May - June 2010
1. Taitung City 臺東市 (May 五月 2010)
I also discussed Taitung City in the posts titled "Where is Taitung?" and "Eating in Taitung City," so for additional information, random opinions, and idle speculation you are welcome to look there. It's very difficult to discuss Taitung County and not bring Taitung City into the discussion at some point. The city and county governments are located here, most people in Taitung County live in Taitung City, and Taitung City is also the major transit point for destinations farther afield. 我也在之前的文章中介紹過臺東市,例如:"臺東在那裡?""吃在臺東".差不多其他的資訊你都可以在那裡找的到.介紹臺東縣就不免會提到臺東市,臺東大部分的人口住在臺東市,臺東縣及市政府都在臺東市,並且它也是主要交通轉運點.
It also helps to remember that Taitung City also includes the Jer Ben hot spring area, just southeast of downtown. Jer Ben was also discussed in the "Royal Jer Ben and Other Hot Springs" post. The hot springs do not appear in the following list for that reason. 另外臺東的知本溫泉區位於市區南部,有關知本溫泉的資訊可以看"知本老爺及其他",所以不再重覆介紹.
There are many places to visit in Taitung City. Those that follow are some of my favorites. 臺東有很多好玩的地方,以下是我喜歡的地方:
1. The Li Ji "Badlands". This ill-defined area extends from the area around the Taitung Train Station all the way up to Lu Ye. The most dramatic and easily accessible parts of the Li Ji Badlands are just past the baseball stadium outside of town. "利吉惡地":這地區從臺東火車站附近到鹿野,最方便到達的路線是從臺東棒球場進入.
2. The National Museum of Prehistory. In my opinion, this is the second-most interesting museum in Taiwan - the most interesting being (of course) the National Palace Museum in Taipei. There is also a nice park behind the museum. 國立史前博物館:我覺得這是臺灣第二有趣的博物館了,第一當然是故宮博物院,史前博物館後面還有一個很棒的公園.
3. The Jer Ben Forest Recreation Area. This is just past the hot spring area, at the end of the road. A great place to see animals or just go for a walk. 知本森林遊樂區:這是過了溫泉區在道路盡頭,很好的散步地點及看野生動物的地方.
4. The Deep (or "Black") Forest Park. This park stretches along the Bei Nan River to the north of the city. If possible, avoid this place on weekends - too many people! 森林公園:這個公園的範圍從卑南河到北部的臺東市,建議你不要在假日去,太多人了.
5. Fu Gang Harbor. This is just north of the city, across the Bei Nan River. This is the departure point for Green and Orchid Islands if you're going by boat. "Little" Ye Liou is also not far from here. I come here just to watch the fishermen. 富岡漁港:這是在臺東市北方,這是到綠島及蘭嶼的登船地點,小野柳也在這附近,我到這裡是為了看漁民的工作情形.
2. Comic Books 漫畫書 (May 五月 2010)
I like comic books, though I don't read them as much as I used to. 我喜歡看漫畫書, 可是我最近較不常看.
In Seattle I grew up reading comic books. My favorite super-hero back then was the Flash. To this day, I have a huge collection of American comic books sitting in my parents' house back home - relics of a time spent riding bikes around my neighborhood, playing video games at friends' houses, and dreaming about worlds were super-heroes fought it out for the fate of the universe. 我在西雅圖看漫畫長大.我最喜歡的人物是閃電俠,直到現在我還有許多漫畫在我爸媽家,記錄著我騎腳踏車亂逛,在朋友家打電動和作著漫畫裡的英雄為宇宙而戰的白日夢.
Naturally I grew out of those kind of comic books. As you get older, the idea of grown men in tights smacking each other around starts to seem kind of silly. 只是我長大以後,這些穿著緊身衣並且打來打去的"英雄"就顯得很可笑.
When I was little we didn't have many of the Japanese comic books in Seattle. I can remember reading "Fist of the North Star" and "Baoh" in English translation, but it took a while for Japanese comics to really find an audience over there. By the time they did, I was already past the age to be reading most of them. 我小的時候沒有什麼日本漫畫,最有名的是北斗神拳和巴歐的英文版,日本漫畫剛開始的讀眾不多,等到他們有知名度時我已經較長也快過看漫畫的年齡了.
