Kenting

Well, it's begun.  I've been SO busy the last couple of days I haven't had a chance to get a post out.  I've started a few, I've thought of many future posts, I've even written a bit but nothing has been posted and I apologize.  I'll make it up to you.  Not sure how, but I will!  

A quick note before we get to the Kenting business, just a friendly (but seriously, come on folks) reminder to send in some questions for Q&A Friday.  Big, big B.O.O.B.s (Bess Out Of Bounds - yes you should be giggling right now) shout out to Linda S. for being the first to submit some really great questions.  WooHoo Linda!

We got word on Sunday that our employer wanted to send us to the resort town Nan Wan (pronounced Non-won) for a couple of days this week.  Nan Wan is a smaller section of Kenting (pronounced Ken-Ding) which is the absolute southern most town of Taiwan.  Look at a map, look at the bottom of the island, that is where we were!  We hopped on the Kenting Express Bus at the High Speed Rail station here in Zuoying district and before we knew it we were in Nan Wan, our home for the next few days.  

It was a great time to bond with my coworkers.  We played a lot of Settlers of Catan, hung out on the beach, played in the ocean and ate a lot of delicious food.  I saw a lot of really hilarious things at the beach and took many photos as proof.  The Taiwanese beach culture will be the body of a coming post so watch out for that.  However, I will share this photo of my coworker Andrew and a friend that we made while relaxing under the shade of our umbrella.  

This dog was sneaky.  All of the sudden I looked back and poof he was there just sitting quietly and staring at the chips Andrew and I were eating. As soon as I brought out my camera he started hamming it up.  This was his smile, it was pretty awesome.  He hung out for a bit and then wandered away.  We had no idea who's dog he was, if anyone's, but he didn't harm anyone and wasn't annoying so we let him stay as long as he wanted. 

We went to the night market in Kenting which was a lot of fun.  Night markets are a big part of the culture here.  They are only open at night (shocker there!) and it feels a lot like a carnival.  The street is lined with food stands selling all kinds of foods.  Occasionally you will come across a balloon popping game or a ring throwing game.  It is a great place to try new food cheaply.  It is also really fun to see them cooking, grilling, and preparing food fresh.  

A few of my favorites were the scallion pancake wrapped around roast beef and more scallions, soup dumplings, and the ice cream/pancake sandwich.  Soup dumplings are like traditional Chinese dumplings (or potstickers) but they have more liquid inside.  They are really, really good but if you eat them too quickly there is a high potential for mouth scalding.  I wouldn't know anything about that.  Teehee!  Here is a photo of me with the ice cream/pancake sandwich.  

 

Jealous?  Yeah, you should be. 

  This is what the night market looked like from the end.  

These happen EVERY night.  All over Taiwan.  They do know how to eat in this country. 

Here is one of those carnival type games, just the Taiwanese version. 

Yes.  Taiwanese men wear baggy basketball jerseys. 

Our vacation was sadly pretty short, we came back after just two days.  After arriving back in Kaohsiung I realized two things.  The further north you go on the island, even a little bit, it really cools off quickly.  In comparison to Kenting, Kaohsiung is practically the tundra.  I also noticed the pollution in Kaohsiung for the first time.  It wasn't bad by any means but it hasn't rained in many days (abnormally) and so the smog is starting to build up.  Hopefully the rains will come soon, they tell me not to wish for that and soon I will regret it but I miss falling asleep to the sound of rain on the window.  

Tomorrow I will have a brand new experience.  I am driving myself and two other teachers from Kaohsiung to Taichung.  I am the only one with an International Driving Permit so... bring on the adventure!  Thankfully one of the teachers is Singaporian so she can translate signs for me and we are borrowing a friend's GPS. 

Don't worry.  I have a couple of posts already scheduled so if anything happens you all can still get your Taiwanese fix. :-p  I am kidding.  Nothing bad will happen.  It is going to be a lot of fun!