希臘台灣人部落格 The Taiwanese Greek

Reliable sources for making donations to Japan

2011-04-15T17:02:00.001+03:00

After reading the controversial news about how the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China handled the collected fund in Taiwan, and about the news on how the Facebook handled netizens’ on-line protests against the ROC Red Cross, if you haven’t contributed and are still contemplating on making a donation to Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami, the following info that I have collected through reliable sources may help you make a decision.

I didn’t rush into making a donation for Japan, I first found reliable sources on the internet then I made my donation just recently.

Donation directly to Japan’s Red Cross Society:

On-line donation to the Japan Red Cross Society through PayPal

https://gienkin.jrc.or.jp/paypal

direct donation to the Japan Red Cross Society

http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Donation directly to Japan’s prefecture / city governments:

direct donation to the Fukushima prefecture government

http://www.worldvillage.org/fia/data/donation_0316_1600.pdf

direct donation to the Iwate prefecture government

http://sv032.office.pref.iwate.jp/~bousai/taioujoukyou/gienkin_kaigai2.pdf

direct donation to the Miyagi prefecture government

http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/english/kihu-e.htm

direct donation to the Ibaraki prefecture government

http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/bukyoku/seikan/kokuko/en/data/donate.pdf

direct donation to the Sendai city government

http://www.city.sendai.jp/language/1197915_1999.html

Donation via embassies in some EU countries:

France http://www.fr.emb-japan.go.jp/actualite/2011/communique_seisme_16_3_2011.html

Germany http://www.de.emb-japan.go.jp/j_info/110317spenden.html

Greece http://www.gr.emb-japan.go.jp/portal/gr/info/prosfores.htm

UK http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/Donations_earthquake160311.html

Other related source of interests:

Helpful info about donation to Japan by the Cultural News in LA, and by following its editor’s news on scheduled visit to disaster affected prefectures.

Fukushima 福島 – hopefully an island of blessing and good fortune

2011-03-19T06:53:00.000+02:00

Fukushima (福島) is a Japanese place name being mentioned every minute in the news these days. Everyone knows now that it is the location of the nuclear crisis after last Friday's strong earthquake that hit Japan, but few people in the west know that this name written in Japanese characters actually means "an island of blessing and good fortune" (and in this case same meaning in Chinese characters).

For most people, Fukushima is just a name that they have learned recently, but for me it's a familiar name since I was a little child because my uncle lives there. My uncle is a surgeon and owner of a small private hospital there after he completed his medical education in Japan. One thing I never knew until recently is that Fukushima prefecture houses so many (6!) nuclear reactors near its coastal area.

It is simply difficult to complete my daily task as I pay much attention to the news updates that are feeding the internet, and hoping for some encouraging news to see the nuclear crisis be brought under control.

As far as I know, in my uncle's area they have no gasoline (maybe little is coming through and it runs out quickly?), electricity was just restored the day before yesterday, but there is no running water since the water pipelines were damaged by the earthquake. Each person that can carry loads goes to the local government office building with containers, there is a very long line-up, 6 liters per person per trip is the limit, my uncle transports water by riding his bicycle. In order to receive water supply, they actually have to take the risk of exposing themselves to the radiation-contaminated air, if they stay indoors like the government suggested, they will have no water. So the situation is quite difficult, one has to choose between no water or to go outside and have some degree of radiation exposure.

In some hard-hit coastal town people are hungry and scavenge for food. In the neighborhood of my uncle’s, they are luckier, neighbors share what they have to survive, they maintain good spirit. There is no riot, no looting, the Japanese people are the most orderly and disciplined citizens of the world, they never take opportunities to benefit themselves from other people's misfortune, and this is something I respect. I wonder what if the same situation happens in a city in the west, like the Big Apple, or Athens, would it be the same? I always feel disgusted when I see a football / baseball / hockey championship celebration in a western city turning into a violent street riot and late night looting of its downtown shops.

Based on a worst scenario contingent plan and to avoid a possible second disaster, I wonder why the Japanese government would not take further precautionary measure to evacuate its citizens living within the 80 km of the nuclear power plant as suggested by the US government's judgment of toxic level. Instead, they seem to still have much patience and trust towards the Tokyo Electric Power Company's uncertain mission to confine the damage. We pray for the wisdom of all who are involved in crucial decision making as we understand that those experts have been working around the clock without much rest and the radiation limit for workers involved in emergency operations was raised to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts. But a larger evacuation contingent plan is always an option.

