Tainan at Random

Here is a random set of photos I took the other day when I had a bit of free time. It made me realize it's been a long time since I took a long walk in Tainan with my camera. I need to do it more often.

I love the density in Tainan. Check all the different roof levels. The water towers, temples, antennas, and trees all add to Tainan's charms.

A lot of different/strange buildings will often poke out in Tainan.

Tainan also has a great contrast between the old, not so old, and very new.

A bicycle contraption under wraps.

A set of tube houses. I like the vertical white lines that two of them have. The one with the metal siding in the front was being renovated.

A temple roof peaks over another rooftop.

A church.

And across the street, a temple.

More levels of density and another peaking temple.

Another mix of old and new, but in the form of a bicycle.

Tainan's bus system experienced a rebirth a few years ago and has been slowly expanding. Here is one of their fancier stops in the city center. It includes a route map, a digital display in Chinese and English explaining when the next bus will come, and personalized information for the family education center behind the stop.

Lameness Attacks the Falun Gong

The Taipei Times is reporting today that the Tainan City Government is going to start to 'persuade' the Falun Dong to move from their current position at Fort Provincia (Chihkan Tower) in Tainan.

The article refers to them as 'protesters' which is true because they are protesting the mistreatment of the Falun Gong by the Chinese Government, but 'protesters' can be a bit of a strong word. Their form of protesting is having a stand on the sidewalk with big signs and pamphlets of information available, not making a ruckus as the article implies. I thought this was rather amusing:

According to city officials, Falun Gong devotees have gathered in front of the fort for a long time, which officials believe has put tremendous pressure on the city’s tourism.

The fort is one of Tainan's busiest tourist attractions and is packed with people on the weekend. The idea that the Falun Gong has put pressure on the tourism industry is not only ridiculous, but a lie.

This line made me laugh:

They also post signs, which he said violate traffic regulations restricting the posting of advertisements.

The city cares about signs by the road? I must have missed that memo. While I'll give the City credit for doing a lot of work cleaning up Tainan the last few years, they have definitely not started caring about 'traffic regulations'.

Unfortunately the real reason for moving the Falun Gong is not traffic regulations (NOTE: If this was part of a wider movement to clean up the traffic and sidewalks in Tainan I would support it), but shielding Chinese tourists from information:

The city was particularly concerned about the possibility of a repeat of an incident on June 21 as the city gears up to welcome the expected influx of Chinese tourists next month.

On that day, a delegation of Chinese travel representatives visited the historic Fort Provincia in Tainan City. The fort was built in 1653.

Fearing that Chinese visitors would clash with the Falun Gong protesters gathered at the fort, the city government reportedly moved the protesters to another spot before arranging for the representatives to enter the fort via a side door.

In view of the city government’s handling of the Falun Gong devotees, some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors yesterday expressed concern about the matter, calling on the city government not to remove or use any forceful action against the group.

If Taiwan is going to be letting Chinese tourists in on a large scale this is the last thing they should be doing. Moving protests? Shuttling Chinese visitors through side doors? The government should be trying to expose them to the freedom of opinion that Taiwan enjoys, not hiding them from it. I'm disappointed in Tainan. Putting money before freedom of speech is not a promising sign for the city or Taiwan.

Graduation Day at NCKU

Since I helped organize the IIMBA graduation this year, I happened to be on campus with my camera.

Grads from the IIMBA. International students have an increasingly large presence at NCKU.

Families taking pictures.

Enjoying the day.

Outside the Chung Cheng Hall where NCKU's official school-wide ceremony took place.

A lone grad.

Vendors sold flowers/dolls for the grads.

Police keeping order.

Not really sure what she was doing...

A discussion in front of the College of Management building.

A final procession of grads to finish off my day.

Taiwan Tea

One of the most common sights you'll ever see in Taiwan are cups like these (usually bigger). They contain the drink that everyone living in this country consumes several times a week. Every sip is as good as the next.

Oh wonderful tea.

River Work

Here are some pictures of work being done on a stream behind my apartment complex. At one time it must have been a gentle meandering stream, but now its mainly fed by kitchen runoff. I've read before the city plans on covering it because of the stench and as part of the effort to have most of Tainan hooked up to proper sewer connections. The signs here say this is a straightening project, but further downstream they seam to have already started work on covering it.

Machines are hard at work seven days a week.

A lot of people have been interested in the construction.

The other two cranes.

A man and his machine.

Too bad

Energy, energy, energy. The price of oil is so high, it's extensive use has caused wars, corruption, environmental degradation and everyone's favorite, the North American suburban way of life. Oh the suburbs, you're so silly. It's OK though. We don't need to worry because the US government works for the betterment of mankind, realizes the post WWII expansion of the suburbs was a mistake, and is promoting the use of alternative energy, right? Isn't it? Oh...no it's not.

Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season.

So, the solution to the problem is to encourage people to drive more? What a wonderful idea. I was stupid to think it was to encourage people not to drive all the time and promote other means of transportation. Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network sums up the American policy quite nicely:

Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.

The best policy ever. Rhone Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, has this to say.

In 1997, said Resch, America was the leader in solar energy technology, with 40 percent of global solar production. “Last year, we were less than 8 percent, and even most of that was manufacturing for overseas markets.”

Looking good. Not that Canada is any better. For example, the City of Vancouver which is often recognized as being on of the most sustainable North American cities has a bus system that is just too expensive to be adopted on a larger scale. When I was back in Canada a few months ago I wanted to go to a shopping area, waste a few hours, and then come home. Since it was too far to walk, I had the choice of borrowing my Mom's car or taking the bus. For two people, the total for the bus trip would have cost $10. Guess which one I took? Need a hint? The answer involves me behind a wheel and burning fossil fuels.

