So it is a almost 2:30am, and I have just awoken to the entire apartment building I am in shaking and swaying back and forth! I am guessing it was an earth tremor. I live on the ninth floor of a 25 story apartment building, and I was completely unprepared for the whole experience. I ran downstairs to ask the security guard if everything was okay, and he laughed and nodded.
Anyway, I guess since I am up it is a good time to catch up on my blogging. I have just started my second week of classes at TLI and things are going well. I met a student, Elaine, in the Agricultural Education Department at National Taiwan University who has agreed to be my language partner and help me practice speaking outside of class. I also have been spending a lot of time practicing character writing.
Sunday I went one a run with the China Hash, a local running club, through the Shih Ding Hills. The run location was about an hour and a half bus ride from Taipei, and the scenery as beautiful! I have included some pictures below. The club has been around for more than 20 years, and the members a mixture of Taiwanese and foreigners living in Taipei. The hash is not a typical race. The way it works is a couple "hares" start the race 15 minutes before the rest of the group, and they mark the running trail by dropping flour markings every 20-30 meters. Every so often the hares make a check point, which is a huge circle with an "x" through it. This means that the next trail marking is within 100 meters, but could be in any direction. Hashers (the people running the trail) yell out special phrases to help others behind them find the right path. The run lasts about 50 minute and the whole event is great fun. It is like an extreme type of cross country. The trail last weekend wove up and down a mountain through terraced tea farms and bamboo forests, ending at a refreshing pond in the valley. After the run there is a "hash bash", or party, at a local restaurant to celebrate.
Below are pictures of the gathering place to start/end the race, as well as part of the trail. You can see that some parts of the trail had clear markings, while other parts were a bit more ambiguous.
Anyway, I guess since I am up it is a good time to catch up on my blogging. I have just started my second week of classes at TLI and things are going well. I met a student, Elaine, in the Agricultural Education Department at National Taiwan University who has agreed to be my language partner and help me practice speaking outside of class. I also have been spending a lot of time practicing character writing.
Sunday I went one a run with the China Hash, a local running club, through the Shih Ding Hills. The run location was about an hour and a half bus ride from Taipei, and the scenery as beautiful! I have included some pictures below. The club has been around for more than 20 years, and the members a mixture of Taiwanese and foreigners living in Taipei. The hash is not a typical race. The way it works is a couple "hares" start the race 15 minutes before the rest of the group, and they mark the running trail by dropping flour markings every 20-30 meters. Every so often the hares make a check point, which is a huge circle with an "x" through it. This means that the next trail marking is within 100 meters, but could be in any direction. Hashers (the people running the trail) yell out special phrases to help others behind them find the right path. The run lasts about 50 minute and the whole event is great fun. It is like an extreme type of cross country. The trail last weekend wove up and down a mountain through terraced tea farms and bamboo forests, ending at a refreshing pond in the valley. After the run there is a "hash bash", or party, at a local restaurant to celebrate.
Below are pictures of the gathering place to start/end the race, as well as part of the trail. You can see that some parts of the trail had clear markings, while other parts were a bit more ambiguous.
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