I never like nuclear power even if it is a cheaper way to produce a lot of energy because the disposal of used rods is a controversial problem, after some treatment they are dumped on earth and no matter how remote the dump sites are, they are on our one and only planet which has already been loaded with other types of waste (another problem!). I hope clean energy such as solar / wind generated energy sources can be utilized and developed more, but overall, I think we should change our life styles to cut unnecessary energy consumption. Our kids should go out more to the field to play sports or to hike, and learn more about our mother nature and how to protect the environment while TV viewing and electronic gaming should be kept at a minimum.

Fukushima, I pray, is an "island of blessing and good fortune" at the end and not a second disaster.

Additional reading:

Asahi interview of Tetsuo Takashima, a Japanese novelist and former nuclear scientist about Japan's future nuclear power industry

Waste Reduction and Turning Waste into Biofuel

2011-03-06T11:42:00.001+02:00

Researchers are needed in Greece and especially in Athens to turn garbage into fuels because our garbage is plenty but our gasoline is very expensive (at least 1.60 Euro per liter these days and still going up). I do my part to reduce waste by burying vegetable waste, and I hope more Athenians do the same.

By the way, Taiwanese researchers are considered valuable partners by European scientists and the EU is very supportive of their involvement in FP7 projects. Taiwanese scientists shouldn’t miss this opportunity as there is still room for further R&D cooperation.

According to the wikipedia info I searched:

France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States governments have supported biofuels with tax credits / tax breaks, mandated use, and subsidies. These policies have the unintended consequence of diverting resources from food production and leading to surging food prices and the potential destruction of natural habitats. Current government policies cause distortions of supply and demand.

Fuel for agricultural use often does not have fuel taxes (farmers get duty-free petrol or diesel fuel). Biofuels may have subsidies and low / no retail fuel taxes. Biofuels compete with retail gasoline and diesel prices which have substantial taxes included. The net result is that it is possible for a farmer to use more than a gallon of fuel to make a gallon of biofuel and still make a profit. So instead of reducing the use of gasoline, it may turn out to use more gasoline in producing biofuel and still make money due to government subsidies.

Some argue that this is a bad distortion of the market. There have been thousands of scholarly papers analyzing how much energy goes into making ethanol from corn and how that compares to the energy in the ethanol. Government distortions can make things happen that would not make sense in a free market.

So, I hope developed countries consider stop using tax credit / subsidies to entice profit-minded farmers to grow crops for biofuels because they may distort the original purpose of developing biofuels. Using waste to generate energy is more meaningful because it is simply unethical to dump waste (and especially nuclear waste) to places that are poor and less developed even with some payment. Besides, land should be used for growing crops for food to feed the hunger of the world instead of satisfying the unnecessary lavish consumption of energy by the developed nations. Farmers who had already engaged in biofuel production should be assisted by their governments and not abandoned if some of them wish to turn back to producing food.

While rising food prices does not cause hardship for the rich, it hit hrad on the poorest people of the world.

Besides, I am wondering if the developed nations’ geo-engineering has contributed further to extreme weather conditions last year in many parts of the world, for example Australia.

I believe the right way to cope with climate warming is to reduce the use of burning fossil fuels through change of life style. Manipulating the weather in hope for a quick-fix may actually lead to a bad cycle of worsening weather and which in turn will affect our crop production cycle or destroy it all together.

It is dangerous to perform weather-related experiments with our limited knowledge of the universe.

Some suggestions on changing our life style:

If we have sunny days, we can dry our clothes in our balconies or backyards instead of using the drying machine which consumes electricity. This is especially the case for the N. American readers because here in Greece most people do dry their clothes under the sun.

If we can reduce our biodegradable garbage by burying them, we should bury them in our yard. This is especially the case for our readers in Athens.

If we can walk or bike, we should not drive, and if our city has good public transit system, we can use the public transit to reach places that are too far for biking or walking.

Changing our life style is the best way to cope with the problems caused by our lavish life style.

One Day

2011-02-23T23:56:00.001+02:00

"One Day" is a Taiwanese movie being played at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, here is the location info. It was screened last February at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, and has now come to Greece for viewing.

