Wednesday week 2

The Lanyang Museum in Yilan on the northwest coast is a must when visiting Taiwan, this wonderful design and interior layout is worth the visit.

The lunch was spent in a local restaurant specializing in fish. We really got to try out many new dishes. Keep an eye on this one !! Eye of a Sunfish, good taste. Wonder how the rest of this 1.000 kg fish taste ?


Guess it is not always sunshine in Yilan ! Umbrella storage is something never seen in Sweden. Very well organized.

Tuesday week 2

Shih-Men Reservoir is one of the big constructions of the world. This dam brought much change to people in the valley. From being flooded by the yearly typhoons, the valley can now prosper and Taiwan can put another tourist attraction on their map.

Today I visited first a medicine market and then a fish market. Fish egg and sea cucumber were things you could buy. And everything is of course good for your health. Many things are medicine I have never heard about before. It's a pity that we don't use this old knowledge more in the Western world. Other than licorice. The Taiwanese people think Swedish licorice taste like Chinese medicine.

Monday week 2

Hot springs is the thing in Taiwan. The country has many springs to choose from and Frida got to try the first. We checked in at our new host families. Rachel lived on 20th floor and Rich on 15th, both had a wonderful view and the families were great. It is so wonderful to meet with the friends you have made under way and to make new friends.
We had the opportunity to participate in one of many Rotary meetings. This special evening there was a fund raising and the contributions would make us feel weak in comparison in Sweden.

Message from Taiwan

Sunday week 1

Today we have laughed the whole day. Our new Rotary club had sent their most humerus members to guide us through todays activities. Museum of 5.000 years old things, famous taiwaneese painters where one painting would sell at 2M$ on the open market.
Foot massage and jewlery store visit and the most famous temple in Taipei. As you can see the day was full of activities and learning. The day ended with a wonderful japaneese dinner.

Saturday week 1

The whole day was spent at the Flower Expo under professional guide by two girls that were so patient with us, they were great. The Rotary club filled a whole bus going there and the day was a success. The area is as big as 65 soccer fields. In the parks you would also find inventive ideas like the house built from PET bottles.

All we are faced with the same dilemma. How can we reduce our emissions. Inventiveness is big in Taiwan how to create new keys and solutions. For example use recycled things as new materials and the house made of PET bottle is one idea. Saving and using energy in other ways is another. All the park with the flowers was both entertainment but also a reminder at the different stops that our resources are finite.

Friday week 1

Time to change families after some wonderful days. It is rather sad to say good bye when you have lived so close for almost a week, but we know we will meet again on the District conference next month.
Sten-Åke will go to IBM Taiwan today and meet with colleagues and discuss differences in Sweden and IBM Taiwan when it comes to how sales is done. First the building was impressive, second the office space was thighter.

Frida went to see a popular Radio station today.

It´s difficult to sum up a week like this. I have never been up to so many things and met so many kind and nice people at the same time. I have been to hot springs, Taipei 101, and discovered the culture in Taiwan with museums, chinese opera and temples.

Anyway, the most interesting exchange has off course been the two TV-stations I have visited. Being able to see how professionals work here is knowledge I couldn’t get without this trip. That is bridgebuilding at a high level. On Tuesday I went to Taiwans oldest TV-station TTV and got a really informative and exciting tour by , Tanhsi Ho, one of the employees.

On Thursday I went to ETTV and was next to one of the TV-anchors, Grace Liand. She showed me the station and also answered all my question about news, ethics, and priority in Taiwan. At the end of the day we sat in the control room and saw when she taped a program for next weekend.

The both stations were very interesting to see and compare to my station home in Sweden.
Circling taipei you can not avoid seeing the 101 every now and then. We have already been there eating at 85-86 story, what a view ! In every street you also find the inventive sign for people crossing the street. When you have little time left the green man starts to move faster and when only 3 sec left is is running.

Today an extremely different motel was at the schedule. I have never seen anything like this before. Every room had an unique style. You had the car room, the horse room, the boxing room and so on.

Thursday week 1

Another visit to TV station that does not have the history of analog
but doing everything digitally.



Fascinating trip to Chiang Kai-shek's memorial park, with a collection of all the statues in Taiwan of his person !

Yesterday I saw the whole TTV. So many impressions, today when I went to another TV-company ETTV I was a bit cooler and more knew what kind of information I wanted to bring home. So I asked if I could take back at one of the anchors. It was no problem and I had the opportunity to join Grace Lians work. She was very patient and took her time to answer all my questions during my visit there. So now I know that the storyboard is much more molded here than in Sweden. I think that can be good sometimes and bad sometimes. The reporters here cover one side of each story in different reports compare to Sweden where one reporter put all sides together in one report. That means every view get more time and I think that is respectful. One thing about Taiwanese TV that shocked me and I don´t like at all is that the anchors can just work on air until they are around 45 years old. That must be waist of so much knowledge. This day gave me a unique insight in Taiwanese news reporting. Also today Japan was of course the big news. The channel had a documentary they prepared to Saturday evening.

After all the information we were starving and went to a restaurant at the top floor at Taipei 101. What a view from the table and from the ladies room. We also had time for a bike tour next to the river bank.

Wednesday week 1

Today's big adventure for Frida is a visit to Taiwan TV company. We followed the production of this evenings news from the control room. Very exciting to see how they do it on the other side of the world and not so different from SVT, but still they have not moved totally to digital production.

To see how to make news in Taiwan was of course very exciting. The company I visited today has almost the same history as my own. The first channel, public service and big in Taiwan. From a news perspective, everything circled of course still around Japan. There are several correspondents who cover every day and deliver to the news. Some things were different, but one interesting thing we share is the pursuit of young viewers. TTV was quite successful this week, but it was prime time when we visited them so unfortunately I didn't have the time asking for the solution.

After this interesting visit we ended up with our guide at a fabulous dumplings restaurant and then some Chinese opera. Wonderful!

Tuesday week 1

Weather changed from 29 to 12 degrees and the wind is around 20m/s, from NW so not coming from Japan and the disasters there. Team-leader to visit a Water cleaning plant for an industrial park and have lunch with leading people of the local 2 million community.

A tour to a temple, Japanese restaurant and hot springs was the schedule for Frida today and the tour guides were lovely women working as nurses, teachers and yoga instructor. Today I got a lesson in old Taiwanese history, religion and how important Chinese medicine is for many people in Taiwan. The view and approach to the body and how you can help the body and get energy by using both Western medicine and Chinese traditions fascinate me.

Monday visiting week 1

After having slept luxurious in a nice hotel in Tau-yuan city we took our first look at our new culture for the coming month. This was one of the few occasions we would not be escorted by our guides. Our guides for the day picked us up for our first of many wonderful lunches to come.

Evening the Welcome banquet was held where we had 12 courses and lots of toasting " kampei".
Taking photos is a big thing in Taiwan, and they must be arranged. Also karaoke is a big thing.

So many new and interesting people we got to know at the welcome party. So welcomed we felt. We also had time for a short introduction of Sweden. I think that is a good way to start bridge building. We have got a sense of Taiwan and it looks promising. The exchange will be interesting.

Arrival in Taipei March 20

After about 20 hour the trip from Goteborg to Taiwan ended with a big surprise. At the gate we were met by our VIP guide that lead us past all lines and ques for passport control. After our bags arrived the same procedure thou customs and there !!! All our future friends met us in a greeting we have never seen anything like before.
Our stay will be in the district 3500, south of Taipei, starting in Tao-yuan. During the 4 weeks we will meet Rotarian's from most of the 90 clubs in the district.