MaGong City, PengHu Archipelago (澎湖馬公市)
For the past three months, since the beginning of October, I've been serving my alternative service term in PengHu, a vacation spot off the west coast of Taiwan. At 50 minutes flight from Taipei or 5 hours by boat from Kaohsiung, it's a popular tourist area in the warmer seasons. During the colder months, however, there are barely any visitors.
At the beginning of October, I reported for duty at MaGong City after training ended at the end of September. Located on the main island of the PengHu archipelago, MaGong is like Honolulu of Hawaii. There were about eleven of us who reported for duty at the School District Counseling Center* (校外會), and two (including me) are for English services. And because everyone else's school are on the main island or on an island close by, they left on the first two days. And also because it was typhoon weather, the ships to the island I'm supposed to be at has stopped sailing. Thus, I was stuck at the Counseling Center from Monday morning until Saturday morning, helping out at the Counseling Center.
At first, it was a stressful experience, since the place was run by military officers. But they were nice, once you get past their strict military front. It was a good opportunity to meet the officers who are supposed to oversee us. Also, during the stay, I've met a "sempai" on vacation who's servicing on the same island I'm supposed to be on, and due to the weather, he was also stuck in MaGong. I was able to hear about the island before I even set foot on the island.
Finally, on Saturday morning, I left on ship to QiMei Island, a two hour ride.
* In Taiwan, any public schools from the middle school to college level has military officers conducting anti-drug/smoke/alcohol campaigns, enforcing school law and orderliness, enforcing dress code, and provide counseling services. Since there's no similar organization in United States and I couldn't find a translation, I made one up.
At the beginning of October, I reported for duty at MaGong City after training ended at the end of September. Located on the main island of the PengHu archipelago, MaGong is like Honolulu of Hawaii. There were about eleven of us who reported for duty at the School District Counseling Center* (校外會), and two (including me) are for English services. And because everyone else's school are on the main island or on an island close by, they left on the first two days. And also because it was typhoon weather, the ships to the island I'm supposed to be at has stopped sailing. Thus, I was stuck at the Counseling Center from Monday morning until Saturday morning, helping out at the Counseling Center.
At first, it was a stressful experience, since the place was run by military officers. But they were nice, once you get past their strict military front. It was a good opportunity to meet the officers who are supposed to oversee us. Also, during the stay, I've met a "sempai" on vacation who's servicing on the same island I'm supposed to be on, and due to the weather, he was also stuck in MaGong. I was able to hear about the island before I even set foot on the island.
Finally, on Saturday morning, I left on ship to QiMei Island, a two hour ride.
* In Taiwan, any public schools from the middle school to college level has military officers conducting anti-drug/smoke/alcohol campaigns, enforcing school law and orderliness, enforcing dress code, and provide counseling services. Since there's no similar organization in United States and I couldn't find a translation, I made one up.