Our plane tickets just got confirmed!!!!!

 We are going to Japan for Spring Break, which will certainly be also Cherry-blossom as well as Miyako Odori in Kyoto (the cherry dance interpreted by geishas and maikos = apprentice). You've certainly seen it in the movie Memoirs Of A Geisha (even if I don't think it has so much to do with the real thing). Unfortunately there won't be any Sumo competition while we are there.
We got something like 400€ for budget it is going to be spartan. We are 5 girls, the guys are going on their own (more than 5 is just too many).
Our trip :
We arrive in Nogoya as it is cheapest for the plane
Then Kyoto for 2 days
Nara also 2 days
Hiroshima 1 day
Back to Tokyo on a Friday night until Monday morning. Including a day-trip to Mount Fuji.



I am looking for Salsa lesson in taipei so please, if anybody know a good place...
Kind of a weird idea to start latin dance in Asia. Well we went to a latin bar last night and it appears that taiwanese people are not only very interested in latin dance, they are also very good!
So it remind me that I always wanted to take lesson and never did (or just once). And then start again the depression because I can't find any partner. But guess what : I found one!
So I am looking into it and who knows... I might come back a good latin dancer :-)
LANTERN FESTIVAL


Why are all thos these lanterns up in the sky tonight?


is year March 3rd is also the 15th day of the 1st month of the lunar year which means : the end of chinese new year celebrations.



Traditionally, the date once served as a day for love and matchmaking. It was one of the few nights in ancient times without a strict curfew. Young people were chaperoned in the streets in hopes of finding love. Matchmakers acted busily in hopes of pairing couples. The brightest lanterns were symbolic of good luck and hope.




FEBRUARY 28TH

The "228 incident" or "228 massacre"was an uprising in the Republic of China that began on February 28, 1947 and was suppressed by the Kuomintang government, resulting in between ten thousand to twenty thousand civilians killed. The number "228" refers to the day of the incident, February 28th.
The spark that set off the uprising occurred on February 27t, 1947 when an agent of the government monopoly police attempted to confiscate black market cigarettes from an elderly Taiwanese woman, Lin Jian-Mai. She resisted and then was molested. An angry crowd gathered around and a shot was fired, killing a by-stander.

This event is now commemorated in the Taiwan as Peace Memorial Day. Official government policy had repressed the education of the events until recently, for various reasons. Many of the details of the incident are still highly controversial and hotly debated in Taiwan today, as the largely conservative-controlled government often tries to stifle discussion on the topic. Some people point to Communist involvement as a "justification" for the KMT's action.

As I just discovered how to link to you tube, I hope you'll be enjoying the video. It's not mine but anyway we were in Ping Xi yesterday and it was just the same.

I was there... YES I WAS

My dear Eloi want me to talk about our campus a little bit more... I will tell you about the dorm... I thought my roomate was going to have a break-down the 1st time we entered our room. Here is a picture :



You cannot realise how bad it is because the flash went off. But it is night all day and our only light is a 1950's neon.



Please on the right side, take notice of the bed : yes, this is wooden board. We had to go buy matresses made of bambou and a 3cm layer of synthetic coton (you can see it just behind the suitcase). The first week mine was smelling like vinegar, so did my PJ's... and my hair (yummy).

We had bruises on the hips for a week but now we are just accustomed to sleep on our back and NOT move.
AND we found Ikea!!! Welcome carpets, funny linen, dim light.
And as usual, you just get used to everything : shower with flip-flops and so on. The only thing which is not quite back yet is our sleeping hours... we feel ot is time for sleeping everytime we enter our room. We are napping a lot!
Powered by Blogger.