A week in Taipei

Hong Kong SAR, China—How many keynoters with the surname Watson can you have at one international conference? Apparently, the answer is two. The 700 participants at the 18th East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars (EAFONS) at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei were greatly amused that both keynote speakers had the same surname.

I was sharing the platform with Jean Watson, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, distinguished professor and dean emerita, University of Colorado Denver, College of Nursing; Living Legend, American Academy of Nursing (2013); and founder/director, Watson Caring Science Institute. More than 20 years had passed since I first met Watson, when she gave a lecture at the University of Edinburgh. Since then, our contact has been by correspondence. She was one of my reviewers during my time as editor-in-chief of Journal of Clinical Nursing, and she oversaw my contributions to both editions of her book Assessing and Measuring Caring in Nursing and Health Science. I neither pretend to understand nor agree with everything Watson says about nursing and caring, but she is a captivating public speaker and fantastic company.

She shared my consternation that we had to endure a three-hour gala conference dinner without a glass of wine, but we had an excellent dinner the next evening—with Taiwan beer—at the world-famous Ding Tai Fung restaurant, at the base of Taipei 101. This was my second Ding Tai Fung experience, as my PhD student Yeh Tzu-Pei and Ting-Ting, another PhD student from National Taipei University, took me to the original Ding Tai Fung restaurant upon my arrival in Taipei.

Overexposure

During my five days in Taiwan, I gave four presentations: a keynote and plenary at EAFONS, a lecture to research students at National Taiwan University Hospital, and a speech to the annual general meeting of STTI’s Lambda Beta Chapter-at-Large, at the invitation of Pei-Shan Tsai, PhD, professor and associate dean of Taipei Medical University College of Nursing. I attended EAFONS at the invitation of Lian Hua-Huang, PhD, professor and former dean of nursing at National Taiwan University, and she was a generous and attentive host.

Never give this man a microphone. Yours Truly at the
plenary session with Taiwanese colleagues.

 I must have had hundreds of photographs taken. This is the habit in the Far East and South East Asia, to get your picture taken with a “celebrity,” and, apparently, I’m a celebrity! I have picked up dozens more followers on my Facebook page, and the photographic evidence is there to see.

Running

Yours Truly surrounded by fans.
That's orange juice I'm drinking.

Apart from the rain, the weather in Taipei was perfect for running, and I managed a total of 12 miles round the campus of National Taiwan University, where I was staying for the week. On Sunday, after a morning visit to Holy Family Church and lunch at Cha for Tea, I went to the airport to meet two old friends from Hualien who work at the nursing college and university run by the Tzu-Chi Buddhist Foundation. Upon boarding the plane for Hong Kong, I reflected on the terrible air crash that had occurred in the city that week. Not every flight ends with an arrival at the destination.

Podcasting continues, and people seem to be listening to them. Mrs. Watson prefers the shorter ones, she tells me.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Comments are moderated. Those that promote products or services will not be posted.

From one heat wave to another

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Wherever I go, weather records are broken. This week, the weather in Taiwan has been the hottest on record for 100 years. Depending on what you read or to whom you speak, the temperature in Taipei yesterday was either 37.5 or 39 C (99.5 or 102.2 F). Either way, the air temperature exceeds body temperature and, according to this morning’s Taipei Times, the government is considering calling public holidays if these temperatures return. There are hotter places but, as one who visits here regularly, I’m finding the crushing humidity exhausting. When there’s no precipitation which, when it comes, is in the form of torrential rain, the relative humidity has varied between 70 and 90 percent.

A few years ago, colleagues and I were caught in Typhoon Morakot, a low-grade typhoon against which it was almost impossible to walk. (Our hotel shook.) I would not like to see a typhoon that registers at the top end of the scale. Last year, at dinner in Chaiyi City, the room suddenly moved a few inches in one direction and then, after a few wobbles, settled back to its original position. Earthquakes, some literally tearing large parts of Taiwan apart, are a regular feature here. I have been here for a week, at Tzu Chi Buddhist College of Technology (TCCN), which is in Hualien, on the Pacific coast of Taiwan. (I’m hoping my university insurance company agents are not reading this entry.)

With me are my colleagues from the Wiley stable, Mark Hayter, PhD, RN, FRSA, and Graeme Smith, PhD, RN, editors, respectively, of Journal of Advanced Nursing and Journal of Clinical Nursing. We have been providing writing-for-publication seminars, workshops and consultancy sessions to colleagues in the nursing school at TCCN. Our link with the college spans eight years, over which time the school has significantly increased its publication output, and not only in our journals. All three of us have also held research grants with colleagues here and have co-authored articles with them.

At TCCN, Yours Truly seated at center, flanked on my
right by Mark Hayter and on my left my Graeme Smith.

We prefer the long train journey between Taipei and Hualien to the short plane journey. It is demonstrably safer (Google “Hualien airport crash”) and takes in a large section of the beautiful and lush Pacific coast. A free day on these journeys is rare, but today is relatively free, and we will re-visit our “old friend” the 101, previously the tallest building in the world. This Gothic-art deco tower never ceases to inspire awe in terms of its symmetry and elegance. The view from the top, accessible via an ear-popping elevator, the fastest in the world, is truly leg wobbling, even for a rock climber.

From Taiwan, I head to Hong Kong for one night before flying on to Sydney. In my last entry, I stated that no visit to Taiwan is without incident and that I would be surprised if none occurred on this trip. My problem? Which one to tell you about. 

We have a favourite restaurant where we requested to eat. On the way from our hotel, we screamed directions to our driver, who willfully ignored our instructions and drove us to one of the best local hotels. It was a soulless place with a large deserted dining room and mediocre food. Our host, completely aware of our request to eat elsewhere, thought it better for us to eat here. The Taiwanese are a polite, caring, and attentive people, but cultural differences run deep, and what you receive is rarely what you ask for.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.