A Cultural Angel between France and Kaohsiung / 法國、高雄的文化天使
A Cultural Angel between France and Kaohsiung
Text & Photos by Sandra Ou
Justine Esteve has been living in Taiwan for some time now. Before accepting the position of Director of Alliance Francaise de Kaohsiung on the 28th of July 2004, Justine taught French at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei. Beautiful and clean were Justine's first impressions of Kaohsiung. She was not only impressed by the friendly citizens and the delicious food, but also by the numerous museums and cultural activities to visit and participate in respectively. "Kaohsiung has the potential to become a Cultural City" Justine said in fluent Chinese.
Due to Justine's outgoing and adventurous personality, she has tried most kinds of Taiwanese food, and especially likes the traditional snacks at the night markets. Surprisingly, given that most foreigners don't even dare to touch it, "Stinky Tofu" is actually one of Justine's favourites. However, Justine stays away from most of the animals' intestines due to their strong flavour. Justine stated that compared to her hometown of Vendome, which is two hours drive from Paris, Kaohsiung is a lot more convenient: she can easily buy cheap and tasty food whenever she's hungry, which unfortunately is causing her to slowly lose her cooking skills.
Justine considers the mountains, ocean, and temples to be some of the most special features of Kaohsiung, which also attracts Justine's family and friends the most. Since having lived in Kaohsiung for almost one year she has subsequently been to many places around the area. She personally recommends "Fo Guang Shan" to visitors. She said that Fo Guang Shan is a very beautiful place with gardens and a wide variety of flowers to appreciate, as well as the fact that it's the perfect place to take stroll. Besides Fo Guang Shan, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, the British Consulate at Takao, the Martyrs' Shrine, interesting San Fong Chung Street, and the ocean view from the National Sun Yat-sen University are some of the other sights Justine likes to visit. As a person who loves to travel, Justine suggests that having both English and Chinese on the road signs of Kaohsiung would make it easier for foreign visitors to get around.
法國、高雄的文化天使 文‧攝影/歐陽萱 愛絲汀(Justine Esteve)來台灣有一段時間了,曾經就任於中國文化大學法語系老師,自去年7月28日起接任高雄法國文化協會主任一職。從台北南下高雄,愛絲汀對高雄的第一印象是,高雄是一個既美好且又乾淨的城市,市民親切友善、食物美味可口,更有許多不同特色的博物館和文化活動可以參觀或參與。愛絲汀用流利的中文肯定地表示:「高雄有發展成為文化城的潛力。」 個性活潑大方又喜歡嘗試新鮮事物的愛絲汀,幾乎已經嚐遍臺灣各式各樣的食物。其中,以夜市的傳統小吃讓她最感興趣。特別的是,許多外籍人士不敢恭維的臭豆腐,竟然是她喜愛的臺灣小吃之一。然而,唯一讓愛絲汀比較不能接受的是味道頗重的動物內臟。愛絲汀說,和法國家鄉Vendome (距離巴黎二小時車程) 比較,高雄實在很方便,肚子餓的時候,到處都可以買到便宜又好吃的料理,已經讓她慢慢地忘記如何下廚了呢! 愛絲汀覺得高雄的山、海、廟相當地的具有特色,也是最為吸引她及曾來訪的家人、朋友。住在高雄將近一年,也去過許多景點,愛絲汀最推薦來高雄的旅客去「佛光山」走走。她表示,佛光山的環境優美,佔地廣大的花園除了有美不勝收的花可欣賞外,更是適合散步的好地方。另外,市立美術館、前清打狗英國領事館、忠烈祠、有趣的年貨大街、中山大學的海景及茂林多納溫泉,都令愛絲汀流連忘返。喜愛旅遊的愛絲汀也建議:高雄的路標若能加強雙語標示,則更方便外籍人士在高雄暢行無阻。 |