Like Victoria, the city itself is not big, which is like a downtown area with shops, entertainment, and government offices. It is the surrounding municipalities which make up Hualien county which we have yet to discover. This fountain was the center of old Hualien because this is where the train station was. Due to the increased traffic, there is a new train station and life centers around there which is a few blocks away.
There are a few dim sum places but not many Cantonese people. We met one fellow from Hong Kong who is a teacher here and that is all so far. It is quite a novelty to speak a foreign language here as most folks are not familiar with anything other than Mandarin, Taiwanese, and some Hakka. Many elderly (over 70) still speak Japanese because Taiwan was governed by Japanese for fifty years until after the war.
We have enrolled Frankie to a Catholic private school which is five minutes from our house. This school comes highly recommended as the academic is tops in Hualien. There is an English teacher here from Vancouver, who speaks little Mandarin, so, Frankie has been an interpretor between him and the students. Naturally, Frankie gets a lot of attention from both staff and students here which is a nice way to break the ice and the cultural barrier. We signed up Frankie for two weeks of summer camp at her school, and she is really enjoying it.
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