Thursday and Friday

Thursday I took a personal cooking class with a friend I met here. We went to a woman's house here in Taipei, and she showed us how to make about 15 different Taiwanese and Thai dishes. It was really interesting, and she made everything look so simple. I am really excited to try out some of her recipes. She spent 5 hours with us, and it was really nice. On Friday, I met with three representatives from Academia Sinica. They were very informative and offered a very balanced perspective. I also went to Chung-Hua and met with Dr. Wu. He hadn't spoken English in a while, so I really did not get much out of this interview. He did print out a lot of data for me to use, which will be useful. It is really interesting how each group I talk to has a very different perspective on Taiwan's growth, and the role of the government in preventing income inequality. I have really seen a full range of perspectives. This afternoon was another nice day, so I went back to the park. Tomorrow, I am waking up at 6 to go see people performing tai-chi in the park, and then I am hoping to take about an hour train ride to Fulong beach.