Taiwanderland, Day 1: The Delegation Launches, Visiting the Best Public and Private Universities, and the Celebration Banquet

Sunday, September 30- Monday, October 1

Hawaii loves Taiwan.  Hawaii loves Taiwan so much that 25 years ago it was the first State to create a special Sister State relationship, in 1993.  Certainly China wasn't happy about this, and it's likely not happy that our Hawaii delegation is here to strengthen this relationship.  

Our Hawaii delegation is solid.  We have some ten admissions directors from many of the Universities and community colleges in the State, as well as me, the one representative of a boarding high school in Hawaii.  We also have four State Senators, and a number of representatives from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT).  Many of us flew on the direct nine hour Air China flight from Honolulu to Taipei.

We took off in the afternoon from Honolulu; Chinese hospitality was immediate.  The stewardesses greeted me by name many times, brought multiple meals, served all the complimentary refreshments desired, and generally took care.  It felt like U.S. airlines in the 90's before every salty peanut was monetized.  .

The flight was smooth, except for my 200+ sneezes from my allergic reaction to dirty plane oxygen.  Fairly unpleasant for my neighbors and me. . .

We chased the sun across five time zones, and landed at 7:30 PM tomorrow.  So much for October 1st.  Our delegation navigated customs and currency exchange, and Alex, our man in Taipei, escorted us through the VIP entrance line.  A short bus ferried us from Taoyuan County into the city.  I stayed apart from the rest of a delegation at a hotel for half the price about a kilometer away from the Sunworld Dynasty, so I rolled my luggage through the warm evening streets to the Hotel Waikoloa.  

10 PM Taipei was bustling.  Noodle shops, 7-11s, speedy motorbikes, wafting incense, busy massage parlors, neon signs.  Welcome home to Taiwan!  And Wan An.

Tuesday, October 2

I awoke at 5 AM, thoroughly biologically confused.  I caught up on work in the morning light, read the Taipei Times over breakfast buffet, and walked to SunWorld Dynasty for the morning meeting.  Our full delegation of politicians, economic officers, and educators was there, joined by student recruitment agencies and representatives from the U.S. Commercial Service, a group of government agents who promote U.S. business in Taiwan. 

Introductions were followed by a country and trip debriefing, so we could all get to know each other and build relationships. All men in the room had a coat and tie except for me, on the encouragement of my wife (Coats are overrated!) and my Head of School (Does that represent Maui?).  Well, someone had to be the most comfortably dressed. . .

After breakfast we piled onto our Taiwan short bus to navigate the morning traffic.  The Hawaiian Senators and Business Officers went their way, and our education delegation went ours.  First stop, The most prestigious University in the country, National Taiwan University.  This leafy enclave in the middle of the City is the most complete research and professional University in the Country. It’s also a major landowner, holding title to 1% of the country, though most of that is in the high central mountains.  Smiling young students toured us through the dorms, campus buildings, student centers, and quads.  The whole campus has a turn of the century Japanese aesthetic, as the Japanese controlled Taiwan from the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 until the end of World War II in 1945.  It’s just beautiful.  

We were honored and distinguished guests, so we were received by the President of the University for introductions and discussions.   We were given name placards, tea, brochures, and token gifts; this would be a trend almost everywhere we went. The President told us the story of his remarkable University, and we all gave our elevator pitches for our schools and colleges.  There wasn’t much for Maui Prep at this stop, but it was great to hear all the Hawaii Schools make their cases for collaboration and cooperation.  I may have noticed the NTU President nod off a bit, but he is an old and busy guy, and in this case, the boss does it his way.

