Past, Present & Future

The past few weeks have seen me in a state of constant change.  In a mere 14 days, I traveled nearly 14,000 miles and crisscrossed half the globe.  I experienced a 26-hour day, and skipped another one entirely.  So, as the title of this post suggests, I’ll fill you in on the past two weeks, what’s going on right now, and what’s in the books for the near future.

PAST

January began my winter vacation.  After completing the semester and saying farewell to my students, I packed my bags and hopped a flight from Seoul to my hometown in Pennsylvania.  It was here that, due to the extreme time difference and the International Date Line, I had the enjoyable experience of living Saturday, January 18, twice.  I left Seoul at 6:15pm local time, and arrived in Philadelphia a mere three hours later, or so the clock said.  Don’t let anyone tell you differently: 26 hours of travel is just wrong.

Somewhere over the Rocky Mountains

The prodigal son had returned.  It was an adjustment returning to life in North America, even if for only a short time.  And I don’t mean just getting over the jetlag.  There’s no way around it: daily life and culture in Asia are different than in North America, and I had gotten used to doing things the Asian way.  So I had to un-teach myself to bow to everyone I meet.  I didn’t have to give and receive everything with two hands anymore.  Probably the biggest adjustment was suddenly being able to understand everything I heard on TV and in the streets.  After a year in Korea, hearing English outside of my own apartment was such a rare occurrence that suddenly being inundated with it was sensory overload!  How I had gotten used to the quiet.

It was great to see friends and family again.  I could play with my nephews, read them bedtime stories, go out to lunch or dinner with friends who I hadn’t seen in forever.  And this says nothing about the food!  Oh, to have real cheese again!  Burgers and fries, pizza with no corn or potato wedges on it, and my mom’s lasagna…I’m still amazed I didn’t gain 20lbs while I was there.  The only regret I have is that there simply wasn’t enough time to see everyone and do everything I wanted to.  Two weeks can fly by when you’re not looking.

Turkey club with a side of poutine at the Elgin Street Diner in downtown Ottawa

Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario

I managed to sneak away for short periods and reacquaint myself with North America’s avifauna.  In Ottawa, I spent a morning with one of my old birding friends and we were able to scour the area for snowy owls…I couldn’t miss the chance to see these magnificent birds while I was back in Ottawa, especially with the irruption year still going on.  While visiting my sister in Rochester, I managed to get my first photos of white-winged scoter, a diving duck that is usually found only over deeper water a distance from shore.  Although it wasn’t the purpose of the trip, I managed to tick off nearly 40 species for my year list, and I was just shy of my January 125 Species Challenge, ending the month with 122 species.

Long-tailed Duck (Clangula bucephala) & Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Irondequoit Bay, Irondequoit, New York

Female White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)
Irondequoit Bay, Irondequoit, New York

Female Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)
Gloucester, Ontario

PRESENT

I no sooner acclimatized myself to my old way of life, then it was time to return to Korea for another year.  Another long, long flight awaited me, and this time I almost completely skipped Sunday, February 2.  I had a few days to recover from the jetlag (again), and it was back to school for another week before graduation.  This is a bittersweet time: due to budget cutbacks, I will not be returning to my current middle school, but will instead take on two new middle schools as a native English teacher.  The Office of Education will not be hiring any new native teachers this year, so those of us that remain in Gwangju must be spaced out to fill the vacancies.  Melanie will be staying at her current school, and will take on my position at my school as well.  So come March, I will have to new students and new schools to get to know.

I’ve made efforts to get out as much as I can.  The weather in Korea is not nearly as cold as it was in North America, and the birds are still out and about, if you have the patience to look for them.  I’m quickly running out of year birds now, waiting impatiently for the spring migration to begin in late March.  Until then, I’m trying to focus on photographing as many of the common resident species as I can, before the arrival of the summer breeders diverts my attention.

Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha)
Yeongsan River, Gwangju, South Korea

Male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Yeongsan River, Gwangju, South Korea

“Chinese” White Wagtail (Motacilla alba leucopsis)
Gwangjuho Lake Eco-Park, Gwangju, South Korea

Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica rustica)
Gwangjuho Lake Eco-Park, Gwangju, South Korea

FUTURE

When Melanie and I decided to re-sign our contracts and stay in South Korea for another year, we were entitled to a one-week paid leave as a bonus for doing so.  We’ve decided to go to Cambodia for this vacation, hoping to soak up some sunlight and warmer temperatures before the new semester begins in March.  I haven’t made any reservations with a birding guide for this trip, but I’m still hoping to add “a few” lifers while we’re there.  Stay tuned for a complete summary of the trip when we return at the end of the month.

Destination: Taiwan

At long last, summer vacation had arrived.  I completed my two weeks of English camps, and was granted almost two weeks of vacation time.  Melanie and I had originally planned to go to Thailand for our summer vacation, but budgeting concerns and truly tragic flight schedules axed that idea.  Our next choice was Taiwan: it’s much closer to South Korea, there is only a one hour time difference, and there are plenty of short, non-stop, and affordable, flights available.

