Days 4 and 5

Monday was apartment hunting day. While altogether stressful, difficult, and grueling, the day did give us a chance to explore the neighborhood of Da'an, to explore NTU's campus, and to try a great Italian restaurant near campus. In the end I decided on a beautiful apartment less than a ten minute walk from class. The apartment was relatively cheap, clean, and spacious.

Today we slept in, ate breakfast, rested, ate lunch at the lovely vegetarian restaurant, and headed out on the best tour yet. The tour bus talk us through the winding mountain roads in the northern suburbs of Taipei to Yangming Mountain, where ruling green hills give way to rocky craters spouting hot sulfuric steam. We did some light hiking with lovely views of the eerily green hills, not too overpowering smells of the hot springs, and at one point a view of Taipei 101 in the Taipei basin to the distance. We also hiked on a path that led through picturesque ponds and gardens where one newly-wedded couple was taking photos.

Next we want to a spa and bathed in the warm sulfuric water. It was relaxing, soothing, and felt great for my back and skin. My bracelet got tarnished but hopefully that will clear up.

On the road I heard snippets of a conversation our tour bus driver was having with a tourist from Malaysia. They talked about the Chinese community in Malaysia and the differences between those with Hakka and Hokkien blood and between the Sino-Malaysians and Taiwanese. They also talked about immigration to Taiwan and how that was affecting employment. The driver claimed immigrants from throughout Southeast Asia were taking away jobs from the Taiwanese but much of the blame really lay at the feet of the youth in Taiwan who he contrasted with his generation: "They all want to be managers. No one wants to start low and work hard to work their way up. So, they end up unemployed."

We ate dinner at a good Japanese restaurant.

Tomorrow we head to other parts of Taiwan!

Pictures:

Hot Spring at Yangmingshan.

Lizard on the trail.

View.

Taiwan University's campus.

More of the lovely campus.