Formosa - Flowers I

The flowers here are spectacular. We've visitied two orchid greenhouses, where the orchids are like completely different species of plant than what we have. In Tennessee, I'm happy just to keep one flower bud - or maybe, just to keep the orchid alive.

Chang Kai-Chek

We recently visited the burial grounds of Chiang Kai Shek, nationalist leader of the Republic of China from the 1920s until the mid 1970s. Public sentiment seems to vary about the legacy of Chiang Kai Shek, nevertheless, here at his favorite vacation home in Cahu, which has been converted to a grand public park and grounds, his persona is presented colorfully and diversely. The hats and prints suggest a pop culture phenomenon, while the multiple-times daily changing of the guard at the location of his tomb suggest an historical significance akin to the eternal flame at Arlington Cemetary. We'll visit the memorial grounds in Taipei this week, which was originally named the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, recently changed to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, and then, more recently, changed back again. I was told at the Cahu
site that he was often depicted in statue in a sitting position because of the allusion to Abraham Lincoln - and apparently at the Memorial Hall, this is no different. (Picture above taken from Wikipedia - showing the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall statue.)

Gao Yi Elementary School

We had the privilege of driving two hours one way up very windy, narrow mountain roads to the Gao Yi Elementary School. This school literally sits on a mountainside. The students are native Aborigines of Taiwan. At the school, they are required to study Mandarin, English and their native Aboriginal language.

Local Rotary clubs recently helped the school obtain computers for use in the classroom. Their newest project is to provide solar hot water heaters for the school. This is a public school but apparently with limited resources. Interestingly, because of the difficulty in travel for these students, about 80% actually live at the school and only go home on weekends.

I learned that they do not have a library. I spoke with local Rotarians about the possibility of teaming with them to secure a RI matching grant to provide a library or other needed matters for this school.

We videoed the native dance performed by the children, but the clip is to large to download here.







This is a line of rubber boots worn by the students who helped prepare and serve lunch.

This shows a wild pig who wandered onto the small campus while we there there. The California GSE Team was not bashful about visiting with the pig. The Tennessee GSE Team declined.

Not the Icecream Man...