Shrimping.....Taiwan Style

The last week has been wonderful. I have a ton of things to share with you all! First, I sat down with two professors from one of Taiwan's top universities. I wanted to get some professionals' ideas about what I should expect as I wander Taipei talking to local people about why they are proud to be Taiwanese. Both of the professors, 朱老师 和陈老师, seemed to feel a very strong connection to China; however, the China they spoke of was not the China of today, but rather, the China of the past. They both mentioned how proud they were that Taiwan and its people have been able to continue to practice many of the ancient customs practiced in ancient China. 朱老师explained that she believes Taiwanese people possess a strong sense of community, and people's kindness and generosity is something that is cyclical and continually gets passed on from one person to the next, creating a harmonious and pleasant society. We certainly have felt this kindness each and every day. People here make sacrifices for one another. For example, every time we have gotten on the train, people jump out of their seats to let Baea and my wife sit down.

In other news, about a week ago, a typhoon hit Taiwan and nothing was open. School and work was cancelled and my plans to visit a local museum were also rendered useless when I found out that the museum was also closed. Luckily, there was one place open that I had wanted to visit for some time, the 掉虾场or shrimp fishing place

About a week ago, a typhoon hit Taiwan and nothing was open. School and work was cancelled and my plans to visit a local museum were also rendered useless when I found out that the museum was also closed. Luckily, there was one place open that I had wanted to visit for some time, the 掉虾场or shrimp fishing place

We arrived at around 10 am and it was quite empty. However, to my surprise, as we were leaving around 1 o'clock, the place began to fill up with people. I asked around to learn more about the activity and while many were able to explain why they enjoyed it, only one person seemed to know when it first started. According to him, fishing for giant Thai prawns started about 30 years ago. People enjoy leisurely activities and loved these giant shrimp and thus, people began raising them on farms in Taiwan. Slowly, people began to develop an interest in fishing for them. Today, you can find a number of these shrimping houses in more rural areas of the island. It certainly was a challenge and I was only able to catch two in three hours of fishing. At 300 New Taiwan Dollars an hour, it ended up being a pretty small and expensive meal, but, it was well worth the experience.