Student Council Web page

It's up and running. Through the hard word of some dedicated students we finally have a web page for the Student Council. It's neat, simple and most importantly easy to use. I think it will be huge for promoting our program as well as a way for the Council to communicate with the student body. There's still a lot that needs to be done in terms of content, but it's a great start. So far, it's been used to promote some events and as a way to give students an update on how AACSB accreditation is going.

The key to its success will be how much we update the site. If we don't update it, it won't attract any readers. It needs to be used properly, so it can be handed down to the next group of students and made a permanent fixture of the IMBA.

Check it out:
http://www.imba.ncku.edu.tw/studentscouncil/

On Mission

The Wall Street Journal had a good article recently about the recent recovery of Ford. One thing the new CEO, Alan Mulally, has done that really struck me was a step made to keep managers on mission.

Mr. Mulally started making managers carry around pocket-sized plastic cards outlining his "One Ford" vision in bullet points. At the top of the card: Ford's blue oval.

It's an excellent idea, especially when an organization is having an identity crisis. One of the problems he was having when he first came on as CEO was the amount of different brands Ford has, and the distraction from the core they were causing. Actually when the president of Ford Taiwan spoke to my class last semester he talked about the same problem. Ford has been making too many different brands in Taiwan and the customers just ended up with a confused image of what the company stands for.

The pocket-sized card idea would be a good one for the IMBA at NCKU. The program is new and still has a lot of kinks to work out, but all in all it's a good program. Sometimes though it's hard for the students to keep positive which obviously effects the of word of mouth marketing that could promote the program. A small and profession card with the IMBA's mission/vission written on it doesn't sound like much, but it could serve to remind the students that there is a purpose and direction behind what they are studying.

The Right To Dry

One thing I love about Taiwan is that pretty much everyone hangs out their laundry to dry rather than using electric dryers. I found this good article in the New York Times that discusses how some people in Canada, and other countries, actually have legal barriers to hanging their laundry outside.

I found this quote to be rather interesting:

The British retailer ASDA said that in the first four months of 2007, the most recent period forwhich numbers were available, sales of clotheslines and washing lines rose 150 percent andsales of clothespins over 1,000 percent.

And I found this one to be rather depressing:

The gas guzzlers of household appliances, electric dryers use about as much energy as a refrigerator — consuming more than 6 percent of household energy — even though they areused only intermittently.

Go air dry!

NCKU Application Deadline Extended

If you're still thinking about applying to NCKU, you might be happy to know that you have a little extra time to procrastinate. The deadline for application for international students has been extended until the end of April.

Office of International Affairs

OIA's Announcement

Taiwan Scholarship

Here is a link to a page with information about the Taiwan Scholarship. In addition to getting tuition waved, international students can apply for a scholarship. There are different versions of the scholarship, but it typically ends up being a monthly stipend of around NT$30,000. I personally didn't reply because I already have employment as an English teacher.

http://www.moetwdc.org/English/Taiwan%20Scholarship.htm

The NCKU Campus

One good reason to choose NCKU is the beautiful campus. Check out this link to a Flickr search for NCKU to see the gorgeous environment of the university. This includes the people as well. The local students, and in Tainan in general, are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ncku

I've been living pretty near the university campus for almost five years now (my time in Taiwan) and I included a tour of the campus when family members come to visit. The campus is located in central Tainan, right behind Tainan's historic train station. This a very convenient location for transportation as the train system in Taiwan is very well run and can get you almost anywhere you want to go. If you don't want to take the train the area near the station includes several bus companies. For a little extra money you can take the luxury buses that include your own lazy boy recliner and TV screen. And of course if you want to take something even faster you can take the HSR. Taiwan Rail is also building a connector line (kind of like a mini MRT) that will connect Tainan's HSR station to the Tainan Train Station.

Below is the Google Earth image of NCKU. By looking at this you can get an idea of the density in Tainan and the kind of low density sanctuary the university provides. The train station is where the traffic circle is on the left and the large green space on the top left is Tainan Park.


There is a large tower (shown below) with a department store at its base right next to campus. In another sign that Tainan is growing up (the city has changed a lot in the five years I've been here), the tower is being turned into a Shangri-la hotel. It should be completed before the end of the year. A Four Seasons hotel is also currently being built in the city.

Update: I've been told that the Four Seasons has been canceled because existing luxury hotel next door felt threatened. Construction seems to have stopped.

Some more info

Here is a link to 'Study in Taiwan' for anyone out there looking for more information about coming to Taiwan to pursue their education.

http://www.studyintaiwan.org/index.php

NCKU

I think I'll use this blog from now on to write about NCKU related issues. If anybody is reading this....I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have about NCKU. The school is really pushing to get new international students right now and they offer various incentives such as:

1)Free tution
2)Free room and board
3)Free Chinese lessons

The program with the most international students is the IMBA program in the College of Management. The student body is a mix of international and Taiwanese students. It's a relatively new program, so I wouldn't say it is free of problems, but I don't regret my decision to enter for a second. I'm gaining valuable international and cultural experience, making friends from all over the world and of course, getting and MBA.

NCKU is one of the top universities in Taiwan and trying its best to increase its rankings internationally. The leadership of the school has been working really hard to achieve this goal.

The deadline to apply is in 19 days. There is still a lot of time.

If you're looking for information, check out the links I've listed under 'NCKU' on the right hand side of my page. You can start with INCKU, a student portal started by a PHD student in the College of Management.

You can get application information at the Office of International Affairs (OIA) website or at the IMBA website.

Umm

Well...I clearly haven't written anything in here for quite a long time.

The first post!

After serious consideration I have decided to make my life blogtastic.