This coming Saturday (Feb. 26th) at 20:00 is the last chance to see the movie, the ticket is 5 Euro, and you may read all about this film here, it is director Hou Chi-Jan's first feature film.

The movie's story goes like this:

Sing-ing (a girl who works at a ferry boat's shop) keeps having a recurrent dream - she sees a boy shouting at her but she can neither see his face nor hear what he says. One night at sea on a ferry, she comes across a young soldier who claims to be her future lover. The girl pays no attention to the soldier's seemly ridiculous story, but a series of mysterious incidents makes her begin to wonder if he might be telling the truth.

As February 28 (aka "228" is a day of remembrance for Taiwan) is approaching, I hope another Taiwanese film will one day be played in Europe so a bit of Taiwan's recent history under the KMT rule will be learned by Europeans.

"One Day" movie flyer

producer (2nd Left) and director (3rd L) posed with Taipei Representative (1st L) and some Taiwanese in Greece

Free borders but expensive local roads

2011-02-18T13:45:00.001+02:00

Although Europeans are allowed to travel freely between their national boundaries (See Note 1 below), and Taiwanese have just started to enjoy the convenience of the EU 90-day visa-free entry, yet there are known safety and other issues for travelers as one moves further south or east in the European continent.

One example of such concern is in southern Italy, a car may suddenly stop in front of you blocking your way and demanding a payment, if you don’t cooperate, you will be encountering all kinds of problems further down the road.

Tour operators are quite familiar with the problem and do give their coach drivers some money for paying the road-side bandits (mafia?) in order to have safe passage guarantee along the road, and I guess many tour operators must have added the hidden expense in their package tour price (if it is €100 per coach with 30 passengers, it's merely €3.3 per person). Private car owners or renters are no exceptions to the road-side "robbery".

However, a tourist is at liberty to avoid visiting places whose police are out of sight and local mafias are in charge.

Another example, during Christmas and Easter holidays many Romanian migration workers in Greece travel back home for holidays. They need to cross the Bulgarian border and drive on Bulgarian highways before reaching Romania. According to many of my Romanian friends, the Bulgarian police may stop a driver even if he drives within the speed limit and obeys all the traffic signs. If a person is not lucky, he may be stopped by the police without any traffic violations at several different sections of the road before reaching the Romania border.

Usually the Bulgarian police check your driver’s license, insurance paper or whatever document deemed necessary to operate the car legally and safely. Even if all the documents are in proper order and with no traffic violations, they will start writing a ticket, but as soon as sufficient money (usually between 10 to 20 Euros) is paid on the spot, they will stop issuing the ticket and let you continue your journey.

People travelling on this route usually make sure that they carry enough 10 or 20 Euro denominations; the 5 Euro denomination may not satisfy the greedy police whereas you won’t get any change back if you happen to have only the 50 Euro denomination.

Why the Bulgarian police are highway “robbers” instead of law enforcement officers? Here is what I found in the internet that explains:

The average monthly salary of young Bulgarian policemen is about €250 and €450 for those with extensive professional experience. The average salary in Bulgaria is some 600 lev (€300). So the starting salary for a policeman is about 50 Euro less than the national average salary of all trade. Work-related expenses such as gasoline, office supplies are sometimes paid out of police’s own pockets, or brought from home as in laptop computers. (Ref: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgarian-romanian-policemen-plan-joint-protest)

As a comparison, a full-time migration worker working in domestic help in Greece may earn in the range of €600 to €800 monthly, so they are considered quite “rich” from the Bulgarian police’s point of view.

After east European countries joined the EU, their people’s salaries haven't quite caught up with the rising cost of living. Some government officials found other ways to earn extra incomings to the extent that they became greedy, some custom officers in Romania have been accused of engaging in cigarette smuggling. This is the faster way for them to get rich and catch up with the west I guess. But I respect governmenmt officials that care about their people's daily living, their future generation, and their national image and not just their own pockets. Unfortunately, in the southeast Europe this kind of government officials are rare.

Slightly off topic but worth mentioning is that a friend of mine who is an elementary school teacher told me that now the Greek government has no money, the teachers have to buy supplies of chalks for the black boards out of their own pockets, but in the west many countries are probably using the Smart Board now. Cut on retirement pensions, capped salaries, rising taxes, plus possible rising food prices this year will make average people's life even more difficult.

