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!

One Birthday, Two Cakes

Steven’s birthday was just a few days after we arrived in Taiwan. He was seven! I do not remember why, but we celebrated on two occasions, and therefore we had two cakes. We had a regular cake with candles first, and it was really good. You can easily see his excitement. I have some very good pictures to prove this fact!

Then, on another day, we celebrated again with Steven’s favorite: an ice-cream cake! Both celebrations were at my parents’ home. Su-su was the only outside guest. He was there  both times. You can see the special kind of cakes used for these celebrations.

Visiting Taiwan

In early June, 1978, we flew to Taiwan for our third entire-summer visit to my parents. Over the years, we made this kind of trip many times. The 1978 trip we remember and regard as the best overall. Perhaps it was because the children were at the right ages. Margaret was nine and Steven was seven. They were familiar with our parents, and they were used to the food, and they certainly knew all the relatives and friends. We did change some routines as we did not stay at our parents’ home, but accepted an invitation to use one of the National Taiwan University’s visiting scholar hostel homes. We just used the bedrooms there but ate most of our meals with my parents. The place was in a separate compound. We had a few neighbors, but we did not have to much interaction with them. We usually walked to my parents’ home, or took a taxi once in a while. It was quite convenient! The kids took some pictures in front of the house in the yard.

San Francisco, here we come

This was the first time that our whole family would visit San Francisco. We were quite excited to see everything that could be packed into our short stay. We went to Chinatown, Lombard Street (the famous street which winds down the hill), and we rode the street car, up or down, once - I do not remember which.We went to the city park and certainly the Golden Gate Bridge. We took quite a number of pictures there. It was a cloudy day so the whole bridge was only partially visible. Our enthusiasm was not diminished as we walked everywhere. The days were full of fun!

Bernie and Marion Meyerson

The Meyersons were living in Fresno, CA, in 1978. It was our first time to visit the town and we remember that it was very hot! It was after we had visited many hot places in Arizona and California, so we enjoyed the cool swimming pool very much! They had a backyard pool which was just the right place for our kids. We took quite a number of pictures there. Bernie and Marion were our friends at the University of Illinois, as they were members of the Illini Folk Dance Society, to which we belonged to as well. And Bernie was also the director of Foreign Student Services, which was, at that time, an important office for foreign students on campus. The University of Illinois had many foreign students already at that time. In California, Marion was studying for an advanced degree – her turn to become the primary bread-winner. We always admired their family plan to share responsibilities. The Meyersons had two daughters, older than our children, whom we had known in Illinois. We remember that their parents, when invited to a foreign student’s home for dinner, had urged their girls to find something they liked and to compliment the host on it. They reported that there were a lot of “this rice is really good” and “I really like this coke” responses! 

Driving West

At the end of the spring semester in 1978, when our school responsibilities were finished, we started our drive to the west. Over the years, we made this driving trip many times via different Interstate highways.  Because of these kinds of trips, our kids were able to visit many states at a very young age. The reason we drove to the west was to get to the west coast so that we could fly to Taiwan from there. It was our decision to have our children spend the summer with their grandparents there every three years. We had made the trip in 1975 and this was the second time.  On this trip, we visited the Petrified Wood National Park in Arizona. And we passed through Death Valley in CA. We stopped at many very interesting rest areas too. You can see some of the pictures taken on the way!