It wasn't until I moved to Taiwan, and started to study Chinese, that I really began to like Japanese comic books. The first comic book that I can remember reading in Chinese was Doraemon, and I was very proud when I managed to read a single issue from cover to cover. Later on I read other comics: One Piece and Dragonball, Naruto and Bleach; and I even attended the odd comic book convention. 直到我到臺灣開始學中文時才又開始看漫畫,最先看的應該是哆啦A夢,我很自傲可以從頭看到尾一本漫畫.我還看過航海王,七龍珠,火影忍者和死神,並且去過漫畫書展.
Even now, I am still a huge fan of "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure," mostly because it's creator, Hirohiko Araki, is one of my favorite artists. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is also, well - bizarre - and I like bizarre things. 現在我是個”JoJo冒險野郎”迷,因為我很喜歡那位漫畫家”荒木飛呂彥”,那部漫畫很荒謬,而我就是喜歡這個調調.
If you think you are too old for comic books, you might give them another try. They might not be the most intellectual form of entertainment, but who says everything needs to be intellectually stimulating? I often think we try too hard to be grown-ups. We are in such a hurry to put away "childish things" that we forget the joys of youth!如果你認為自己的年齡已經不適合看漫畫了,那麼你應該再試試看,雖然它不是很有教育性,可是有誰說任何事都要有意義?我們都很努力地進入成人世界並且忘記了童年時那簡單的快樂.
3. First Impression 第一印象 (May 五月 2010)
Just about everybody asks me why I came to Taiwan in the first place. I never have a good answer for this question. It was really a long time ago (more than 10 years now), I was a very different person then, and I'm not sure if I ever had such strong reasons for coming here. I suppose I was just getting tired of Seattle, and I needed a change of scenery. 很多人問我為何來臺灣?那已經是十年前的事了,確切的原因已經很難回想,那時的我和現在的我差很多,可能是因為我對西雅圖有些厭煩並且需要些改變,所以我來了.
It's easier to remember my first impressions of Taiwan. Everything was so new to me then, and coming here changed a lot of my opinions on a lot of things. Coming to Taiwan didn't just change my opinions either, it changed me. 我還記得第一眼看到臺灣的感覺,每一樣東西都好新奇,到臺灣不止改變了我對很多事的看法也改變了我自己.
Of course, the first thing that most North Americans think when they get off of the plane in Taoyuan is: "Man, this place is HOT!" I really couldn't believe how f***ing hot it was, and I wondered how people could live here without taking a shower every fifteen minutes. 大部分的北美人士到臺灣的第一個想法應該是:喔!這地方真是熱.我沒辦法想像在這麼熱的地方卻不能一天洗很多次澡的生活.
After my initial surprise at the heat, I remember the boss of the school where I worked driving me to Taichung from the old airport. I also couldn't believe how BRIGHT everything was compared to Seattle. Surely part of it was exhaustion (it takes about 12 hours to come here on the plane from Seattle), but I remember having an extremely difficult time focusing my eyes on anything for very long. 震驚於熱氣之後,當時的老闆載我到臺中,臺灣與西雅圖比較起來,處處都好亮,可能一方面是我太累了(坐了12個小時的飛機),我只記得自己的眼睛很難聚焦.
Later my boss took myself and some other coworkers to the apartment where we were to live for the next few weeks, inside Taichung's industrial area on the outskirts of the city. The first thing I did after unpacking was head downstairs to the 7-11. I couldn't believe how many different drinks the 7-11s in Taiwan had compared to back home. In Seattle, and especially in 1999, convenience stores never sold yogurt drinks, or cold coffee drinks, or tea drinks, or soy drinks - all the convenience stores back home sold only juice, cola, and beer. 我的第一個住處在臺中的工業區附近,和其他幾個從國外來的同事暫住在一間公寓.放置好行李後到了樓下的7-11,我真不敢相信居然有這麼多不同的飲料,在西雅圖,尤其是在1999年,便利商店沒有乳酸飲料,冰咖啡,茶類飲料和豆漿,那時在西雅圖的便利商店只有果汁,可樂和啤酒.
After buying some necessary items, I remember sleeping for a long time. When I woke up it was the middle of the next day. I tried to go for a walk, but at that time I had no idea where anything was. I didn't go far because I was afraid of getting lost. I managed to locate a store that sold religious items (things for temples), and having never seen a store like that, I spent a lot of time studying their shop windows. 我買了些必需品後回到公寓睡了好久,等我醒來已經是隔天了,那時因為對環境不熟沒敢走遠,只在附近看到了一家賣祭拜用品的店,因為沒看過所以我在那裡隔著櫥窗研究很久.
