Sun Yet-sen Memorial in Taipei

This trip was a challenge for all of us. It was dubbed by many of the members as the "Lets Learn To Be Flexible Tour." One of the first things that Mrs. Jing Ling Tam (Choral Director) taught us is how to smile no matter what the situation is. This is not something that comes naturally to American College students, but we learned and tried our best.

Another challenge of the trip was the music. The Chamber Singers in 1995 was a great group of singers. We were invited to go on this trip by many people in Taiwan and representatives in the US. We had a lot of expectations to live up to. One of these expectations was to preform difficult and beautiful music. We were up for the challenge. One month before we were to leave, we started rehearsals. Rehearsals were every morning from 8 am until 12 pm. We were to learn and memorize 10 pieces in various different languages. Some of the languages learned were Chinese(3 different dialects), Latin, Spanish, Italian, and others. With a 2 hour program, we definately had our work cut out for us.

Courtyard in Downtown Taipai

After a month of rehearsal we were ready to go. We left DFW airport at 9 pm. With a three hour lay over in LA we were in the air for 17 hours. What a long flight. We arrived in Taipai, Taiwan at 10 am. Of course we couldn't go to sleep, so we started touring the city. The first place we stop was the city court yard. What a wonderful place. In the court yard is the Taiwan National Theatre and Concert Hall.

After arriving in Taipai, we spent a few days trying to get used to the new time zone. Flying to the other side of the world really throughs your internal time clock off. So, taking it easy and doing some sight seeing is the best way to get adjusted.

Confusius's Temple overlooking Sun/Moon Lake

After getting adjusted we performed our first concert in Ilan, Taiwan. The concert was not our best, but it was well recieved by the everyone in attendence. Now that we had three days under our belts, we were starting to adjust pretty well. One of our favorite things was the "Taiwan Beer." Many of us indulged in this every night.

There is a tradition in Taiwan. When you are at a dinner party you walk around and offer other people a drink, and then you say "GAMPBE." This means buttoms-up. It is a tradition that has been around for many years and it is an insult to refuse. You may also say "SWEYI." This means at your leasure. Therefore, if you feel you have had too much already, you can refuse; however, must people do not refuse.

Dragon Falls in the Taiwan National Park

The rest of our trip was much of the same. We traveled to different cities and gave concerts for the people there. We met many Senates and other statesmen of the different areas we traveled to. The trip was much like a good will tour for the US and Taiwan. The government of Taiwan roled out the red carpet for us, and we felt very welcome.

Another place we went was a national park in the center of the country. There we hiked two miles two a place called Dragon Falls. This was such a beautiful place. The waterfall here fell some 400 feet from a cliff into a huge pool below. The water falls with such power that is causes a fog for about a quarter mile in every direction. We spent the better part of the morning at these falls. It was the most peaceful place we visited on our trip to Taiwan.

We traveled many other places on this trip, include Kinmoy (a small island one mile off the mainland coast of China), Taichung, and the Pacific Coast. We were very thankful to the Republic of China's (Taiwan) goverment for their hospitality. It sure was a wonderful trip for everyone of us.