Staying Active in Taiwan

Staying active in Taipei has proved to be less of a challenge than I initially thought. Before I came over to Taiwan, I had done some research and spoken with some friends who warned me about the great food and laid back lifestyle, which would likely equate to putting on some pounds. However, using that and my Taiwanese friends' "next year Doug is going to be a little 'fluffier'" predictions as motivation, I have actually lost some weight while abroad through changes in my daily routine.

The first thing that has made a difference in staying active is living without a car. Sure, not having a car in 95% of the US isn't really practical, but not having one available makes a huge difference in how active your lifestyle is. I do miss driving my car, however, your life becomes more simplified because it's one less thing you have to worry about. It isn't until I moved abroad that I learned how little walking/cardio I was doing. Now, I am walking close to a couple miles each day between going to and from the Metro to the school where I teach. And if the MRT isn't practical or it's after the last train, you can burn a few calories by hopping on a YouBike for 5 NTD to get where you need to go ($.15 USD).

View of Taipei from National Taiwan University

Another thing I try to do is run every morning. I'm fortunate to live by universities (National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University) which I can run through and on great rubber tracks, as well as Da'an Park, basically a smaller version of Manhattan's Central Park. I enjoy running in the morning, especially at these places because of all the other people you see in their own activities such as meditation and sports. Every once in a while on the morning runs, I'll stop at the reflexology footpath, something you see quite a few older Taiwanese doing. How they do it with such ease I do not know, because it's really painful. It improves your health with increased blood circulation and stress relief and supposedly shows you what parts of your body are not adequately healthy if you feel a lot pain in that specific area. When I walk on the path, the middle of my right and left feet hurt, so according to the chart I may have a small issue with my stomach and liver. We'll see how it plays out.

NTU reminds me a lot of my second favorite college campus, Stanford. 

Some of the other random things I've done to stay active are hiking and a kickboxing class with my friend Gill. Hiking in Taiwan is absolutely incredible, and can't wait to do it more often. It's really as much climbing as it is hiking, which is quite a difference from hiking in the US where most everything is a paved path you only walk on. You have to use the ropes on the trail and the exposed tree roots to pull yourself up and rappel down. We hiked about 10 KM in an area about 45 mins southwest of Taipei, called San Xia where the views from the 700 meter peak of the small towns and rest of the all green mountain side were amazing. After hiking, we got a chance to explore the old downtown of San Xia, with beautiful temples and eerie streets.

       


I also joined a soccer team back in September, and I've played in 5 games so far as goalkeeper with a 3-2 record. I haven't played keeper in about a decade, so I would say it hasn't been a bad start. Even saved a penalty. I always enjoy playing keeper because I love to be a leader at the back, and provide a solid foundation so that the team is confident moving forward and coming back in defense. Outside the field, we've got a tight knit group of guys from all over the world always looking to have a good time. Some of the activities we've done together include pool parties and Arsenal games at the pub, which can get a little crazy, and FIFA with pretty unreal competition.

Squad goals.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is so important in leading a fulfilling life, and I'll always strive to be doing something active and challenging myself. After a couple years, I can finally say I have defeated the COG (Gonzaga Dining Hall). It needs to stay defeated for a very long time, preferably my whole life.