After I had returned to my apartment and sat down a while, two of my roommates returned from their own expedition. Somehow they had walked all the way from our apartment, not far from Tung Hai University, to the train station on the other end of town! If you know Taichung, you know that's A REALLY LONG WALK. This is even truer in the middle of the day, in the middle of August, when we were there! 回到公寓後看到我的兩個室友,他們從東海大學附近的我們的公寓走到臺中火車站再回來,如果你知道臺中的話,你一定知道在八月的日正當中走在馬路上的感覺並且是從東海大學到火車站來回.
We spent a long time talking about the things we had seen. I remember the conversation often turning to the subject of women seen in various places. We were in complete agreement that the women of Taiwan were very beautiful. We wondered how one went about meeting them. 我們分享各自見到的事物,我們大部分時間談著在路上看到的女人,我們一致認為臺灣的女人很漂亮,想著如何認識她們.
Of course later we would all have girlfriends, and things like religious shops, tea stands, and betel nut girls would all seem very normal to us. Still, it's nice to think about those first few days in Taiwan. Back then there was a discovery around every corner, and I look back with fondness at the joys I took in everyday things. Those of us who've lived in Taiwan a long time tend to forget how wonderful it was at first. Perhaps you could say the same? 雖然後來我們都有女朋友,那些賣香燭的店,茶飲店和檳榔西施也不再讓我覺得不可思議,但是剛到的那些時候, 每一天有新發現,也許住久了反而忘了當初接觸這些事物時的欣喜,也許你也有同樣的想法?
4. RT Mart Vs. Carrefour 大潤發跟家樂福 (June 六月 2010)
Back in 2006, when I first moved to Taitung, all we had here was RT Mart. For the longest time I couldn't figure out where it was. I kept seeing the signs everywhere, but I could never find it. It took me about a week before I realized that it was on the way to Jer Ben, way outside of town. 我是2006年搬過來台東. 那時台東的大賣場只有大潤發跟正一百貨. 正一的地點很明顯, 可是大潤發就不是這樣了. 我到處找大潤發, 他們店呢? 過了一個星期我才知道它在台東市的市郊, 往知本的方向.
If you're not familiar with Taiwan, you might be wondering what RT Mart is. RT Mart is a big variety store that is to be found all over the island. It is the Taiwanese equivalent of Fred Meyer, or maybe Safeway. 國外的朋友們, 你們很有可能不知道大潤發是什麼.?它是臺灣大賣場其中之一. 它像美國那邊的Fred Meyer或是Safeway.
I was really surprised to find a RT Mart in Taitung. Given that there are a little over 100,000 people living in Taitung City, I would have thought that this area was too small for such a big store. 我剛來台東的時候覺得很好奇, 台東這個小小的城市怎麼會有大潤發? 這裡的人口真的夠多嗎?
A couple years back I was even more surprised to find that Carrefour had moved into the area. Carrefour is one of RT Mart's chief competitors, and they have moved into an old apartment complex on Jeng Chi Road. Their establishment is also quite hard to locate if you don't already know where it is. 差不多兩年前,我聽說家樂福這個公司要在台東開他們的分店. 現在這家店在正氣路上. 我覺得這家店也很難找.
I must say that I like RT Mart a lot more than Carrefour. It's bigger and more pleasant to walk around. I also find that the things that I buy there tend to last longer. RT Mart also has a better selection of cheap movies, which are usually the only things I buy in those places. 我應該說我比較喜歡大潤發. 他們那裡比家樂福還大, 逛起來比較舒服. 我也認為大潤發的貨品比較耐用並且電影也比家樂福便宜多了. 通常我在那種賣場買的大部分是電影!
Besides movies, it's easier to find products made in Taiwan at RT Mart. Most of the stuff in Carrefour seems to originate in either China or South Korea. Carrefour might have a better selection of liquor and beer, but since I don't buy so much of those anymore, I have trouble finding a reason to go there. 除了電影以外, 要在大潤發找到臺灣的貨品比較容易. 家樂福大部分的商品是從大陸或是南韓. 家樂福也有很多不同種類的酒, 可是最近我不常喝西洋酒, 所以我現在沒有什麼理由去家樂福.
