Friday November 23rd, 2012
Rotary field trip! Whoopie! Just among my club (not
district) we went to tour the Toyota Assembly plant in Taipei. I got out of
school for it. ;) My host father went with me as a guest (because he’s a
Rotarian in a different Rotary club) so there was some bonding time between us.
Yay.
Filing into the tour bus, the trip began with a breakfast of
water and an assortment of four nummy foods:
-A bran muffin
-Some kind of garlic bread
-Triangle Sandwich with ham and cheese
-Sweet Bread with a smidget of cream inside
As we were on a tour bus, of course it had karaoke and
surprise, surprise (not) I was required to sing again. The song, ‘You Are My
Sunshine’ because that’s the only one I know out of the limited, dinosaur-old
selection. Seriously they need to update the song book. XD
No pictures were taken of the Toyota factory because twas
not allowed. In a nut shell, we walked an elevated platform above the work
process, watching it from a bird’s eye view. It was actually interesting to
observe the assembly line with its usage of both machine and man power dual
effort. I could’ve watched them for hours, learning each step of the process.
No idea why I liked it, but hey, it’s not a bad thing. :P
Some motor display and I
Different workers were varying hats, some soft, some hard
and several different colors based on their status. According to Uncle Kaiser,
the blue ones worked the hardest of all. It’s because the blue ones are
contract workers trying to get promoted to full-time employees, the white hats.
One achieved, they tend to simmer down since they have a safe, constant job.
That’s why there were way more blue hats than white, in order to get really
hard working employees. Kind of mean but understandable why.
With the tour complete, up next was a huge rotating table
lunch. Even when taking one of each dish/course and not seconds, you get full
pretty quickly. Good food though. I remained careful to not take too much food
but when one of my counselors told me something, that was the end of Andrea’s
lunch. Being told you have gained weight is not something appetizing. The fact is
true I can’t deny but only a bit in my stomach. Pants still fit fine. But with
that comment expressed to me, my mentality/lifestyle switched from watching my
weight to diet…diet now. I refuse to reach the status of ‘fat’! The biggest
challenge is finding a method of exercise. A gym is preferable but I don’t have
access to one at the moment. Mark my words, I WILL lose weight, there’s no
doubt about it. The level of loss is still in question and the amount of time
it will take. HMPH! Andrea FIGHTING!
Here's some, not all, of the lunch of plentifulness:
Beautifully displayed sushi
Already torn into by the table, here's the remaining bits. The bread is spilt in half to put the beef inside and eat just like a sandwich. Don't forget the sauce bowl in the back!
An explosion of seafood in a hot pot. There's so much and it was pretty spicy!
Little dumplings. Tada!
Known in English as 'grass jelly.' I've had grass jelly back in America from an Asian market that was sweet and tasty. This one was pretty flavorless to me.
Originally scheduled to visit a garden for the second half
of the trip, that plan was changed as a result of rain pouring down. Instead
the Rotary trip was moved to fan inside pottery museum, safe from rain’s
treachery. Beautiful works of art adorned the place from wine jars to pots to
plates to cups and more. We even got to observe artists actually crafting their
works right in front of us. Stunning to say the least! Let the pictures tell
the story!
Btw, this is a wine jar
Goodness me I'm short...either that or the pot is REALLY tall. *cough*second option*cough*
Birdies and flowers sketched onto a pot in its beginning stage
An artist's workspace filled with brushes and mixes of all sorts!
ADORABLE DUCKIES!
A dragon spitting out water for fish...ok, there's definitely some symbolism in this egg, pottery thing. As to its full meaning...no bells are ringing for me. XD
OH SO PRECIOUS BUN-BUNS!
Once the tour was complete, the commercial aspect came into
play as they fed us out to the store portion of the building. More fantastic
art!
My club counselor, Uncle Barry, (Uncle Kaiser is my district
counselor who happens to be in my Rotary club) was very kind and generous in
gifting me a souvenir. He told me to choose one of three cups: golden
sunflowers, golden fish or a color painted flower. Asking the meaning of the gold rectangular with characters on each cup, the fish meant wealth and prosperity while the sunflowers meant happiness
everyday. The choice was tough but I picked happiness in the end. Its beauty
and meaning hooked me in. What is amazing is that the golden sunflowers are
actually gold. Real gold. Woah! It made the cup that much more awesome! But
really, the design and meaning alone has found a place in my heart. ^_^
Written briefly (and poorly), this blog tells of a really
great Rotary club trip. Twas educational, filled with amazement and fun
overall. Yay Rotary!
Oki doki, bye now! :P
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