Discovering Corals, Water Buffaloes and Fried Frog in Taiwan
Michael Nekrasov | July 13, 2009
Winny Wen examines coral larvae that have been collected using NMMBA's flow-throw system.
On the morning of June 21, I stepped onto the tarmac and boarded a tiny American Eagle flight that would take me to Los Angeles, then Tokyo, and then eventually Taiwan. That is when my latest adventure began. I am a bit of a globetrotter. I love learning about new cultures, and adjusting to new circumstances. Every chance I get, I come up with new ways of getting myself out of my cozy suburban dwelling and out into the world — cheaply.
At first, this summer was looking like a bust. It was time to settle down and find a position in research or industry. More than halfway done with university, it was time to think of graduate school and put my globetrotting aside, or so I thought. In my quest to find a suitable position, I learned about the PRIME program. So, instead of pushing paper all summer, I landed myself an amazing research project in data streaming, environmental sensors and video data. And now I am here in beautiful Taiwan.
The goal of my project is to engineer a real-time system for studying coral, particularly focusing on coral larvae and the coral fluorescence. Cameras capable of registering fluorescence will be integrated into DataTurbine, a computer system for environmental observing. The images captured will allow scientists to study coral health and to capture interesting phenomenon like coral blooms.
Nekrasov eats Oajien (a sea food omelet) at a night market in Taichung.
Life around Kenting is fairly quiet . There are gorgeous coastlines and tons of critters, including crabs and sea turtles. Although fairly humid, the weather has been nice and is reminiscent of Hawaii. Every afternoon, we eat lunch while looking at grazing water buffalos. In the evening, after finishing up at the lab, we often watch the sun set over the water from the roof.
Surprisingly enough, I am starting to slowly adapt to Taiwanese culture. Out of the PRIME students here at National Marine Museum of Biology and Aquarium , I am the only one who is not of Asian decent, and the only one who does not speak Mandarin. Because of that, I have to work extra hard to keep up. However as bad as I am with languages, I am starting to pick up some words and best of all I can actually recognize certain words on signs. Being the only Caucasian is kind of fun since people seem to be interested in me. But it is also a bit of a bother since, try as I might not to, I stick out of any crowd and feel extra pressure to leave a good impression.
Meanwhile, I have been enjoying the food here, which is really good. Night markets provide tons of really interesting treats. I got to eat squid, chicken hearts, fried frog, oyster omelets and much more. Also there are millions of kinds of tea here, and getting a milk tea with tapioca costs less then a dollar — and is extremely delicious. There is an abundance of fresh fruits including lychee, passion fruit, durians, mangos and tons of other tasty morsels.
PRIME students visit a gigantic laughing Buddha in Taichung.
A week into our stay, we have settled in and are beginning serious work on our projects. Every day is full of new experiences, both culturally and academically. Working in a new culture is certainly challenging, but we are all learning and adapting. Our projects are really starting to come together, and I am excited to see what we can accomplish in the coming months and what experiences await us.
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