I think I liked RT Mart even more back when they had the KFC and the "San Shang Chiao Fu" inside. It was a nice place to take my daughters for lunch. Little by little they seem to be losing their business to Carrefour, but I hope they don't disappear. I find that I have left behind many memories in that place. 我覺得幾年前的大潤發比目前的好, 因為他們以前也有KFC和三商巧福. 那時候我們喜歡帶我們的孩子去那裡吃飯. 只是現在大潤發的生意好像沒有以前好, 我希望他們有辦法經營下去. 我對那個地方有很多回憶.
5. The World Cup 世界盃足球賽 (June 六月 2010)
What does the World Cup have to do with Taitung? I have no idea. Soccer is not especially popular in Taiwan, and in this respect Taitung is no different. 世界盃足球賽跟台東有什麼關係呢? 我也不知道. 在臺灣足球不是很受大家的重視. 在台東足球也不熱門.
I just want to write something about the World Cup because I think it is very fun to watch. To be honest, with work, and kids, and exercise I haven't had the chance to see much of it, but I'm hoping that after the semester ends I can have more time to do so. So far, I've only seen the match between Spain and Switzerland, and I should be heading over to a friend's house later tonight to see the USA Vs. Slovenia game. 我提世界盃球賽是因為我自己很喜歡看. 隨著學期末的課越來越少, 我可以看的機會越來越多. 看過了西班牙對瑞士的那一場. 今天我還要去朋友家看美國對斯洛維尼亞的比賽.
Soccer is definitely one of my favorite sports to watch. I also like college football, but in Taiwan there's no way to see that on TV. I also like the fact that soccer is a truly worldwide sport, and that teams from countries such as Ghana actually have a chance to beat the United States. You will notice that in sports such as basketball, baseball, and football the Americans always win. 足球是我喜歡的運動之一. 我也喜歡美式足球, 可是在台灣沒機會看. 足球是國際性的賽事. 不像籃球,棒球和美式足球都是美國贏的機會多, 在足球場上很多國家都有機會贏得最高榮譽.
So I encourage you to watch the World Cup if you have the time. We've already seen a surprise upset in the Spain Vs. Switzerland match, and who knows what else lies in store? 看足球賽是一項很好的活動. 西班牙輸給瑞士已經是一場出乎意料的比賽, 誰知道接下來還會發生什麼事?
I also discussed Taitung City in the posts titled "Where is Taitung?" and "Eating in Taitung City," so for additional information, random opinions, and idle speculation you are welcome to look there. It's very difficult to discuss Taitung County and not bring Taitung City into the discussion at some point. The city and county governments are located here, most people in Taitung County live in Taitung City, and Taitung City is also the major transit point for destinations farther afield. 我也在之前的文章中介紹過臺東市,例如:"臺東在那裡?""吃在臺東".差不多其他的資訊你都可以在那裡找的到.介紹臺東縣就不免會提到臺東市,臺東大部分的人口住在臺東市,臺東縣及市政府都在臺東市,並且它也是主要交通轉運點.
It also helps to remember that Taitung City also includes the Jer Ben hot spring area, just southeast of downtown. Jer Ben was also discussed in the "Royal Jer Ben and Other Hot Springs" post. The hot springs do not appear in the following list for that reason. 另外臺東的知本溫泉區位於市區南部,有關知本溫泉的資訊可以看"知本老爺及其他",所以不再重覆介紹.
There are many places to visit in Taitung City. Those that follow are some of my favorites. 臺東有很多好玩的地方,以下是我喜歡的地方:
1. The Li Ji "Badlands". This ill-defined area extends from the area around the Taitung Train Station all the way up to Lu Ye. The most dramatic and easily accessible parts of the Li Ji Badlands are just past the baseball stadium outside of town. "利吉惡地":這地區從臺東火車站附近到鹿野,最方便到達的路線是從臺東棒球場進入.
2. The National Museum of Prehistory. In my opinion, this is the second-most interesting museum in Taiwan - the most interesting being (of course) the National Palace Museum in Taipei. There is also a nice park behind the museum. 國立史前博物館:我覺得這是臺灣第二有趣的博物館了,第一當然是故宮博物院,史前博物館後面還有一個很棒的公園.
3. The Jer Ben Forest Recreation Area. This is just past the hot spring area, at the end of the road. A great place to see animals or just go for a walk. 知本森林遊樂區:這是過了溫泉區在道路盡頭,很好的散步地點及看野生動物的地方.
