| Loveboat 99 |

In the summer of 1999, for six weeks, I attended the Overseas Chinese Youth Language Training and Study Tour to the Republic of China. To shorten the official name - people called it Loveboat.  It is not a cruise, which most people think because of the name.  The tour was sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and China Youth Corps.

The purpose of the Study Tour:

This study tour serves not only to bridge the gaps of geography and generations, but also serves Overseas Chinese Youth by strengthening our cultural identity by exposing our own roots to ourselves.  When the Study Tour is over we will take home not only great memories and new friendships, but most importantly, seeds of our very own culture. Inevitably upon our return to the place that we call home we will sow these seeds and watch them grow all over the world.

Approximately 1200 youths aged from 18 to 23 from all over the world came on this study tour held yearly. The students were split into four different groups, A, B, C and D.  I was in Group C.  During the first two weeks, I stayed at Ocean University at Keelung, just north of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.  At Ocean University, we attended Chinese language classes and learned many Chinese activities, such as Chinese calligraphy or martial arts.  The next two weeks, we moved to Chien-Tan Youth Activity Centre in Taipei.  We continued learning the Chinese language and arts.  Furthermore, we went sightseeing at historical places like the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial and Martyr's Shrine.  For the remaining days, we went on a 9-day tour around the island, stopping by major cities and national parks.  Some of the scenery, such as the mountain ranges along the sea coast were breathtaking.

I will never forget this trip and the experiences that I had in Taiwan.  I will always have the pictures and friendships to appreciate and to recollect this time in my life.
 

| Alvin |