One Europe, one union but indeed very different ways of life as one travels from west to east.

Note 1:

With the exception of Bulgarians & Romanians who are not yet allowed to travel visa-free to Shengen countries.

Reference:

Searching for European statistics? Eurostat explained

The EU granted Taiwan 90-day Visa Free Entry 歐盟給予台灣人免申根簽證待遇

2011-01-21T14:42:00.000+02:00

Effective Jan 11, 2011, the EU visa waiver provision allows Taiwanese travelers to enter European countries for up to 90 days within a six-month period without a visa.

Taiwanese wishing to stay in the Schengen area more than three months, or to live, work, marry or study there for longer than three months will need to obtain a national visa from the member state concerned as before.

The short-stay visa waiver will not apply either to "overseas" passport holders, whose travel document does not contain an identity card number. (my note: meaning overseas compatriot 台僑 holding the ROC passport issued outside of Taiwan without an ID card number).

Taiwanese visiting the Schengen area will also need to make sure that they meet the entry requirements when crossing the external borders of the EU as laid down in the Schengen Borders Code.^{1 (explained below)}

^1.

This covers the possession of the necessary travel documents; sufficient means of subsistence; justifying the purpose and conditions of their intended stay and return; and the condition that they are not considered to be a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Member States, and in particular they are not persons for whom an alert has been issued either in the Schengen Information System (SIS) or in the national databases for the purposes of refusing entry.

Which European countries are included in this visa waiver provision?

The 2nd map on this Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_area provides good reference, the visa waiver is granted by the following countries:

22 countries that are both EU member and Schengen agreement states: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden

奧地利、比利時、捷克、丹麥、愛沙尼亞、芬蘭、法國、德國、希臘、匈牙利、義大利、拉托維亞、立陶宛、盧森堡、馬爾他、荷蘭、波蘭、葡萄牙、斯洛伐克、斯洛維亞、西班牙及瑞典

3 countries that are non-EU member but are Schengen agreement states: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland

冰島、挪威及瑞士

3 countries that are EU member but with only partial application of Schengen agreement: Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania

保加利亞、賽普勒斯及羅馬尼亞

Other smaller European territories/countries granting visa waiver to Taiwan are:

Andorra, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican

安道爾、法羅群島、格陵蘭島、列支敦斯登、摩納哥、聖馬利諾及教廷

Effective Jan. 1, Croatia also extended visa-free privileges to ROC nationals allowing them to visit the former Yugoslav republic for up to 90 days. (Ref: http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=143072&ctnode=413&mp=9)

UK and Ireland are the first two countries to grant visa waivers to Taiwanese in Europe

Effective March 3, 2009, the United Kingdom started granting visa-free waiver for Taiwan travelers up to 6 months stay.  Ireland followed UK on granting up to 90 days visa-free travel to Taiwanese in July 2009. (Ref: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/02/11/2003435823)

Bureau statistics indicate that Taiwanese visitors to the UK increased 30 percent after the country was granted visa-free entry in March 2009.

The European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei said that the 90-day period would not include time spent in non-Shengen member states covered by the visa waiver, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the UK. (Ref: http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=138983&ctnode=413&mp=9)

So theoretically, if one’s passport has expiration date long enough to cover his intended departure date from Europe and provided other criteria are met (such as enough funds for travelling in Europe), a Taiwanese can stay up to a maximum of 6 months in the UK, and another 90 days in Ireland, followed by up to 90 days in any one or more of the 25 Shengen agreement states, plus another maximum 90 days in Croatia, and going further east, another 90 days in each of the BCR (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania), but the problem in some area is that the border is free to enter, but the roads are neither safe nor free to pass.  What do I mean by this? (to be covered by another post!)

How long can I stay in the Schengen area if I already have a valid visa prior the exemption has become effective?

For holders of national visas (typically for long stays in the territory in one of the Member States): the previous stay only counts as a national stay and therefore the holder is entitled to stay up to 90 days in the Schengen area after the entering into force of the visa waiver program. For instance, if the national visa expires on February 3rd of 2011, the person will be able to stay in the Schengen area for an extra 90 days maximum.

