As some of you already know, i’m going to be living in Taiwan for a year on Foreign Exchange.
I didn’t know where i was going to live but i just figured out today, i’m going to Tainan.
It’s pretty cool because my to be host sister is in the U.S right now on foreign exchange… so i’m going back to taiwan just a little bit after her and i’m going to be living with her for the first 3 or 4 months.
Any info about Tainan would be greatly appreciated… I know the exact street adress of the house but i’m not telling you guys :P. I will tell you that i’m living in Yung-Kung. It says it’s in Tainan but i tried to look it up and it says it’s it’s own city?
Anyway, it’s with Rotary just incase any of you want to know, and i’m leaving August 18th.
EDIT: Oh and i didn’t mention i’m going to be in an All boys school… with uniforms!
lol great… They do use air conditioners right?[/quote]
Constantly.
But not in high schools. Just ceiling fans and open windows. Bring lots of antiperspirant too.[/quote]
Oh i can feel the humidity now… well not really actually since it’s raining.
OH, thats another question. Does it rain a lot down south, or is that more of a Taipei thing?
Also, i hear Tainan is old fasioned… how old fasioned is it?
It rains a lot in Taipei. Yungkang is a rather unpleasant industrial suburb of Tainan with lots of betel nut stands, traffic, and pollution. It’s going to be really, really hot and tough for you to get around since there is almost no public transportation and your host family unlikely to let you ride a scooter. For good reason, since it’s really dangerous to ride a scooter. See if you can get a bicycle.
I lived there for two years and for half that time I was on the border between Yongkang and Tainan. There is pretty much nothing to do in Yongkang - it’s a commuter town for Tainan itself. I imagine that in your free time you’ll be wanting to go into Tainan proper - all the decent shopping, eating and recreational activities. Taxis are not too expensive but as Feiren says a bicycle would be very useful (as long as you take care in the crazy traffic!). If you’d like to talk to someone about the place, feel free to PM me.
Young Kan is an industrial are, its where the “Science Park” is at. There are a number of ‘newer’ homes and residential ‘groups’ inside the “Science Park.”
They exist in splendid isolation. Its a 10 - 15 minute drive/'scooter ride to get to anything outside the “Science Park.”
Tainan itself is another 10 - 15 minutes down, south, the road. And another 10 minutes to actually reach anything other than car dealerships or bin lang stands.
The weather in Tainan is pretty good for the most part. It does get hot, but the sky is blue, the birds sing and the air is somewhat cleaner.
And yeah…it rains. Rained this morning. Will probably rain some more today. But I think its the ‘rainy season’ right now.
[quote=“Springfield”]Wait so is Yongkang the same as YungKung?
If so then yeah thats where I’m going to be.
My host sister said her house is right next to a factory too
EDIT: Wait it’s either Yueng-Kung, Yung Kung, or Yongkang.
Is there a such place as Yueng-Kung? Because thats what it says on her Name card (this thing she gives out to people with her information)[/quote]
Yes, they’re all the same. There are competing standards for romanising Chinese and most Taiwanese have little idea how to use any of the systems consistently. That’s one of the joys of living here. :s
In Hanyu Pinyin, the most common system amongst foreigners and the one used by both Mandarin teachers and the UN (as well as mainland China), the name is written Yongkang. This means “eternal health” although once you see the place you might disagree.
lol great… They do use air conditioners right?[/quote]
Constantly.
But not in high schools. Just ceiling fans and open windows. Bring lots of antiperspirant too.[/quote]
Oh I can feel the humidity now… well not really actually since it’s raining.
OH, thats another question. Does it rain a lot down south, or is that more of a Taipei thing?
Also, I hear Tainan is old fasioned… how old fasioned is it?[/quote]
Are you going to staying in city or county? I supposed to be a lot different in between the two.
Tainan city had been on the map more than 300 years, if you call that old-fashioned.
In a while you would found its subculture mecca in this island, strongest skate scene as well.
I dont think there’s many all boy school in that region, are you going to 1st or 2nd high??
[quote=“Springfield”]Oh cool Doesn’t sound like the type of place I’d wanna be for a year.
Are people there poor-ish or are some people wealthy?[/quote]Spring -
Can’t answer that. That really shouldn’t be a factor in your decisions.
You’ll make friends, get invited to their homes and probably have a good time.
Just dont start judging things with the wrong frame of reference.
“This ain’t Kansas Dorothy”…to paraphrase an old movie line.
