This was our first time using the Kaohsiung subway system and we were really looking forward to it. We weren't disappointed either. The system ran smoothly, was easy to navigate, and was super clean.
We took the subway to the Kaohsiung Main Station and then walked to the bus station from there. After being accosted and diverted by a few aggressive salesmen trying to get us to hire a taxi for the long drive to Kenting, we made our way to the bus station. Here's where the real fun began.Chad had taught us the phrase "lee ong jon dow ken ding" meaning "two tickets to Kenting" the previous night. Prior to this event our foreign exchanges had been limited to coffee and food, where nothing could really go terribly wrong. But, if we got this transaction wrong we could wind up somewhere far away, in the wrong direction, or even just swindled. May was really concerned about our success but Chad seemed to believe in us. Of course, it would be his teaching skills which would be tested, so he had some investment in our success. Anyway, we practiced until we felt confident enough to proceed alone, which really didn't take too long at all. We were really anxious to be thrown into a sink or swim situation.
Almost immediately upon entering the bus station Desi lost her confidence. Looking around the waiting area, there didn't appear to be any tourists in the station at all, increasing the odds that this transaction may go terribly wrong. Mike then spotted a couple with our same guide book (Lonely Planet for your information) and Desi, assuming they spoke English, just started talking to them. Unfortunately, they were French.
After that embarrassing exchange we figured we had nothing to lose and headed towards the ticket window. Desi said, "ma fa nee lee ong jon dow ken ding kway." The guy behind the counter repeated, "lee ong dow ken ding," we nodded, and then he said something else. We were confused. Fortunately, the Taiwanese use our same numbering system and he wrote down what he had just said: the price. Apparently, having studied only our side of the conversation, we had forgotten that the ticket guy might have something to say, like maybe the price. After having figured out what he was saying, we paid him the amount he had written down and he gave us two pieces of paper with nothing but Chinese characters on them (not really sure what we expected). Desi promptly took them to the guy with the microphone, calling out arriving buses, he looked at them, saw the obvious language barrier, and wrote what time our bus was arriving on the back. Whew! Success!
We had about 20 minutes to wait for our bus so we settled in to a couple of seats in the waiting area. The French tourists with our same Lonely Planet guide book, having overheard our ticket counter transaction, came over to us and asked, "do you speak Mandarin?" We laughed and told them no. Apparently, they were worried they hadn't purchased the correct tickets (sound familiar) so Desi took their tickets up to the same guy with the microphone and he wound up waving them onto their bus when it arrived. We were able to speak with them for a few minutes before they boarded, though. Desi got to use some of her high school French (e.g. bonjour) which she had a lot of fun with.
The bus ride to Kenting was really nice. The bus was comfortable and the country was very scenic. Our bus was the express bus to Kenting, exactly the one we had wanted. We were so proud of ourselves. 
We arrived in Kenting around noon. We couldn't check into our hotel without Chad & May (the reservations were in their name) so we strolled around the city and beach with our backpacks on. We drank, we ate, we sat. 
1 comment:
way to go! I'd be pretty intimidated with that whole experience. I get nervous ordering in ethnic restaurants in the US, just because my accent is so quaintly Utah. I'm super impressed you got both yourselves there and the French!
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