TAIPEI CHINESEPOD MEETUP

actually I get up every morning at 4. I love the mornings. Dont stay up late much anymore but I do rise early. It also lets me check mail and communicate with  Chinese co-workeres before they go home for the day. Im guessing you are working the night ER shift?

rjberki, what are you doing up so early/late? it's 4AM for me!

Yes, you should go to Taiwan. You would love it there, too.

thanks Doc. Someday I must visit Taiwan.

I finally uploaded some pictures to Flickr of my trip to Taiwan. I thought people might enjoy them : )

http://www.flickr.com/photos/azerdocmom/sets/72157618669673268/

You are too kind, Brent : ) It was so very lovely to meet you as well as Steve here in Taiwan!!  Getting to know my fellow poddies with whom I share this  addiction on this side of the world was just awesome! Us "veterans" had a chance to share what great treasures have yet to be discovered for Steve, a newbie. That was really, really fun; one of the highlights of my vacation here.

I hope that those of you poddies who live here in Taiwan and are merely lurkers at this time, pop your head out sometime and say "hi" and join this Taiwan group. I think mastering Mandarin in a more accelerated pace really requires mutual sharing and encouragement. I wish I had the opportunity to be immersed in the language. Those of you who are living here in Taiwan should help each other out. And, what better way than to revel in a mutual love for ChinesePod while running around on this beautiful island!

Brent, look for pretzel sticks coming your way! Steve, it's hazelnut coffee that you are addicted to, isn't it? Hahaha...

Well, it was a real pleasure to finally meet Alice!  Her reputation preceded her of course....she is just as kind in person as she has been in this community for the past couple of years.

It was also great to meet Steve (stevec) who made the short trip from 桃園 (Táoyuán).  Great guy!

I'm hoping that we can gather more Taiwan poddies for future "outings."  I'm thinking a once-a-month get together would be great. Taiwan is so small, with such fast and efficient transit, it'd be nice to do some scenic trips to different parts of the island.

I'll post a new thread in the Taiwan Group...please respond if interested.

OK, see you at the LOVE statue, 5:30pm, Sunday.

我也喜欢去台北可是我还没有机会去那里。 但是很高兴认识大家。

Hey Calkins,

Is that sculpture new? I don't recall seeing it in 2006 when I was there.也许我找“LOVE”在都错的地方

台灣的朋友們，大家好！ I just spoke to azerdocmom.  We are meeting at the "LOVE" sculpture in front of Taipei 101, at 5:30 pm tomorrow (Sunday May 3rd).

Then we will go for dinner.  非常好吃。 Please join us if interested. 

Take the MRT (Blue Line) to 市政府站 (Taipei City Hall Station), then walk south:

Click map for larger view.  Taipei 101 is at the bottom of the map.

Hope to see some poddies there!

Hi John

Wish you can come here as well. It'd be fun.

Sorry stevec, calkins and any interested lurkers, but it looks like Friday's not looking good. Sunday is better. As to where, just to make it easy, apparantly there is a "LOVE" sculpture at the entrance to the Taipei 101, since we poddies "love" Chinesepod, we could just meet there at 5pm. That's not fixed in stone. I'll check tomorrow (Taiwan time) to see if others have a different time in mind.

This is great to see!  I wish I could join you...  I'd love to get back to Taipei for a visit.

Thanks for the welcome :-) 

Just now I was invited to go to 九分 (Jiufen) on Friday with a Taiwanese friend of mine. However, if we finish up at 九分 early enough, maybe we'll have time to swing by and meet up with you. I'll send a message to Calkins to get more info.

In any case, glad that Azerdocmom arrived ok.

I'm looking forward to using Chinese Pod. Right now I'm using the free Newbie lessons, but I'll probably soon cough up the dough for a paid subscription.

Hi Brent, stevec : )  I am finally here (after much trial and tribulation...long story) and some knashing of teeth, got online. And, the more the merrier is right. Do you know any other poddies here in Taiwan?

Hi Stevec...welcome to Cpod!  Azerdocmom (Alice) is en route to Taipei as we speak. 

As it stands now, you and I are the only ones in Taiwan to respond, and you are more than welcomed to meet us - the more the merrier.

Nothing is set in stone, but it looks like we'll be tentatively meeting Friday evening around 6-ish, location TBD.  It will be Alice, her mother, daughter, and me.

I'll be coordinating things with Alice.  Feel free to send me a message through my profile and I'll keep you in the loop. 

Hope to see you there!
Brent

Hi, I'm new here, and just found this thread. I'm in Taoyuan (桃園市). Is this meet-up an open invitation? Are there any details as to place and time?

Baba, that first pic looks exactly like something that was floating in the hot pot I had the other day...sans wig!

hmmmm, I kind of like the bottom mask. :-) Ive seen a few of these cutsy masks in China but Im not sure this is much protection against something as small as a virus. More of a psychological band aid.

azerdoc,

..why did you edit out the last bit of the CDC edict?:

..",and one is believed to be on the run to Taiwan trying to hide behind a mask that nevertheless shows a few telltale signs.Please be on the lookout for.."...

@babs

hahahahaha...you are wicked! i must find a facemask like that!

just so you know, from the CDC:

"As of April 24, 2009, there are eight confirmed cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in the United States, and an additional seven lab-confirmed cases in Mexico.  Six cases of the U.S. cases are from California, including residents from San Diego County and Imperial County, and two cases are from San Antonio, Texas."

tvan,

lol.I should have done a photoshop job on the above pic for Calkins and just had half a mask.He could then be the swineflu's version of Phantom of the Opera.Wonder what his voice would be like in this state?

