessons, songs and dances.... they are real schools. The Buxibans on the other hand have a very strict curriculum with a lot less room for creating relationships with students.... but you get to work at night for only 6 hours..... which would you pick?

Moral of the story = we both found jobs in Taichung city (where the action is) not in some little tiny village in the middle of nowhere. The only thing left to do was the mound of paperwork. We won't go into details but.... it's quite a bit of hassle. Jacqui ended up getting her Resident Visa/A.R.C ( like a social insurance number) one day before she would have to fly to Hong Kong. phewwww! EAT OUR SHORTS TAIWAN! WE GOTCHA!