Daan Forest Park in Taipei (Orientation) & Language

These photos were taken at Daan Forest Park near my hotel in Taipei. The first two weeks we had an orientation at the Howard Hotel with Taiwanese teachers. We learned about the structure of schools, lesson planning, culture, language (Ni Hao 'Hello', Xie Xie 'Thank you', Ang Jing! 'Sit Down-Be Quiet', Wo shi laoshir 'I am a teacher'). Chinese is easy in that there are no verb tenses, but it is hard in that there are four tones. So, 'I eat dumplings' becomes 'I eat shit' if you use the wrong tone. Makes you want to go out and practice your Chinese doesn't it? Actually, Taiwanese people are very receptive to foreigners who try to speak their language (unlike some European countries I've visited). And, you can get by with simple English and gestures in a pinch.


I think it's Buddha, but I'm not sure.
There was an old woman walking around
the statue and praying. She gave me
the happiest smile of anyone in the
park that day.
These are wooden sculptures.
They seem very American to me.
Almost like settlers heading out for
the new West.

Some kind of concert in the park.
They were video cameras and
an attractive woman (host) introducing
each song.



The lagoon in the middle of the park.
The park is quite large.