Several months ago I was leaving my SAT student’s house. I didn’t know which bus went to the Gongguan district and was asking a group of women for help. I kept saying “Gaangguan?” They continually looked at me suspiciously and moved away. I thought their reaction was strange considering how overly helpful most Taiwanese people are. Several travelers have told me they are amazed by the fact all they need to do is touch a map and someone will stop them to offer help. Anyway, it wasn’t until I was mentioning this to my friend Jane, that I understood my mistake. Jane laughed and explained that if you pronounce it “Gaangguan” it means stripper pole. Ergo, I was fervently asking this group of elderly women for a dance or perhaps where I could find work. This is the way I learned the meaning of that word. Obviously, a very important part of my vocabulary. Today was the first time that word came into use….
Anne drove us to the most impressive temple I have seen thus far in Taiwan. It felt more like a town than a singular building. She did a very nice job of explaining different Buddhas and when you would pray to each. There was a stone depiction of the zodiac calendar. Anne told us to touch each animal in the wheel starting with the animal that represents this year (the horse). Then to go around again, but to stop on the animal that represents the year of our birth. I was born in the year of the rabbit. This process is meant to protect you and give you good health for the year. It was obvious that this temple means a lot to Anne and is a very special place for the locals.
Back to the good stuff. So when we first approached the temple music was blasting from some loud speakers and there were five jeeps lined up. Not only were these jeeps brightly colored, but they had gaanguans on top. That is right folks. These jeeps came equipped with stripper poles!!! Apparently, to celebrate certain gods’ birthdays women will provocatively dance on top of jeeps. One of my friends told me in the old days they actually stripped naked. I was flabbergasted to say the least. I have to say I think this god was created by a man. This is the only photo I took where you can kind of see one of the women. I didn’t want to be invasive.
We then rode to a famous shaved ice and fruit store that has been open since 1947! I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Tainan. It is directly across the street from the Confucius Temple. There is also a famous used book store around the corner. More importantly, a very special person joined us. LIYA! Two months ago I couchsurfed in Penghu and she was my host. I was very touched by the fact that she flew to Taipei and then took a train down to Tainan to visit me. We spent some time discussing living presently, relationships, and just how life has been the past two months. It felt so good to fall back into our quick fire banter and to have the feeling of speaking with an old friend. Liya said that she felt we were friend soul mates or kindred spirits. In Chinese there is a word for people or souls you believe you knew in a past life. For some reason we both had this sensation upon first meeting and are so lucky to have found each other. Liya and I went to an Italian restaurant to catch up, while Anne and Myles met up with several of his old students. At the end of our time together I got a bit teary. I took a moment and appreciated the feeling of sadness of saying goodbye, because it meant that I had someone so important in my life. As the scooter pulled away from the train station I ran through a list of the people I am so thankful for and was grateful for how long that list is.
Next stop was the Chihkan Tower. It was built in 1653 by the Dutch as both a fort (Fort Providentia) and an administrative complex. When Koxinga led a group of Chinese soldiers (Koxinga came from the Ming Dynasty and had hopes of kicking out the Qing Dynasty) to take Tainan after liberating Penghu, he was told by the locals about a waterway that is only present at night due to the ocean tides. The Dutch were unaware of this waterway and thus did not realize the huge weakness in their defenses. When Fort Providentia was taken by Koxinga, it was renamed in Chinese to mean “Tower of Red-haired Barbarians”. It is a must see and is best visited at night!
On the way home we visited an old art street and saw the largest night market in Tainan. The heavy rain made the scooter ride home even more eventful. Anne has done a magnificent job of showing us the city!
Stay tuned for an update from my meditation retreat. I will be offline 9/12-9/13. I hope to share details of my experience with the Buddhists this Sunday.
Anne drove us to the most impressive temple I have seen thus far in Taiwan. It felt more like a town than a singular building. She did a very nice job of explaining different Buddhas and when you would pray to each. There was a stone depiction of the zodiac calendar. Anne told us to touch each animal in the wheel starting with the animal that represents this year (the horse). Then to go around again, but to stop on the animal that represents the year of our birth. I was born in the year of the rabbit. This process is meant to protect you and give you good health for the year. It was obvious that this temple means a lot to Anne and is a very special place for the locals.
Back to the good stuff. So when we first approached the temple music was blasting from some loud speakers and there were five jeeps lined up. Not only were these jeeps brightly colored, but they had gaanguans on top. That is right folks. These jeeps came equipped with stripper poles!!! Apparently, to celebrate certain gods’ birthdays women will provocatively dance on top of jeeps. One of my friends told me in the old days they actually stripped naked. I was flabbergasted to say the least. I have to say I think this god was created by a man. This is the only photo I took where you can kind of see one of the women. I didn’t want to be invasive.
We then rode to a famous shaved ice and fruit store that has been open since 1947! I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Tainan. It is directly across the street from the Confucius Temple. There is also a famous used book store around the corner. More importantly, a very special person joined us. LIYA! Two months ago I couchsurfed in Penghu and she was my host. I was very touched by the fact that she flew to Taipei and then took a train down to Tainan to visit me. We spent some time discussing living presently, relationships, and just how life has been the past two months. It felt so good to fall back into our quick fire banter and to have the feeling of speaking with an old friend. Liya said that she felt we were friend soul mates or kindred spirits. In Chinese there is a word for people or souls you believe you knew in a past life. For some reason we both had this sensation upon first meeting and are so lucky to have found each other. Liya and I went to an Italian restaurant to catch up, while Anne and Myles met up with several of his old students. At the end of our time together I got a bit teary. I took a moment and appreciated the feeling of sadness of saying goodbye, because it meant that I had someone so important in my life. As the scooter pulled away from the train station I ran through a list of the people I am so thankful for and was grateful for how long that list is.
Next stop was the Chihkan Tower. It was built in 1653 by the Dutch as both a fort (Fort Providentia) and an administrative complex. When Koxinga led a group of Chinese soldiers (Koxinga came from the Ming Dynasty and had hopes of kicking out the Qing Dynasty) to take Tainan after liberating Penghu, he was told by the locals about a waterway that is only present at night due to the ocean tides. The Dutch were unaware of this waterway and thus did not realize the huge weakness in their defenses. When Fort Providentia was taken by Koxinga, it was renamed in Chinese to mean “Tower of Red-haired Barbarians”. It is a must see and is best visited at night!
On the way home we visited an old art street and saw the largest night market in Tainan. The heavy rain made the scooter ride home even more eventful. Anne has done a magnificent job of showing us the city!
Stay tuned for an update from my meditation retreat. I will be offline 9/12-9/13. I hope to share details of my experience with the Buddhists this Sunday.
