2018年3月16日金曜日

2018年3月16日金曜日 -

David: Taiwan trip

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For my New Year's vacation, I spent a week in Taiwan. This was my first time going there and I have to say I was impressed. I decided to go to Taiwan because I wanted to visit a country I'd never been to before and I also wanted to go somewhere a little warmer than Japan. 
     The first thing I did when arriving in Taiwan was to visit one of the famous night markets. It was quite overwhelming at first, with all the different smells of food, the massive crowds and the bright lights. I was hungry so I decided to get some food. I'm not very good at speaking Mandarin, the Chinese dialect used in Taiwan, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that nearly everyone was able to communicate in English. I was just as surprised at how delicious and how cheap the food was. Needless to say, I ate my fill and then some more that night.
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     The next day I decided to explore the city a little. The subway system in Taipei is quite well organized and it was a big help that all the signs were in English, and as a result, I even managed to learn a little bit of Mandarin here and there. First, I decided to visit the Chiang-Kai Shek memorial hall, which is a huge area dedicated to one of their leaders. I got to see the changing of the guards, which is similar to the guards outside Buckingham Palace in that the guards have to stand as still as statues. I also visited the Botanical Gardens as well as some museums dedicated to Taiwanese history and art.
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     The most impressive part of my trip was on New Year's Eve when I visited a quiet town on the side of a mountain. After that, I went back to Taipei and watched the New Year fireworks with some friends I made while staying there. The display lasted several minutes, but apparently they had fewer fireworks this year than previously. Then we decided to go to the beach and watch the first sunrise of the year. This turned out to be the only disappointment of the trip as it was cloudy, so we couldn't even see the sun! Still, it was a very enjoyable trip!
impressed：感動した
overwhelming：圧倒されるほど
massive：大量の
dialect：方言
Needless to say：いうまでもなく
fill：たらふく
explore：探検する
organized：整備されている
managed to：なんとかやってのける
Chiang-Kai Shek memorial hall：中正紀念堂　
dedicated：建立される
display：花火の打ち上げ
lasted：続いた