4. The Deep (or "Black") Forest Park. This park stretches along the Bei Nan River to the north of the city. If possible, avoid this place on weekends - too many people! 森林公園:這個公園的範圍從卑南河到北部的臺東市,建議你不要在假日去,太多人了.
5. Fu Gang Harbor. This is just north of the city, across the Bei Nan River. This is the departure point for Green and Orchid Islands if you're going by boat. "Little" Ye Liou is also not far from here. I come here just to watch the fishermen. 富岡漁港:這是在臺東市北方,這是到綠島及蘭嶼的登船地點,小野柳也在這附近,我到這裡是為了看漁民的工作情形.
2. Comic Books 漫畫書 (May 五月 2010)
I like comic books, though I don't read them as much as I used to. 我喜歡看漫畫書, 可是我最近較不常看.
In Seattle I grew up reading comic books. My favorite super-hero back then was the Flash. To this day, I have a huge collection of American comic books sitting in my parents' house back home - relics of a time spent riding bikes around my neighborhood, playing video games at friends' houses, and dreaming about worlds were super-heroes fought it out for the fate of the universe. 我在西雅圖看漫畫長大.我最喜歡的人物是閃電俠,直到現在我還有許多漫畫在我爸媽家,記錄著我騎腳踏車亂逛,在朋友家打電動和作著漫畫裡的英雄為宇宙而戰的白日夢.
Naturally I grew out of those kind of comic books. As you get older, the idea of grown men in tights smacking each other around starts to seem kind of silly. 只是我長大以後,這些穿著緊身衣並且打來打去的"英雄"就顯得很可笑.
When I was little we didn't have many of the Japanese comic books in Seattle. I can remember reading "Fist of the North Star" and "Baoh" in English translation, but it took a while for Japanese comics to really find an audience over there. By the time they did, I was already past the age to be reading most of them. 我小的時候沒有什麼日本漫畫,最有名的是北斗神拳和巴歐的英文版,日本漫畫剛開始的讀眾不多,等到他們有知名度時我已經較長也快過看漫畫的年齡了.
It wasn't until I moved to Taiwan, and started to study Chinese, that I really began to like Japanese comic books. The first comic book that I can remember reading in Chinese was Doraemon, and I was very proud when I managed to read a single issue from cover to cover. Later on I read other comics: One Piece and Dragonball, Naruto and Bleach; and I even attended the odd comic book convention. 直到我到臺灣開始學中文時才又開始看漫畫,最先看的應該是哆啦A夢,我很自傲可以從頭看到尾一本漫畫.我還看過航海王,七龍珠,火影忍者和死神,並且去過漫畫書展.
Even now, I am still a huge fan of "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure," mostly because it's creator, Hirohiko Araki, is one of my favorite artists. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is also, well - bizarre - and I like bizarre things. 現在我是個”JoJo冒險野郎”迷,因為我很喜歡那位漫畫家”荒木飛呂彥”,那部漫畫很荒謬,而我就是喜歡這個調調.
If you think you are too old for comic books, you might give them another try. They might not be the most intellectual form of entertainment, but who says everything needs to be intellectually stimulating? I often think we try too hard to be grown-ups. We are in such a hurry to put away "childish things" that we forget the joys of youth!如果你認為自己的年齡已經不適合看漫畫了,那麼你應該再試試看,雖然它不是很有教育性,可是有誰說任何事都要有意義?我們都很努力地進入成人世界並且忘記了童年時那簡單的快樂.
3. First Impression 第一印象 (May 五月 2010)
Just about everybody asks me why I came to Taiwan in the first place. I never have a good answer for this question. It was really a long time ago (more than 10 years now), I was a very different person then, and I'm not sure if I ever had such strong reasons for coming here. I suppose I was just getting tired of Seattle, and I needed a change of scenery. 很多人問我為何來臺灣?那已經是十年前的事了,確切的原因已經很難回想,那時的我和現在的我差很多,可能是因為我對西雅圖有些厭煩並且需要些改變,所以我來了.
It's easier to remember my first impressions of Taiwan. Everything was so new to me then, and coming here changed a lot of my opinions on a lot of things. Coming to Taiwan didn't just change my opinions either, it changed me. 我還記得第一眼看到臺灣的感覺,每一樣東西都好新奇,到臺灣不止改變了我對很多事的看法也改變了我自己.
