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Friday, May 30th, 2025

5/30

Our group spent the majority of our day touring temples and other various religious sites around Kaohsiung. Our first stop was at the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, which were my personal favorite. I really enjoyed being able to walk up and see a 360 view from different stories of the pagoda.  We walked along the river to other religious sights, including two temples. In the second temple, Professor Chen pointed out an interesting observation: many of the temples are very similar, yet appear very frequently in cities. Therefore, why are there so many of them? Professor Chen also questioned their […]

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Friday, May 30th, 2025

5/29

The main activity this Thursday was visiting the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. Although I am not very familiar with high-quality art, I could appreciate many pieces of artwork in the museum. I really enjoyed the top floor of the museum, where one artist had a collection of oil paintings. These paintings used bright colors to create an almost glowing effect. I have also included one of my favorite paintings below, which was a flower that appears to look 3D. I am shocked at how realistic it looks. After my first walkthrough of the museum, I missed a very interesting […]

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Thursday, May 29th, 2025

5/28

Today we started our day with a tour of the National Taichung Theater. I was amazed by the architecture of both the inside and outside of the building. On our way in, we saw a bus arrive and employees immediately went to greet them as they got off the bus. Additionally, the fountains outside the opera house turned on. Just based on these small observations of how they were treated, we could tell their importance and that they are highly respected figures in Taiwan. Following the tour of the opera house, we visited Lukang Historical Town. What I found most […]

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Wednesday, May 28th, 2025

5/27

Our day on Tuesday began with a train ride from Taipei to Hsinchu. Once we arrived in Hsinchu, we went to HSP, the Hsinchu Science Park, which is the equivalent to America’s Silicon Valley. We first went on a guided tour, where we learned about some of the most unique inventions that have come out of HSP.  One of the pieces of technology I found most interesting was the motorcycle that ran on hydrogen gas. I think this is a great alternative to methane gas, which releases harmful greenhouse gases to the environment and heavily contributes to global warming. However, […]

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Monday, May 26th, 2025

5/26

Today we visited Professor Chen’s brother in-laws printing company, Hong Jaan Printing Co. This was a particularly insightful experience because we clearly saw the connection between business and religion. One of the first things Professor Young pointed out upon arriving was the God Shelf. On the shelf, there were different types of incense as well as a photo of the god who is often called “earth god” or “real estate god.” This god is believed to bring wealth to businesses. The owner explained how on the 2nd and 16th of every month, they prepare offerings including fruit, spiritual money, and […]

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Monday, May 26th, 2025

5/25

This morning we had class at the hotel where we reflected on our time in Taiwan so far, particularly focusing on the fusion of business and religion. One of the most challenging aspects of the morning was answering the prompts the professors assigned to us. Not only was it challenging to answer the questions briefly, but handwriting the answers also presented a unique challenge. I haven’t been asked to handwrite an essay without access to technology since high school, so I really had to think about what I was writing. After class, Hanna, Kyla, Malli and I went into town […]

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