Hello,
On behalf of D5580 Team Taiwan we are excited to have our counterparts from Taiwan here in the US!! Tuna, Tina, Ada, Louise and Sean. We hope you have as great of a time as we did! Follow their travels as they blog
http://tw348009gse.blogspot.com/
Monday, May 4, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Post Script - D5580 District Conference
Greetings from Minot North Dakota USA - where D5580 is gathering this weekend for the annual District Assembly and Conference. I (Mary Anne) have had the opportunity to visit with our Taiwan friends from the inbound team here and look forward to their first presentation tomorrow (Saturday). After watching their rehearsal this afternoon I am confident that they are ready and will charm these northern Rotarians.
All of our 2009 Team Taiwan members have emailed this week to reinforce their thoughts regarding an absolutely outstanding GSE experience in D3480. While we are glad to be home, we realize that a little piece of ourselves has stayed with our Taiwanese friends who have become like extended families to us. Thank you again, D3480, for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share in your world for a short time. You really did "touch our hearts"!!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Home Sweet Home! THANK YOU ROTARY!!!
After about 24 hours of travel, our team made it back home last night. It was hard to leave our new friends in Taiwan, and they definitely sent us off in style. Our final days were full of fun and fellowship.
Saturday and Sunday our team had a booth at the District Conference. Our "giveaways" including pins, stickers, Post-It Notes, sunflower seeds and soybeans, along with our "puppets" made it a popular location! We were able to meet and talk with many Rotarins from the district, and also had the opportunity to chat with Rotary Youth Exchange students from throughout the world. On Saturday night, we attended a banquet for the Rotary International representative and had yet another 11-course meal! :) Sunday, we did our presentation for about 300+ people at the conference. They were a very receptive audience and sang and clapped along!
After the conference, we were joined by the UK GSE Team, as well as members from the outbound UK and Taiwan teams, for one last session of KTV! From "I Will Survive" and "The YMCA" to Taiwanese pop hits, members of all four GSE teams sang and danced for hours! We even learned some new dance moves from our Taiwanese friends! :)
Monday was our last day in Taiwan. We all checked into the "Grand Hotel" for our last night and spent the afternoon relaxing and some of us even went for a swim in the hotel's beautiful olympic sized pool. I think we wanted to squeeze every moment possible out of the warm weather!
That evening, we were joined by all our new friends, host families and the other GSE Teams for a Farewell Party. As funny as it sounds, it was a joyful, yet extremely sad, celebration. We all shared what we had taken from the experience and thanked District 3480 for their overwhelming hospitality. We were joined by the outbound team to show off our singing and dancing skills for the crowd. District 3480 suprised us by presenting us with Chinese scrolls personalized with our new Chinese names. They are beautiful and something that will always remind us of the life-changing experinece we had in Taiwan.
As we said our goodbyes, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. As the GSE Chair PP Paul put it, "Our time together was short, but intense." :) It amazed us all that you could make so many great friends in such a short amount of time.
The next day, a handful of Rotarians came to the hotel/airport in the early morning to send us off. We said one last tearful goodbye to the people and country we had grown so fond of! Thankfully, we will see some of these new friends again as we host the GSE Team from District 3480 this April/May!
Thank you District 5580, 3480 and Rotary International for this amazing experience! You really did "make our dreams real!"
Saturday and Sunday our team had a booth at the District Conference. Our "giveaways" including pins, stickers, Post-It Notes, sunflower seeds and soybeans, along with our "puppets" made it a popular location! We were able to meet and talk with many Rotarins from the district, and also had the opportunity to chat with Rotary Youth Exchange students from throughout the world. On Saturday night, we attended a banquet for the Rotary International representative and had yet another 11-course meal! :) Sunday, we did our presentation for about 300+ people at the conference. They were a very receptive audience and sang and clapped along! After the conference, we were joined by the UK GSE Team, as well as members from the outbound UK and Taiwan teams, for one last session of KTV! From "I Will Survive" and "The YMCA" to Taiwanese pop hits, members of all four GSE teams sang and danced for hours! We even learned some new dance moves from our Taiwanese friends! :)
Monday was our last day in Taiwan. We all checked into the "Grand Hotel" for our last night and spent the afternoon relaxing and some of us even went for a swim in the hotel's beautiful olympic sized pool. I think we wanted to squeeze every moment possible out of the warm weather!
That evening, we were joined by all our new friends, host families and the other GSE Teams for a Farewell Party. As funny as it sounds, it was a joyful, yet extremely sad, celebration. We all shared what we had taken from the experience and thanked District 3480 for their overwhelming hospitality. We were joined by the outbound team to show off our singing and dancing skills for the crowd. District 3480 suprised us by presenting us with Chinese scrolls personalized with our new Chinese names. They are beautiful and something that will always remind us of the life-changing experinece we had in Taiwan. As we said our goodbyes, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. As the GSE Chair PP Paul put it, "Our time together was short, but intense." :) It amazed us all that you could make so many great friends in such a short amount of time.
The next day, a handful of Rotarians came to the hotel/airport in the early morning to send us off. We said one last tearful goodbye to the people and country we had grown so fond of! Thankfully, we will see some of these new friends again as we host the GSE Team from District 3480 this April/May!
Thank you District 5580, 3480 and Rotary International for this amazing experience! You really did "make our dreams real!"
