Visiting an old friend in Kaohsiung

Day 20

June 19, 2009

We woke up very early. I have a dear old friend in Taiwan ( I met him while we both lived in France) that I have been wanting to visit for years. This is one of the major reason I came here this summer. The rest of the group stayed to go to Green Island but I took a train to Kaohsiung to visit. He is a risk taker, after coming to Taiwan on a whim to teach english. He is still here after 5 years, speaks Mandarin and owns a business. When I am around him I tend to let go of my professionalism, which is quite nice.

It all came back, and we went out to PARTY! ………..

He is part of a foreigner scene. Local Taiwanese also like this scene and we met people that liked hangin’ round the foreigners.

Also had fun riding on the back of his moped. Taiwanese love scooting around on these things.

Day 21
June 21, 2009

After adventure, we took it easy. Ate a casual lunch.

Caught in a rainstorm the tire went flat while we were riding a car with a guy named Chen. Tom was determined to take a risk. He wanted to change it. It started pouring down. We were soaked as we watched Tom fumble with the poor tools. Chen wanted to call professionals. Tom was about to lose hope. The jack almost was tilted and almost fell as Tom slaved. Danger lurked. He couldn’t get the jack high enough to get the spare on, the other tire was already off. The jack unstable, could fall any minute. Chen said he learned he couldn’t trust anything Tom said. Finally he got it. Relief. Adventure. Risk. The life of Tom. Chen was the voice of reason, Tom the crazy one, and I the giggler, amazed.

Still soaked we drove in our repaired car to the Mall to watch a movie. Packed, Taiwanese love to shop! We watched the American movie, “The Hangover” Nice to feel American. The movie was hilarious. Awesome!

Afterwards, Time to go home. Home is now Linkou, Taiwan. Truly feel comfortable there. I took the high speed rail. This rail will take you from southern to northern Taiwan in a couple of hours. Studied the USMLE first aid book on the ride, even though exhausted. I have been trying to study most days. I should practice more OMM, but these days are pretty packed it seems.

Ready to be back in Linkou and around medicine.