好像是猪八戒。

当然下面是 Azerdoc妈妈. 上面是... Calkins?

azerdocmum,

Why don't you wear this mask when you arrive to give the screeners a bit of excitement in their day:

..unless something a bit more subtle is your style:

@azerdoc, let us know how the screening went at Taipei airport.  I heard a rumor that they are checking people from the SW U.S. now for swine flu.

No, I'm leaving today. Thanks for your invitation. If not this time, perhaps on another trip : )

hey azerdocmom (have you left already?) you'd be very welcome!  i'm unavailable apr 30 thru may 3 but otherwise we can meet for sushi or something in the tokyo area. same thing though as yr situation re a meetup in taipei--i don't know who else is here!

pls just be warned we're in our golden week holidays (longer this yr than usual because of the recession--some ppl are off apr 25-may 10) and it's going to be crowds in many places. maybe also good hotels might be hard to book.  weather's supposed to be pretty good (23度左右).

do let me know if you really decide to swing by, i'm PMing you my contact info now.  have a safe trip!

hmmm...i wonder if we should take a short jaunt to Japan while on that side of the world? but, so many places to go, so little time...哎呀太少时间啊！

azerdocmom,  i've also always wondered how many of us are here.  a dozen or so?  i suspect many are more ... reticent than one like myself.

it's cheaper to find a 3-4 day package fm here than the plane ticket you found for SH-TP (prices are highest now for us, we're in 黄金周).  TW's enormously popular as a long weekend destination here esp among women, along with seoul. i would do it.

which reminds me, i miss hearing from korean poddies!  or maybe i just don't know that someone is korean.

are you there--?

對啊！台灣的cpoddies在哪裡？？

;-)

zhenlijiang

is it easy to "run down there from Japan" ?

i wonder how many poddies there are in Japan.

it sure doesn't seem like many in Taiwan by the lackluster response to a suggested meet-up...

i would run down there fm japan, but am working next weekend.  you guys have fun!

OK. Here's one more try at getting a meet-up together in Taipei next weekend. Taipei 101 anyone?

How about a meet-up the first weekend of May in Taipei?  一定好玩阿！

Hey Calkins! I'll probably consider 國立臺灣大學 because of their world(?)-renowned Mandarin course.

If ever I study there, we'll definitely have to meet! 我們一起非見面不可囉！

Hi Skyfx,

Let me help you out a little. It looks like you can go over for the meet-up while I'm there for just $606 via Air China ; )

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=fexp&qryt=2&tovr=-1294617294&ps3u=&&altd=&hqot=&pddt=&prdt=&altg=&hftp=&flag=q&wsds=EX0137CB7CAF0%24FE!2%24FF%24EF!601!p0!50!8%24FF!90221010002!70122!4%24FF!90100001!V0!4%24FF!C0%2415000%2436%2435DI!2%2432%2438UMDM%2430%2438%2439P!2%2432%2439%2430%2434P!4%24FF!5013WLBYWP000%2490%240E%24CD%240C100003YWPWLB000%24F0%2435%24CD%240C100003!90%24E0%2480%24E9H100003!90%24E0%2480%24E9H100003!90%24E0%2480%24E9H1!O0!8%24FF0001!J0!4%24FF!50%243E%24BF201!C01000!4%24FF!G0%24E0%2480%24E9H%24E0%2480%24E9H13101!602!D0!4%24FF!80&shpr=w&gptc=0&rfrr=5004&ftid=&sfcf=1&city1=PVG&citd1=TPE&date1=5%2F1%2F2009&time1=720&date2=5%2F8%2F2009&time2=720&flcr=&tktt=3&stkc=1&stkp=1&swoc=&ussw=1&rdct=1

Hey azerdocmom! 我還不定。 Since I'm planning to take Chinese Studies/Mandarin Studies/Cantonese Studies (any of the 3), I'd be considering 台灣、香港、韓國, and here in the Philippines. I've heard of good universities in those places which has a Mandarin/Cantonese curriculum, I still have to check the requirements/prerequisites for each university...wish me luck! I'd be happy to study in TW or in HK (hometown!)!

hitokiri, 真的嗎？你会去台北上大澩？Really? You're going to Taipei for college! Nice!

That's awesome!  Which university are you planning on attending?   師大 perhaps?  I'll be starting night classes there in June.

Regardless, we'll definitely have to connect once you're here.

yup. :) Still in the Philippines. :) 但我打算在台北上大學. I'm graduating 高中 next year! 

Hey hitokiri, you're in the Philippines right?  Not too far from Taiwan:)  I live in 内湖区 Nèihú qū, a district on the east side of Taipei.

Let's get as many poddies to Taipei as we can, so we can welcome azerdocmom and family back to Taiwan.  World travelers are welcomed to crash in my spacious 10 ping (350 s.f.) apartment...haha.

Alice, 哪里哪里。。。我中文讲得不太好！

太好了！There's some interest shown here! 大家都来台北臺灣吧！　Calkins, 谢谢你。你的中文進步了好多阿！

Sigh, If only I was in TW. :(

唉喲！ :) Calkins-先生，Where in Taipei do you stay?

skyfx, there's no barrier my 大陸 friend.  There are daily direct flights from 上海 to 台北。

Come on over and join the party!

5555555

我也想去臺灣，可惜沒辦法去了，現在在上海。

How much will it cost to visit TaiWan？

TaiWan is a part of China,i think there should not be any barrier that prevent people of mainland to pay a visit to Taiwan.

Alice, definitely count me in!  C'mon Taiwan poddies, let's get a group together and have some fun with azerdocmom.

chinlern, I think she knows...她是台湾出生的美国人 :)  She's just being her typical nice self by writing in simplified, since the majority of poddies study/read simplified.

你應該寫:

"我們大家去吃飯吧 ！"

在臺灣大家用繁體字...