For holders of Schengen visa whose validity runs until 2011, the previous stay will count as a Schengen stay. For instance, someone has a Schengen visa valid and has stayed in the Schengen area from December 2nd to February 2nd (63 days). If he returns on February 3rd in the Schengen area, this person will only have 27 days left in that particular 6 months (from December to May).

What documents do I need to show to the immigration officer at the port of entry?

You need to show your valid passport. The passport validity should be at least three months at the intended time of departure.

In addition, you might be asked also to show: flight tickets for further journeys and return tickets; evidence of sufficient means of subsistence; reservation of accommodation, invitation letter in case of visits, conferences; school enrolment certificate in case of study etc.

The above are just 2 sample Q&As, more details can be found here in English (Ref: http://ec.europa.eu/delegations/taiwan/travel_eu/visa/index_en.htm), and here in Chinese (Ref: http://ec.europa.eu/delegations/taiwan/travel_eu/visa/index_zt.htm or http://www.mofa.gov.tw/webapp/content.asp?cuItem=49513&mp=1) For Chinese readers' convenience, please scroll to read the reference area at the end of this post now.

The EU is an important destination for Taiwanese travelling overseas, both for tourism or business purposes. The decision also fulfils the European business community long standing wish that will contribute to deepening trade and investment relations between both sides. The EU is Taiwan's fourth largest trading partner and its first foreign direct investor. Easier travel conditions will contribute towards strengthening economic relations as well as people-to-people contacts.

One warning about the people-to-people contacts:

After my conversations with some friends here and on another occasion talking with a Dutch female tourist whom I met in a local animal clinic and she told me her story about her traveling experience and stay after going out with a Greek “boyfriend” and his subsequent disappearance leaving her with rent to pay, Taiwanese women traveling to Greek islands are to stay alert of ultra-friendly Greek males who show great interests on you and make unrealistic promises.  This kind of romance often ends with huge psychological and financial problems.

Last year, more than 175 000 Schengen visas were issued in Taiwan and thanks to the visa-free regime, the number of visitors to the EU is now expected to increase by at least 30%.

The visa waiver for Taiwanese took effect on January 11, 2011, 20 days after publication of the Regulation in the Official Journal of the EU.

From that day onwards, EU citizens can stay in Taiwan for up to 90 days without requiring a visa.

Based on the principle of reciprocal treatment, as from 11 November 2010 Taiwan granted visa-free travel to the nationals of Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus, who were subject to the visa obligation beforehand.  But I am sure that the MOFA will closely monitor the situation and statistics on this category since Bulgaria and Romania nationals are not yet free to travel to other countries in the Shengen area.

The historical development of the visa waiver regulation

Read "Commission wants visa waiver for Taiwan" By Toby Vogel on 05.07.2010 / 16:19 CET

(Ref: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2010/07/commission-wants-visa-waiver-for-taiwan-/68420.aspx)

On Novemer 11, 2010 the EU Parliament approved the visa waiver for Taiwan.

On November 25, 2010, the Council of the European Union approved it when member states passed it nanimously without debate, and the press release followed:
Visa waiver for Taiwanese passport holders approved

or Visa liberalization for Taiwanese Nov. 25, 2010 press 317

The Regulation

Date of document: Dec. 15, 2010

Publication date of the document: Dec. 22, 2010

Effective date of the document is twenty days after publication date, i.e. Jan.11, 2011

On Dec. 22, 2010, the EUR-Lex, published the law regarding Taiwan visa waiver

(Ref: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32010R1211:EN:NOT, note: Scroll down this link to the blue "Text" until you see the "wereras (2)" )

Regulation (EU) No 1211/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2010 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement

And partial text in Greek:

(2) Η επιβολή της υποχρέωσης θεώρησης στους πολίτες της Ταϊβάν δεν είναι πλέον δικαιολογημένη, κυρίως λόγω του ότι το έδαφος αυτό δεν αντιπροσωπεύει κίνδυνο λαθρομετανάστευσης ή απειλή για τη δημόσια τάξη στην Ένωση, καθώς και υπό το πρίσμα των εξωτερικών σχέσεων, σύμφωνα με τα κριτήρια που ορίζονται στην αιτιολογική σκέψη 5 του κανονισμού (ΕΚ) αριθ. 539/2001. Κατά συνέπεια, το συγκεκριμένο έδαφος θα πρέπει να μεταφερθεί στο παράρτημα II του εν λόγω κανονισμού. Περαιτέρω, η απαλλαγή από την υποχρέωση θεώρησης θα πρέπει να εφαρμόζεται μόνο στους κατόχους διαβατηρίων που εκδίδονται από την Ταϊβάν και περιέχουν αριθμό ταυτότητας. (Read the entire document in Greek)

