 Travelogue
Taiwan
Our
Itinerary in Taiwan
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Goals of Trip to Taiwan (Republic of China [ROC] ):
Jim to conduct 3 two day workshops in Taichung (60
attendees),
Taipei (65 attendees) and Kaohsiung (65 attendees) on the Tools for Coping Series
(which were translated by the Changs and published by the National Council for
Family Relations Development) and to conduct a 1
two day workshop in Tainan (200 attendees) for pastors on Pastoral Counseling using the
philosophy of the series.
Connie to conduct 3 one day workshops in
Taichung (60 attendees), Taipei (120 attendees) and Kaohsiung (120 attendees) on the Identification of and Intervention with
Learning Disabilities including SLD, ADHD and other communications and learning
disorders.
Saturday November
20, 1999 Left
Tampa at 6:30 am by Northwest Airline to Memphis, then on to Seattle. From
Seattle we crossed the international dateline and it was Sunday November 21. We
first went to Tokyo, Japan and then finally to Taipei, Taiwan.
Sunday November 21 Met
at 9:30 pm at the CKS Airport by our hosts: Robert and Sally Chang from the
Family Wellness Center of Tunghai University in Taichung.
Robert
and Sally Chang (left) welcome Jim & Connie Messina to Taiwan at Taipei CKS
Airport. The Welcome sign was great since the airport is extremely large and
busy when a 747 arrives.
After
clearing customs, we then traveled by car to Taichung and arrived at the Alumni
House where we stayed for a four nights.
 Sally
(left) and the staffers: LeLing (center) & Sharon (right) at the Family
Wellness Center, located at Tunghai University in Taichung.
Monday
November 22 was a get adjusted day. We took a trip to eastern Taichung
county to view the earthquake scene. 
Six
weeks later we still found horrifying evidence of the 9-21 earthquake.
We
then attended that night a welcome party sponsored by the Board of Directors of
the National Council of Family Relation Development of Taiwan which sponsored our trip. Sally
encouraged us to take a nap after we viewed the earthquake area. We were to be
picked up by the Chang’s at 6 pm to go
to a welcome party. When Sally called we were sleeping. When I got the call,
Sally said our meeting was at 6:30 pm. I said: ”Who are you? Our meeting is
tomorrow at 9:00am.” It got a lot of laughs that night from the welcoming
committee. Jet Lag is real!
Right:
The
welcome party in Taichung.
Tuesday,
Wednesday & Thursday Nov 23, 24, 25 We
had three workshops in Taichung. I had the first and Connie had hers on Thursday.
Below is class in Taichung experiencing an Inner Child Healing Visualization.
One of our workshop groups at Taichung.
Friday & Saturday Nov 26 & 27 On Friday morning
we drove to Taipei where I had the
first day of my workshop. On Saturday Connie had her workshop and I had my
second day. We were in the Regional Social Education Bureau in Taipei and due to lack of
rooms I was moved to the front door Lobby on the first floor. I had many
observers the entire time.
 Here is Taipei workshop experiencing
Inner Child Healing in the Lobby of the Taipei Social Educational Bureau. We had loads of observers all day long.
Saturday
& Sunday Nov 27 & 28 On Saturday after our workshops we were driven
to Wulai in the mountains east of Taipei. It is the source of water for Taipei.
The natives are not allowed to tap into the water system any longer for their
own needs in this region. On the way we saw the mountain retreat in which the
gold stolen, by Chiang Kai-shek from
China is kept in a cave like Fort Knox. We arrived at the resort we were to
spend the night. It had warm and cold spring waters from the mountain. The large
home had six guest rooms on the second floor and a restaurant on the first
floor. The home is on the cliff overlooking the dam and river for the water
supply. We had a warm bath that evening in a relaxing fashion.
 The
dam in Wulai which was outside the window of our room where we stayed. This damn
controls the water supply for Taipei.
On
Sunday we went to church at a Native church, saw a cultural show and spent some
time sightseeing in Taipei where we saw the 30 acre monument to Chiang Kai-shek
which includes a opera hall and an symphony hall. We then flew to Tainan, by Air
Asia, from the Taipei city airport.
 Sally
and Robert Chang provided a stirring sermon at the native Church we worshipped
at that Sunday in Wulai.
Monday
& Tuesday November 29 & 30 I had two day workshop at the Tainan
Theological College and Seminary. Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan and is
known as the Cultural city. It also seemed to be the poorest of the four cities
we visited. It was by far the less sophisticated of the four cities. Here is a
picture of the Chapel in which we held our workshops.
 One
of our workshops in the Seminary Chapel in Tainan.
Wednesday,
Thursday & Friday December 1,2 & 3 We drove to Kaohsiung
and Connie
conducted her workshop first at the Run General Hospital Conference Center. My two day
workshop followed. Here is shown the rapt audience in Connie's workshop in Kaohsiung.
One of our workshops in Kaohsiung
After
our last workshop we went to the lake on which is located the Grand Hotel and the
pagoda built by Chiang Kai-shek.
Saturday
December 4 : We left Kaohsiung on Saturday Morning at 6:30 am saying good
by to our gracious hosts Robert and Sally Chang. We boarded an Air China plane
and headed to Taipei.
 Robert and Sally Chang bid Connie
(center) farewell at the International Airport in Kaohsiung.
 The
CKS Airport in Taipei with the ROC flag flying a farewell salute to us as we
left this beautiful, crowded, survivor-filled island nation.
We landed in CKS at 9:00 am were we boarded Northwest
again and landed in Tokyo and then on to Seattle.
 Our plane waits us in the Tokyo airport
on the way home.
We
lost a day and arrived at 6:30 am Saturday. We got to see lots of Seattle
airport. We saw Mt Rainer, the other mountain range around Seattle. We also saw
member of the WTO which had just closed its meetings in Seattle.
Right: Mt. Rainer in distance from Seattle
Airport on our layover on the way home.
After
a 6 hour layover we arrived in Memphis and finally in Tampa on Saturday Dec 4
at about 10:30 pm. We got home by midnight and did not wake up until 5:00 pm the
next day Sunday Dec 5.. We suffered from Jet Lag for the next two weeks.
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