Taiwan Update Rain and Rocking

Hello dear friends,

We thought it best to let you know that we have arrived safely in Taipei and are happily doing well.

We arrived @ 5:45am on Friday the day typhoon Morakot hit. Basically, the airport closed behind us. We had no idea that there even WAS a typhoon until we began our descent. So no problem really. We immediately went to the stores to restock since we had nothing in the apartment for food, drink, or supplies. Therein ensued two typhoon days where everything is basically shut down.

Our area sustained only minor damage from the winds but as you know, the rain was intense. On the Friday we arrived we had 8 inches of rain from midnight to 8AM and that was before the typhoon actually hit. I think the total was somewhere around 1500 to 2000 mm of rain in the south.

The government response has triggered such intense anger and hatred by most all Taiwanese folks. Carol's friends are not sleeping and are in extreme mental/emotional distress because even with no relatives, "our people are suffereing and the government is not helping them." The political fallout from this could be a game changer.

It is too bad that the world sees only Taiwan's disasters because it again makes the country look like a 3rd world nation. This is so far from the truth. When we got back here, it was like stepping into the best of NY city or Gold Coast Chicago...abundant, rich in variety, and gracious in service. The mud and destroyed roads give a horrible picture of what was incredible beauty and highly productive communities.

It is anticipated that food prices especially on fruits and veggies will rise 40% if not more.

THEN, yesterday, Aug 18th I was in class with students when one of them said calmly, "Earthquake." Sure enough my butt started moving with a life of its own as I sat on my stool and resulted in lap dance moves that would have made a hooker proud. I told the students to get under the desks and then responded without question. It was over in a few seconds and many folks did not even notice the quake. Below is the news report. I will put more info after the report so skip down if you wish.

eTaiwanNews

"A second earthquake rocked Taiwan yesterday, the central weather bureau said, but there was no immediate report of damages or casualties.

A 6.1-magnitude quake hit at 06:10p.m. yesterday some 204 km off the east coast of Taiwan at a depth of 20 km and was felt even in the capital Taipei, the bureau said.

It came after a 6.8-magnitude quake struck off Taiwan's east coast at 9:06 a.m. yesterday, prompting Japan to issue a tsunami warning for its islands in the East China Sea, close to Taiwan.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. A 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in September 1999.

I will try to be more faithful in getting stuff posted here.

Thanks to all our friends and loved ones we were able to see this summer and sadly, we did not get to everyone we wanted to be with. Please forgive us and let us hope for next summer.

From Taiwan,

Our best,
Bill and Carol