Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Intro to Miaoli

The days are quickly winding down to my big trip! Just a few weeks now. I can feel the anxiety building as I start to pack up everything and getting all my preparations done. So much to do, so many people to see and bid goodbye to.

Anyway, I guess I should provide a bit more information on the place I will call home for the next year. I have been assigned to Miaoli County in western Taiwan. It is located between Taipei and Taichung (about 1.5 hours train ride from Taipei, and 1 hour from Taichung). Surrounded by mountains, natural scenery, with a sub tropical climate, Miaoli county is considered to be one of Taiwan's best travel destinations.



I will be teaching English at Tongluo Elementary, located in Tongluo township. It's a pretty small town, population of about 20,000. No point Googling it, there's not much information available online. Here are just a few pictures I have scavenged of the town and the school I will be teaching at.

 Street view of Tongluo town

Tongluo Elementary

While Tongluo is a small rural town, I heard transportation to nearby larger cities is very convenient and affordable (only 1/2 hour to Hsinchu city) so I should still have plenty to do on my weekends. I plan to travel to as many places as I can during my stay there, I guess I need to start saving up for those traveling expenses!

Still waiting for my host school to send me updates and photos of the apartment they have found for me. Stay tuned for more photos!
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2 comments:

  1. HeatherJuly 23, 2012 at 6:30 PM

    Hi, how are you?
    I'm Heather. I know it must be a bit weird to have a completely unknown and random person comment on your blog, right? So here's a bit of an introduction...

    I'm from Australia and am currently living in Seoul. There's a possibility I'm contemplating that I may move to Tongluo soon. I was wandering the internet to see if I could find anything that could help me make up my mind. I didn't find much beyond chrysanthemums until I stumbled on your blog.

    So, I just wanted to say that I'm really interested in what you discover and I'm looking forward to reading your blog in the future. When will you go?

    I hope we can talk more later,
    Heather

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    Replies
    1. msvanJuly 23, 2012 at 9:27 PM

      Hello Heather!

      Thanks for reading and following my blog :)

      I should be arriving in Tongluo around August 17th, after my orientation in Taipei.

      Like you, I have been doing much research on the place, yet still wasn't able to find much details on the town itself. I guess that will make it a nice surprise upon my visit. But I will definitely try to make it a habit to keep up with my blog, so that I can provide everyone with up-to-date info on my journey. I hope this blog will be helpful to you in making your decision.

      If you have any question, feel free to ask me.

      Van

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