Tapei - Day 6

So, instead of going to the gorge, we went to a water park today. This water park was just south of Danshuei, the last stop on the Metro line, at the mouth of the Danshuei River overlooking the Taiwan Strait. It was actually across the river from Dansuei in a town called Bali. Because of school, there were basically no people in the park. The weather was basically perfect. It was sunny, but it was also windy. Now, normally, wind and swimming do not go together, but the wind here is pretty warm. So, we had the perfect combination of sun to heat us up, and wind and water to cool us down. There were about 6 or 7 water slides to go on. They were open at different times of the day, but we managed to ride them all. They were all fun! One of them had a drop that went basically straight down (well, it seemed like it anyway), another had some "jumps" on which we were able to catch a little air, and another you went head first down on a toboggan of sorts. So, that was all fun. We did get some great exercise climbing the stairs on all the rides. The pool closed at 5:00, so, we left at 5:30...

We took the ferry back across the river, speaking of which, the ride to the park on the ferry was really fun. The wind was blowing quite hard, and the spray was really kicking up. It's one of those things that you have to be there for (so, you may wonder why I am writing about it), but to give you the picture. We had wind at probably 15-20 miles an hour (maybe faster, I don't know, it was blowing really hard though), we were riding across the river parallel to the waves, so they were hitting us broadside. So, the boat was rocking back and forth with the waves, the wind is right in your face blowing water, and you cannot really shield yourself in any way. Then we turned upwind, and upriver. Then, we were hitting the waves dead on. The plooms of water now shot up 10-15 feet and raced back to the end of the boat. We did not get that wet because we were close to the center of the boat, but it was really crazy. It must have been the combination of wind, water, and the idea that the boat may sink at any moment that gave this experience its _____I am totally drawing a blank, its late here, anyway, insert your own word there, like an "ad lib" game.

In any case, our ride back was completely uneventful.

We got back to Danshuei and walked around. We never really had dinner, but we did have some juice and a donut. My dad really wanted to visit the YWAM mission. Now, he forgot to bring the address, so we really had no idea where it was, save for that it was "near the metro." It happens that there is a church within eyesight of the metro (we saw the red neon cross!). It was really late, but we still went to see if it was open, and possibly the people inside knew where the mission was. It was open, and the lady in charge of the childcare knew of "The Rock" cafe, and told us it was just up the road we were on!

We walked, and walked, and walked down the road, but could not find a thing. We did see a music shop, and it took all of my restraint to not go in a play on the piano... We asked where the mission was at a place at the end of the road, and were told that it was back the way we came.... alright, well, we found it on our way back. I know, it would have been much more funny if we had walked back and forth along the road for at least a few more times, but that didn't happen, so I'm not going to make it up.

The YWAM ministry in this city was sort of focused on English. In Taiwan, the schools teach English reading and writing, but there is no in class speaking of English. So, the kids never really learn conversational English, which is really more important than writing. We were just going to stop in for a minute, to say hello. While we were in there though, college kids started to arrive. My dad was already talking, and the rest of us soon got pulled into little "English lessons" for the people. I think my mom talked to some one with YWAM, my dad talked to some one who was working toward something that he needed to work with YWAM. OK, vague, I know, my dad will have to clarify, but you get the point, he was talking to some one. Katherine, Danny, and myself were the ones who started talking to the college students. I talked to two students who were majoring in chemistry. Their names were Jason and Tim. I was really just there to ask questions, and help them use their English. It was interesting learning a little about Taiwan though. For instance, in Taiwan, there is no music training in school. From middle school to college there is no training on musical instruments. Students get some music history, but do not learn how to play anything. So, if a student wants to learn a musical instrument, they must do it outside of school. They were into card tricks, so they did a few, it was fun.

We then came home, and most everyone went to bed, except me that is....

By the way, I uploaded two videos to the zoo post. I haven't been able to get one of them to upload properly, and as things go, that is the one with the cub and lioness chasing each other. I'll load some more later.
-Aaron

Here we are on a little obstacle course of sorts. There were floating pads, and you tried to get across.



Running around in the water...yay



Slides...

Let the water come down.
















The rope swing.

One of the many slides. This one was really long, but the drops were not amazing.

The was a really fun slide. You rode down head first on this mat thing. At the end you could glide across the water to the end of the pool.

Same thing, different people.

One of the really tall ones. This is the second fastest slide in the park. The fastest is right next to it.

Same slide, different person. That sounds familiar...

A different slide...yeah, all the slides sort of run together, but they were all still fun!