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Placing of the Rock
Our day started with a beautiful breakfast on the hotel terrace overlooking the lake. The fog and mist lifted early this morning and the sunny view over our coffee was absolutely spectacular. We decided that TODAY would be the day of the "placing of the rock" - our GSE Committee at home gave us a painted stone to leave in an appropriate place on our journey, and we couldn't imagine a nicer home than Sun Moon Lake. So we found a good spot and had some ceremonial photographs before leaving a little piece of D5580 behind. Look closely at the photo - the heart-shaped stone that we left is at the base of the large rock. 
We then spent some time at the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village nearby, learning about the customs, music, and dance of the 9 indigenous tribes. We were impressed with the demonstrations and many of us even took part in the Wish Bead Ceremony, where we made a wish using a beetle-nut. Some of the more adventurous ones went on some of the roller coaster rides as well.
As we traveled back to Taipei we shared stories, laughs, and iPod tunes with our new friends from D1220 in the UK. It's amazing how a few days on a bus can make new acquaintences feel like old friends in a hurry. On the way home we stopped for dinner at a very nice golf course, where we were seated in the VIP room at the largest round table any of us had ever seen. The lazy Susan alone is bigger than most dining room tables. Once back in Taipei, our hosts took us home so we can prepare for the District Conference which starts tomorrow. Wan An!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Heading South to Sun Moon Lake
Our Thursday started with a bus tour going south this time, toward Sun Moon Lake. We first stopped at the Yuli Distillery for a tour and samples of rice wine, and saw photographs of the 1999 earthquake that devastated the area. A little further down the road, our multi-course yummy lunch was at the Ching Sheng Restaurant, and after lunch we had a chance to walk across the street to the Wen Wu Temple to have a look around. A chartered boat was our next mode of transportation, and we rode through the rain around to see the sights of Sun Moon Lake, which is incredibly beautiful even when it's pouring!!!!!
The boat brought us to the Harbor Resort Hotel, where we unpacked, dried off, and had a walk around the town before dinner. Can you believe that there's a Starbucks less than a block from us??? Dinner was held on a private balcony overlooking the town, and as usual, we had more than enough to eat. We all sampled the rice wine in between courses of chicken, beef, vegetables, and fish. The evening was open for relaxing, so we had great conversations with our new friends from D1220 and looked in awe at the mountain views from our balconies. Another great day!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Yilan, Keelung and More!
After a relaxing evening of soaking in the hot springs in Yilan, we were ready for another big day of site-seeing! We started out of a cultural village where we were able to see traditional arts and crafts. We also took in musical and dance performances.
After lunch, we made a stop at a winery where we learned more about the history and manufacturing of wine in the Yilan area.
Our final destinatin of the day was the city of Keelung, which happens to be the "sister city" of Therese's hometown of Thunder Bay Ontario! We were able to meet with the major of the city and Therese presented him with special gifts provided by her city. We also watched the sunset over the Keelung Harbor and got some great photos with the giant state of the "Goddess of the Sea."
We hit up Keelung's night market for dinner. Everyone is learning the favorite dishes and bubble milk tea, spring rolls, and strawberries dipped in a sweet red syrup were among tonight's top choices. Some of us also tried some adventurous eating - pig tongue, intestines and ovaries were also on tonight's menu! :)
Tonight, we are back with our host families in Taipei and ready to hit the road again tomorrow for a trip to Sun Moon Lake!
After lunch, we made a stop at a winery where we learned more about the history and manufacturing of wine in the Yilan area.
Our final destinatin of the day was the city of Keelung, which happens to be the "sister city" of Therese's hometown of Thunder Bay Ontario! We were able to meet with the major of the city and Therese presented him with special gifts provided by her city. We also watched the sunset over the Keelung Harbor and got some great photos with the giant state of the "Goddess of the Sea."
We hit up Keelung's night market for dinner. Everyone is learning the favorite dishes and bubble milk tea, spring rolls, and strawberries dipped in a sweet red syrup were among tonight's top choices. Some of us also tried some adventurous eating - pig tongue, intestines and ovaries were also on tonight's menu! :)
Tonight, we are back with our host families in Taipei and ready to hit the road again tomorrow for a trip to Sun Moon Lake!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Traveling
During our last week in District 3480 we are spending a few days exploring the island on a couple of mini-trips. On Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday we are traveling to the east coast of Taiwan to Hualien, Taroko Gorge, and Keelung. We'll return to Taipei briefly on Wednesday night to re-pack a bit, and then Thursday/Friday we'll head south to the Sun Moon Lake area.T
he scenery at Taroko Gorge is spectacular and breathtaking - walls of rock as high as the eye can see with a very narrow road for the tour buses to navigate.
he scenery at Taroko Gorge is spectacular and breathtaking - walls of rock as high as the eye can see with a very narrow road for the tour buses to navigate. We are traveling on a tour bus that is not only very comfortable, it's also equipped with karaoke, so we've spent some time singing some of the miles away. It's really a pleasure to travel with the D1220 team from the United Kingdom; it's fun to have some time with them as they begin their Taipei adventure and we are finishing ours.
We look forward to the weekend District Conference as well, which will be held in the Taipei Grand Hotel. There we will greet all the D3480 Rotarians on behalf of our friends and families in D5580. The Rotary family truly is international.
As always, our wonderful Rotarian hosts are taking care of the details and encouaging us to relax and enjoy the experience. PP Paul, PP Tuna, PP Susan, Liz, and Albert are our wonderful hosts for this trip.
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