We left Gwangju on August 8 and bused to Incheon International Airport in Seoul.  Our flight left early on the morning of the 9th, but Melanie’s English camp ran until 1:30pm on the 8th, so we opted to stay the night and leave in the morning.  Neither of us had ever been to Taiwan before, and like a couple of school kids we excitedly waited for our plane to depart.

Somewhere on that board was our flight to Taiwan…

There is something a little odd about the exterior design concept of the Incheon International Airport.  Koreans love to play golf, but really?

This is the first Subway I’ve found in all of Korea.  There is no better way to start your morning off right than with a 6-inch turkey sub with chipotle sauce (it’s called “southwest sauce” here).

Our flight finally began, and the trip itself was uneventful.  Being only exposed to North American airlines, there is a lot of be said about how foreign airlines remember how air travel used to be.  The meals are amazing (for airplane food), even economy class has leg room, and the staff are just happier to be there than the North American equivalent.  If you’ve never flown outside of North America, I highly recommend it.

We arrived at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, and after clearing customs (they actually stamped my passport!) and getting our bags, we hopped on a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel.  The ride was longer than I expected, and it’s entirely possible that the “shuttle bus” was actually just a regular city bus that followed a set route from the airport to the Datong district.  I’ve never been on a shuttle from an airport that picked people up at various places along the way.

On the ride to our hotel, I caught glimpses of red collared-doves and a besra along the highway.  These quick views counted as my first two lifers of the trip.  Did you honestly think I wouldn’t be hyper-vigilant once I set foot in Taipei?  Lifers could be anywhere, and I was on a mission.

In a round-about fashion we arrived at our destination, the Dong Wu Hotel in the Datong district of Taipei.  The hotel came highly recommended for quality service at reasonable prices, and its location 5 minutes from the Daqiaotou MRT station was ideal to quick travel around Taipei without having a vehicle.

Although it didn’t look like much from the outside (Datong is an older neighborhood), I was impressed with the service and facilities at the hotel.  All of the staff spoke excellent English, and were always ready to greet you, even in passing.  The rooms were what you’d expect from a decent hotel, and the free breakfast every morning included a combination of Chinese and Western options.  There is also a Family Mart next door to the hotel; think 711.

The Dong Wu Hotel at night.  I still don’t know why I didn’t get a shot of it during the day.

We spent most of the first day of our trip unpacking and unwinding.  We both had researched places and attractions we wanted to see during our trip, so for dinner we headed over to the Ximending Night Market (西門町).  The night market can be accessed from Exit 6 of the Ximen Station.

Taipei Metro map.  Ximen Station is circled in red.

One thing to say about the Taipei Metro system – it’s amazing!  Every station is clean and climate controlled.  The prices are insanely cheap: $500 NTD, or $16.50 USD, lasted me the full length of our trip, where we used the MRT every day we were in Taipei.  The trains arrive on time, and for the most part, although sometimes the trains can be very crowded, people are extremely polite and we were never bumped or pushed.  There is only one thing to know about the MRT – do not eat, drink, or even chew gum, anywhere in the stations.  Not a bottle of water or bagel.  Doing so lands you a fine between $1,500 and $7,500 NTD ($50 to $250 USD).  I’ve come to realize that Asia really has its act together when it comes to public transportation, at least Taiwan and South Korea do.

When we got to Ximending, we were a little overwhelmed.  Large crowds of Asians has long since ceased to amaze us, but we had gotten used to signs being written in hangeul, Korea’s alphabet, so that even though we usually don’t know what it’s saying, we can still read the words and maybe get lucky and have it being phonetic English written out in Korean.  But in Taipei, Mandarin is the official language, and the Chinese writing system is a whole new ball game.  So, back to picture menus it is.

Luckily for us we stumbled onto Sam’s Noodles Hong Kong, a pho style noodle house in Ximending.  The menu was bilingual, and the staff spoke relatively good English.  But the food was amazing.  I used to love going out for pho when I lived in Ottawa, and I’ve found a few good places in Korea as well.  Plenty of food, and the bill came to only $280 NTD ($9.34 USD).

One of the specials at Sam’s Noodles Hong Kong.  All that food for only $4.33 USD.

Ham and beef with noodles in a medium-spicy broth.  Add in hints of cumin and curry…hungry yet?

After dinner we walked around Ximending for a while longer, taking in the atmosphere of the place.  It’s a sign of the approaching autumn (and the lower latitudes) that it was getting dark at 6:30pm, so we returned to the hotel and watched some Chinese TV before calling it a day.

The adventure was just beginning…
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Day List: 2
Lifers of the Day (2): Red Collared-dove, Besra
Taiwan List: 2
Life List: 504