Of course, the first thing that most North Americans think when they get off of the plane in Taoyuan is: "Man, this place is HOT!" I really couldn't believe how f***ing hot it was, and I wondered how people could live here without taking a shower every fifteen minutes. 大部分的北美人士到臺灣的第一個想法應該是:喔!這地方真是熱.我沒辦法想像在這麼熱的地方卻不能一天洗很多次澡的生活.
After my initial surprise at the heat, I remember the boss of the school where I worked driving me to Taichung from the old airport. I also couldn't believe how BRIGHT everything was compared to Seattle. Surely part of it was exhaustion (it takes about 12 hours to come here on the plane from Seattle), but I remember having an extremely difficult time focusing my eyes on anything for very long. 震驚於熱氣之後,當時的老闆載我到臺中,臺灣與西雅圖比較起來,處處都好亮,可能一方面是我太累了(坐了12個小時的飛機),我只記得自己的眼睛很難聚焦.
Later my boss took myself and some other coworkers to the apartment where we were to live for the next few weeks, inside Taichung's industrial area on the outskirts of the city. The first thing I did after unpacking was head downstairs to the 7-11. I couldn't believe how many different drinks the 7-11s in Taiwan had compared to back home. In Seattle, and especially in 1999, convenience stores never sold yogurt drinks, or cold coffee drinks, or tea drinks, or soy drinks - all the convenience stores back home sold only juice, cola, and beer. 我的第一個住處在臺中的工業區附近,和其他幾個從國外來的同事暫住在一間公寓.放置好行李後到了樓下的7-11,我真不敢相信居然有這麼多不同的飲料,在西雅圖,尤其是在1999年,便利商店沒有乳酸飲料,冰咖啡,茶類飲料和豆漿,那時在西雅圖的便利商店只有果汁,可樂和啤酒.
After buying some necessary items, I remember sleeping for a long time. When I woke up it was the middle of the next day. I tried to go for a walk, but at that time I had no idea where anything was. I didn't go far because I was afraid of getting lost. I managed to locate a store that sold religious items (things for temples), and having never seen a store like that, I spent a lot of time studying their shop windows. 我買了些必需品後回到公寓睡了好久,等我醒來已經是隔天了,那時因為對環境不熟沒敢走遠,只在附近看到了一家賣祭拜用品的店,因為沒看過所以我在那裡隔著櫥窗研究很久.
After I had returned to my apartment and sat down a while, two of my roommates returned from their own expedition. Somehow they had walked all the way from our apartment, not far from Tung Hai University, to the train station on the other end of town! If you know Taichung, you know that's A REALLY LONG WALK. This is even truer in the middle of the day, in the middle of August, when we were there! 回到公寓後看到我的兩個室友,他們從東海大學附近的我們的公寓走到臺中火車站再回來,如果你知道臺中的話,你一定知道在八月的日正當中走在馬路上的感覺並且是從東海大學到火車站來回.
We spent a long time talking about the things we had seen. I remember the conversation often turning to the subject of women seen in various places. We were in complete agreement that the women of Taiwan were very beautiful. We wondered how one went about meeting them. 我們分享各自見到的事物,我們大部分時間談著在路上看到的女人,我們一致認為臺灣的女人很漂亮,想著如何認識她們.
Of course later we would all have girlfriends, and things like religious shops, tea stands, and betel nut girls would all seem very normal to us. Still, it's nice to think about those first few days in Taiwan. Back then there was a discovery around every corner, and I look back with fondness at the joys I took in everyday things. Those of us who've lived in Taiwan a long time tend to forget how wonderful it was at first. Perhaps you could say the same? 雖然後來我們都有女朋友,那些賣香燭的店,茶飲店和檳榔西施也不再讓我覺得不可思議,但是剛到的那些時候, 每一天有新發現,也許住久了反而忘了當初接觸這些事物時的欣喜,也許你也有同樣的想法?
4. RT Mart Vs. Carrefour 大潤發跟家樂福 (June 六月 2010)
Back in 2006, when I first moved to Taitung, all we had here was RT Mart. For the longest time I couldn't figure out where it was. I kept seeing the signs everywhere, but I could never find it. It took me about a week before I realized that it was on the way to Jer Ben, way outside of town. 我是2006年搬過來台東. 那時台東的大賣場只有大潤發跟正一百貨. 正一的地點很明顯, 可是大潤發就不是這樣了. 我到處找大潤發, 他們店呢? 過了一個星期我才知道它在台東市的市郊, 往知本的方向.