Reference:

What’s Euro-Lex? EUR-Lex provides free access to European Union law and other documents considered to be public. The website is available in 23 official languages of the European Union

歐盟予我國人免申根簽證待遇詢答集- 免申根簽證進入歐盟Q＆A (Ref: www.mofa.gov.tw/public/Attachment/0122715511871.doc)

（更新日期：99 年12 月27 日）

1. 免申根簽證待遇何時生效？

答：民國100 年1 月11 日零時起生效，以進入申根區首站（含轉機）的當地時間為準。

2. 以免申根簽證待遇可進入哪些歐洲國家及地區？

答：國人可以免申根簽證方式進入的歐洲申根區國家及地區

包括：（1）申根會員國（25 國）：法國、德國、西班牙、

葡萄牙、奧地利、荷蘭、比利時、盧森堡、丹麥、芬蘭、

瑞典、斯洛伐克、斯洛維尼亞、波蘭、捷克、匈牙利、

希臘、義大利、馬爾他、愛沙尼亞、拉脫維亞、立陶宛、

冰島、挪威、瑞士。（2）歐盟會員國但尚非申根公約完

全會員國（3 國）：羅馬尼亞、保加利亞、賽普勒斯。（3）

其他國家（非屬申根公約會員國，但接受我國人適用以

免申根簽證待遇入境者，共計5 國）：列支敦斯登、教

廷、摩納哥、聖馬利諾、安道爾。（4）其他地區（申根

公約會員國之自治領地，並接受我國人以免申根簽證待

遇入境者，計2 地區）：丹麥格陵蘭島（Greenland）與

法羅群島（Faroe Islands）。

3. 以免申根簽證待遇進入申根國家的停留期限為何？如何

計算?

答：（1）國人以免簽證方式赴申根國家停留期限為每6 個

月內總計可停留90 天。（2）計算方式為：自國人入境

申根國家的當天【即護照上第1 次（最早）以免簽證

入

境申根國家的入境章戳日期】起算，在6 個月內，單次

或多次短期停留累計總天數不得超過90 天。（3）在國

人可以免簽證方式前往的35 個申根國家（地區）中，保

加利亞、羅馬尼亞、賽普勒斯3 國因尚未成為申根公約

完全會員國，我國人在該3 國的停留天數應個別分開計

算，且均不與在其他32 個國家（地區）的停留天數合計；

也就是說，國人可以分別在○1 保加利亞、○2 羅馬尼亞、○3 賽

浦勒斯、○4 其他32 個申根國家（地區）各自的6 個月內

累計停留90 日，待保、羅、賽3 國成為完全申根會員國

後，即與其他申根會員國合併計算。

舉例：（以下案例為原則性說明，詳細計算方式因申根各國執行實務寬嚴不一，請向擬前往國家的駐台機構確認。）

（1）小華自2011 年1 月11 日以免申根簽證方式入境申根國家後，單次最多可停留到何時？若小華於同年1 月30 日出境後又於3 月1 日入境，最多可停留至何時？

說明：以小華的情況而言，自其2011 年1 月11 日入境起算，單次入境最多可停留90 天，因此可停留至4 月10 日（因2 月為28 天）；若於同年1 月30 日出境，因已停留20 天，之後再於同年3 月1 日入境，則最多可再停留70 天（至同年5 月9 日止）。

（2）小明自2011 年2 月1 日首次入境申根國家後，中間曾多次出入境，至同年6 月30 日已累計停留70 天，之後於同年7 月20 日再次入境，是否只可停留至同年7月31 日屆滿6 個月期限即必須出境？或是無須出境可直接繼續停留並重新開始在同年第2 次的6 個月期限內停留90 天？

