Chen-Lu wedding

We attended a wedding of our cousins in Kaoshung at a very big downtown restaurant. It was the usual celebration with ceremony first, followed by a feast. It was a very traditional wedding of the time.  All the older generation gave their blessings. There was no involvement by the young couple’s friends, as happens in a western style wedding. There were quite a number of our relatives there, some of whose names, of course, we do not even know!  My cousin was the second child of my uncle’s family, I remember that he was born just before we escaped from mainland China in 1948. At the time of his wedding, he was a teacher at a local school.

More fun and more places

While we were in Kaoshung, besides visiting the Tao family we did go to attend a wedding and visit some relatives, which I will talk about later. With the Tao family, we just had more fun and more places to go. We went to Fo Guang Shan Monastery one day and we went to Cheng Ching Lake another time. Of course,  the children were now fully enjoying each other. We had some great pictures together. I will first show you below some of the places we visited, then I will show you a couple of great pictures of our children.

A Swim Party

While we were visiting with Tao’s family in Kaoshung, one day we went to a famous beach called Xiziwan (西子灣). I believe that we spent a whole day there. The kids in both families enjoyed the beach very much, not only the swimming but also the friendship. They had got to know each other very well. Over the years, they had this kind of get-together many times. Nowadays this kind of friendship, based on the relationship of their parents, does not usually persist as the children grow to become adults. In the old days, people had family friends for many generations, something which is almost impossible in these modern times. We are lucky to have friends who maintain a connection just for one generation! To keep close is very difficult if you do not live in the same area. However, when I saw these old pictures, I felt very good that the children from both families had shared some close moments in the past.

Visiting The Tao Family

The first family we visited in Kaoshung was the Tao family. Taotze was my Junior High School classmate for three years, from 1951 to 1953. We had kept in contact ever since. During the summer of 1978, the two families had spent quite a bit time together. The kids were enjoying each other as well. I took quite a number of pictures during that visit. The following were taken when Sanlu, Taotze’s wife, opened some papaya for us to enjoy. Everyone had a good time. I do not remember if the papaya was good or not, but certainly the friendship was wonderful! Taiwan was famous with it’s tropical fruits - look at Steven who had a lot on his face!

Train Ride South

In the middle of the summer, we took a trip south. It was a time to give my parents a break and it was also a time for us to make a change in our routine. While visiting our extended family, it was necessary for our kids to be “nice”  and to behave themselves. Although they got a lot of attention from our parents and other friends and family members, they were never really alone. A train ride south would give us a change. We had some friends to visit and one wedding to attend, and even more scenic spots to visit. Taiwan, in 1978, had wonderful train service, We certainly enjoyed our ride south to Kaoshung. It was only about four hours ride, Margaret got her rest and Steven got some sleep, I got some pictures of our train ride.

Everything is sold here!

In 1975, Taiwan’s economic situation was still lagging behind the rest of the world. It was trying very hard to break out of the pack in Asia. However,compared with Hong Hong, Taiwan was still trying to catch up, even though Taiwan had much more potential, both in labor and in intellectual potential.  It took three or more years before we saw the turning of the economic future to the bright side. However, even in 1978, you could still see an individual selling everything you might need in a household by pulling his cart mounted with EVERYTHING! This person could still make a living for his family at that time. But it was getting much harder, as his cart carried more and more stuff, and he was running out of space! I took this shot with Steven and Janice in the background on the street near where we lived.

YuanShan Children’s Park

The old YuanShan zoo had expanded to a Children’s Park with many rides in 1978. We certainly took advantage of the opportunity, after visiting the zoo, to have a lot of rides. I do not remember how many there were at the time. We did ride everything we could while we were there. It was not Disney Land, but it was what we could enjoy there in Taipei at the time.

Ernie and Claire Daigneault

While we were in Taipei, Ernie and Claire came to visit us. This was a very unusual case. When Ernie came to ETSU to interview for the position of Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, at the newly established Quillen - Dishner College of Medicine, I was on the search committee. We talked about visiting Taiwan in the summer and thus made the arrangement to meet when they arrived. The couple came to tour National Taiwan University with us and we later met with them a second time at the Grand Hotel, followed by a visit to the Palace Museum. A couple of the pictures taken on these occasions are posted below:

It was a different time!

In 1978, Taiwan was in a transitional time. Changes were occurring in almost every aspect of society, large and small. My parents’ home was the only old Japanese style house left in the block. The other houses were all many-floor high-risers by that time, as you can see in this picture.

You could still see people doing exercises at Taida in the morning. However, we saw only a few people walking their birds under the covers in their cages as they swung them back and forth.

Another picture  shows a caged bird enjoying his perch in the tree!

Below was a picture taken when Steven was taking a walk in front of the Chemistry Building with a group of morning exercise people.

Finally, I would like you to see a picture of a vender carrying on a cart everything he had to sell. You can no longer see this type of transportation!