To see the view of Taiwan from sky, it's beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMEKGrrfdXM#t=216
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMEKGrrfdXM#t=216
That's spent 400hrs during three years to cut a 1:33 hrs film, this just a preview of the film.Connecting the dots around the world ,that's what the Forum does best.
Electronics makes it possible ,smaller world...bigger picture.
It is not open free yet.Where is the link to your film ,I like to watch documentaries.
Haha, I knew some foreigners they came from other countries and lived here, they also married with the Taiwanese girls, some of them were came from USA, some were from France and Germany and Italy.I think I recognize a few of the places in that video. My wife and I spent nearly three weeks circumnavigating the island on our honeymoon. My wife -- who's from Taiwan -- did all the planning and did a wonderful job of mixing the local flavor with the touristy things throughout the country. I was amazed at how varied the geography was and how beautiful much of the country is. Having said that, I notice that the video completely ignores the cities and the congestion that dominates a good portion of the country.
Do I mentioned anything about the law or something in the film you saw?Nothing like seeing the world in photos ,as a worker....can you find your self in
serious trouble not knowing the local laws. Are you warned.
I found the same thing. While it was very, very nice to have my wife available, I was able to function reasonably easily when needed. As my wife explained to me, English education is compulsory throughout public education in Taiwan, at least to a certain degree. But on top of that, English-speaking trade and tourism is such a big part of the economy (as it is in many countries around the world) that self-interest compels a large fraction of businesses to accommodate English-only transactions and have strong incentive to make that accommodatation easy and visible.Scott,
I spent a week in Taipei last year. Mostly work. I was amazed how easy it is for an American to survive in a foreign country. Everything is labelled in English.
British were there (at least in MOST of them) before.I found the same thing. While it was very, very nice to have my wife available, I was able to function reasonably easily when needed. As my wife explained to me, English education is compulsory throughout public education in Taiwan, at least to a certain degree. But on top of that, English-speaking trade and tourism is such a big part of the economy (as it is in many countries around the world) that self-interest compels a large fraction of businesses to accommodate English-only transactions and have strong incentive to make that accommodatation easy and visible.
What amazed me was how people everywhere were eager to talk to me in English as soon as they heard me speak it. My wife pointed out that most people (especially people engaged in public commerce, such as street vendors) look for every opportunity to practice their English, especially with anyone that spot as speaking American-english. It made for a very enjoyable trip.
I think that Americans, especially, don't realize how easy our lives are because of things like this. America has so dominated the international political and economic landscape for so many decades that Americans (and other English-speaking peoples) reap a huge benefit in being able to function in such a large fraction of the world without having to accommodate to local language and customs (and, of course, a downside of this benefit is that we lack the incentives to learn other languages and customs even of the people that we have extensive interactions with).
But while this benefit is nice and useful, we take it for granted far too easily and don't realize that we have this benefit because the generations before us worked really, really hard to make America the dominant political and economic power in the world. But, while there is a self-sustaining aspect to it, it is not guaranteed to last. If we want to continue reaping that benefit, then it is up to us to continue working really really hard to maintain that position. But others want to play on that stage too and, by the very nature of things, it becomes easier for them to do so over time. So we would have to work even harder to hold our own -- and all indications are that we are not only unwilling to work harder, we are unwilling to work nearly as hard. But, that's life -- civilization is a self-defeating concept.
The way I understand your question, (paraphraseing), "if unusual laws exist in foreign countries that I must visit as part of my job, does my company warn me befor I leave?"Nothing like seeing the world in photos ,as a worker....can you find your self in
serious trouble not knowing the local laws. Are you warned.
If you go back today, you will find a much different place. Everyone under 45 years old seems to speak English very well. We also made a game of finding the most obscure thing labelled in English. I think the winner was the instructions on the firefighting hose spool in the hotel stairwell. It was a separate plastic engraved plaque with in English instructions. We were only in this back stairwell because my host used to date a hotel employee and knew a short cut to the street. No tourists were ever intended to be back there!I made several trips to Taiwan in the 1980s and 90s, and found the people there to friendly and helpful, and many spoke English, but not all. I stayed for a while in Hsin Chu, and no one at the hotel spoke English. I had to point at pictures in the menu to order meals.
Oh, most definitely. That was a significant factor that made the rise of American influence much easier, though I suspect that the post-WWII era was such that it would have been inevitable anyway.British were there (at least in MOST of them) before.
I definitely second the statement that the people are friendly and helpful. We had a blowout on a mountain road around midnight. It was her brother's car and there was no spare and no tools. One guy stopped and picked us up and gave us a ride into the small town we were headed to (about fifteen miles, IIRC). No shops were open but the gal at our motel said that the owner of a repair shop also lived in the shop and to just go bang on the door until we woke him up. We did so and the guy came out and very promptly and pleasantly mounted up a tire on a wheel, threw some stuff in his truck, and took us back to the car and fixed it, and then followed us back into town because the front brake had been slightly damaged and he wanted to make sure we got down safely.I made several trips to Taiwan in the 1980s and 90s, and found the people there to friendly and helpful, and many spoke English, but not all. I stayed for a while in Hsin Chu, and no one at the hotel spoke English. I had to point at pictures in the menu to order meals.
That was one thing we didn't do, which was take the high speed train anywhere. We chose to drive and my wife did a wonderful job of picking places for us to stay each night that were extremely varied.If you get the chance and you can tolerate a 12 hour airplane ride, then drop everything and go. Especially if you have a tour guide to bring you around the country side. The high speed train system is great too. Across the island in a few hours.