If you're not familiar with Taiwan, you might be wondering what RT Mart is. RT Mart is a big variety store that is to be found all over the island. It is the Taiwanese equivalent of Fred Meyer, or maybe Safeway. 國外的朋友們, 你們很有可能不知道大潤發是什麼.?它是臺灣大賣場其中之一. 它像美國那邊的Fred Meyer或是Safeway.
I was really surprised to find a RT Mart in Taitung. Given that there are a little over 100,000 people living in Taitung City, I would have thought that this area was too small for such a big store. 我剛來台東的時候覺得很好奇, 台東這個小小的城市怎麼會有大潤發? 這裡的人口真的夠多嗎?
A couple years back I was even more surprised to find that Carrefour had moved into the area. Carrefour is one of RT Mart's chief competitors, and they have moved into an old apartment complex on Jeng Chi Road. Their establishment is also quite hard to locate if you don't already know where it is. 差不多兩年前,我聽說家樂福這個公司要在台東開他們的分店. 現在這家店在正氣路上. 我覺得這家店也很難找.
I must say that I like RT Mart a lot more than Carrefour. It's bigger and more pleasant to walk around. I also find that the things that I buy there tend to last longer. RT Mart also has a better selection of cheap movies, which are usually the only things I buy in those places. 我應該說我比較喜歡大潤發. 他們那裡比家樂福還大, 逛起來比較舒服. 我也認為大潤發的貨品比較耐用並且電影也比家樂福便宜多了. 通常我在那種賣場買的大部分是電影!
Besides movies, it's easier to find products made in Taiwan at RT Mart. Most of the stuff in Carrefour seems to originate in either China or South Korea. Carrefour might have a better selection of liquor and beer, but since I don't buy so much of those anymore, I have trouble finding a reason to go there. 除了電影以外, 要在大潤發找到臺灣的貨品比較容易. 家樂福大部分的商品是從大陸或是南韓. 家樂福也有很多不同種類的酒, 可是最近我不常喝西洋酒, 所以我現在沒有什麼理由去家樂福.
I think I liked RT Mart even more back when they had the KFC and the "San Shang Chiao Fu" inside. It was a nice place to take my daughters for lunch. Little by little they seem to be losing their business to Carrefour, but I hope they don't disappear. I find that I have left behind many memories in that place. 我覺得幾年前的大潤發比目前的好, 因為他們以前也有KFC和三商巧福. 那時候我們喜歡帶我們的孩子去那裡吃飯. 只是現在大潤發的生意好像沒有以前好, 我希望他們有辦法經營下去. 我對那個地方有很多回憶.
5. The World Cup 世界盃足球賽 (June 六月 2010)
What does the World Cup have to do with Taitung? I have no idea. Soccer is not especially popular in Taiwan, and in this respect Taitung is no different. 世界盃足球賽跟台東有什麼關係呢? 我也不知道. 在臺灣足球不是很受大家的重視. 在台東足球也不熱門.
I just want to write something about the World Cup because I think it is very fun to watch. To be honest, with work, and kids, and exercise I haven't had the chance to see much of it, but I'm hoping that after the semester ends I can have more time to do so. So far, I've only seen the match between Spain and Switzerland, and I should be heading over to a friend's house later tonight to see the USA Vs. Slovenia game. 我提世界盃球賽是因為我自己很喜歡看. 隨著學期末的課越來越少, 我可以看的機會越來越多. 看過了西班牙對瑞士的那一場. 今天我還要去朋友家看美國對斯洛維尼亞的比賽.
Soccer is definitely one of my favorite sports to watch. I also like college football, but in Taiwan there's no way to see that on TV. I also like the fact that soccer is a truly worldwide sport, and that teams from countries such as Ghana actually have a chance to beat the United States. You will notice that in sports such as basketball, baseball, and football the Americans always win. 足球是我喜歡的運動之一. 我也喜歡美式足球, 可是在台灣沒機會看. 足球是國際性的賽事. 不像籃球,棒球和美式足球都是美國贏的機會多, 在足球場上很多國家都有機會贏得最高榮譽.
So I encourage you to watch the World Cup if you have the time. We've already seen a surprise upset in the Spain Vs. Switzerland match, and who knows what else lies in store? 看足球賽是一項很好的活動. 西班牙輸給瑞士已經是一場出乎意料的比賽, 誰知道接下來還會發生什麼事?
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