Back on the bus, we crossed town for a formal banquet meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  We rejoined the Hawaii Senators and Business Officers here for a formal sit down ten course plated banquet.  Speeches of goodwill, appreciation, and friendship were made.  These were not rote or apathetic words. Taiwan’s political, economic, and existential survival depends on America.  Period.  And its friendships with the American States are critical, especially as other countries (Burkina Faso, Guatemala, other Central American Countries) crack under China’s pressure.  The Taiwanese officials were deeply and genuinely moved by our delegation’s presence, and we were moved by their hospitality.  I was especially moved by one of the sub-ministers, a man named Long Man, who was warm and hilarious.

Back on the bus, we settled in for an hour long drive across the city, over the Tamsui River, under the shadow of Yaomingshin Mountain, and out on the peninsula to the northwest.  

This exurb of the city was deeply historic, for good reason.  With steep, lush, jagged, green peaks tumbling into the sea, and surrounded by the river and ocean, this was a military fort where the Spanish, Dutch, and English all fortified their control over Formosa at various points.  As well as colonial military powers, a Scottish-Canadian missionary named Mackay established a Presbyterian boys school on mountain heights named Tamkang.  Not far away another father and son established a private college called Tamkang University, which is now the most prestigious private school in the country.  

Our first stop was the University.  We wound up narrow, dense, crowded streets to climb up to the University Heights.  We were received by the college administration in a circular conference room, where again we received brochures, tea, and chochskys.  They told us the story of their University, and we shared our stories.  I peppered my spiel with Mandarin Chinese.  It was so fun to dust off my Chinese skills. Simple as my abilities may be, it’s always a wonderful way to build a bridge with new Chinese friends.  

The University campus was leafy, new, prosperous, bustling, scenic, resourced, and impressive.  Like NTU, there wasn’t an obvious connection for Maui Prep, though it was fascinating to see these highly educated Taiwanese college administrators building bridges with Hawaiian colleges.

Back on the bus, we cut through the historic streets to Mackay’s Christian high school, Tamkang High School.  We met the foreign teachers and the Chinese administrators.  The school was incredibly impressive, with dormitories, expansive quads, a rugby team in training, a historic gym from the early 1900s, and lots of smiling and friendly high school students.  I exchanged brochures and business cards with some teachers there, and spoke of student exchanges, sister school relationships, and other partnerships.  This would be a fascinating school to partner with, though its deep Christian tradition (church almost daily!) wouldn’t exactly gel with Maui Prep’s secular roots.  

As we left the campus, we saw parents passing snacks and food over the fence to their students, who weren’t permitted to leave, even though it was 4:30. They had much more work to do!

We piled back into the bus, where we switchbacked down the foothills to the water.  We had another reception at a fancy high rise, this time with a cohort of parents, school leaders, and government officials resident in Tamsui, the historic and upscale neighborhood at the outflow of the Tamsui River into the ocean.

The conference room was packed with 100 people or more, all buzzing from the end of the workday.  Our delegation drank tea and snacked on cookies, everyone a bit frazzled after a packed day so far.  Our fearless Study Hawaii Leader Joel Weaver made the case for Hawaii to the Taiwanese crowd, who was a bit boisterous, though good-natured.  Lots of Taiwanese school leaders were in the room, including leaders from Tamkang University and Tamkang High School.

Back on the bus, we drove out to the “farm” of our host, Chairman Ling.  This is when things got a little weirder and more interesting.  The “farm” was actually a kind of kids camp with swimming pools, a beach, an equestrian farm, a climbing wall, a sort of wonderland. Some 100 parents, teachers, and school leaders were there to host us for a very typical Taiwan banquet.  Typical as in, the dishes we ate included bony chicken, sticky rice with pig’s blood, chicken testicles, and popsicles. That’s right, chicken testicles.  Did I eat them?  Isn’t the mystery better?

Our hosts also all appeared to be members of the KMT (Kuomintang), the political party that basically aspires to re-unify Taiwan with China.  It was an old school, traditional, Taiwanese banquet.

What a day!  We all took pictures with Chairman Ling, rolled back onto our bus, cut through the steamy October Taipei streets, and I walked home on my own.  I washed the day away, and soon drifted to sleep. . .