說明：小明可無須出境繼續停留，並自同年8 月1 日開始，以下一次的6 個月期限合併計算可停留天數。由於單次停留最多不得超過90 天，而小明自7 月20 日重新入境，至7 月31 日止共停留12 天，所以小明從2011 年8 月1 日起至2012 年1 月31 日的接下來6 個月期間內，至多只能停留78 天（90-12＝78）。

4. 我在某申根國家的居留證或所持申根單國長期簽證仍有效，是否可以在居留證或長期簽證到期後，直接享有免簽證待遇繼續在申根區停留90天？

答：您可以在居留證或長期簽證到期後，直接享有免申根簽證待遇並繼續在申根區停留90 天。例如您的居留證於2 月3 日到期，則您可自2 月4 日起的6 個月期間內以免簽證方式繼續在申根區停留90 天。

5. 如果我已經有一個有效的申根簽證，在免簽證生效後還能在申根區停留多久？

答：須視申根簽證類型及您在免申根簽證待遇生效前持憑該簽證在申根區內已停留天數而定，請逕向當初核發您申根簽證的駐台機構洽詢。

6. 以免簽證方式進入申根國家可從事何種活動?

答：免簽證停留期間可從事包括訪問、觀光、探親、洽商、

出席會議、訓練課程、參展、求學等短期活動。若您欲

改變停留目的或延長停留時間至90 天以上，皆必須先

行出境，並向相關國家駐台機構或各該國在您目前居住

國家的使領館申請簽證。

7. 赴申根國家從事何種活動需先在台申請簽證？

答：國人如擬赴申根國家工作（包括90 天以內的短期工作）

或長期居留、求學、探親等活動（停留超過90 天以上）

均須先在台灣向擬前往國家的駐台機構申請相關簽證，

若為旅居國外的國人，則須在國外居住地向擬前往國家

的使領館申請相關簽證。

8. 何種護照持有人可享歐盟免簽證待遇?護照效期有無特殊規定?

答：內載有國民身分證統一編號的中華民國有效普通護照持

有人可享免申根簽證待遇，包括持用我國晶片護照及機

器可判讀護照（MRP）持有人；持用外交及公務護照者，

請自行向擬前往國家的駐台機構詢問。另外，國人在離

開申根國家當日，護照須仍具有3 個月以上的效期。

9. 我想以免申根簽證方式前往申根區觀光旅遊應準備什麼文件？

答：免簽證待遇並不代表可無條件入境申根區短期停留。國

人以免簽證方式入境申根區時，除須出示內載有國民身

分證統一編號的中華民國有效護照外，移民關通常可能

要求提供：旅館訂房確認紀錄與付款證明、親友邀請函、

旅遊行程表及回程機票，以及足夠維持旅歐期間生活費

的財力證明，例如現金、旅行支票、信用卡，或邀請方

資助的證明文件等，建議國人預先備妥並隨身攜帶。

另依據歐盟規定，民眾若攜未滿14 歲的兒童同行進入申

根區時，必須提供能證明彼此關係的文件或父母（或監

護人）的同意書，而且所有相關文件均應翻譯成英文或

擬前往國家的官方語言。相關細節請向擬前往國家的駐

台機構詢問。

10. 我想到申根區短期進修、洽談商務、參展、參加競賽、

出席會議，移民關是否可能會要求出示其他文件？

答：除了上述第9 題所建議備妥的文件外，移民關亦可能視

您計劃在歐洲從事的活動性質，要求檢視其他證明文

件，例如：（1）從事短期進修及訓練: 入學（進修）許

可證明、學生證或相關證件。（2）商務或參展：當地公

司或商展主辦單位核發的邀請函、參展註冊證明等文

件。（3）從事科學、文化、體育等競賽或出席會議等交

流活動：邀請函、報名確認證明等文件。若有相關疑問，

請於啟程前向擬前往國家的駐台機構洽詢確認。

11. 即便備妥相關證明文件入境申根國家之國人，是否仍可

能遭拒絕入境？

答：申根國家移民關官員具相當裁量權，即便國人備妥所有

相關文件，若移民官員（1）懷疑可能赴歐從事與短期停

留目的不符的活動；（2）可能對會員國的公共秩序、公

共衛生、內部安全等造成威脅；（3）過去曾被拒絕入境，

均仍有可能遭拒絕入境。若您在入境時遭逢困難，可洽

我駐當地代表（辦事）處協助。

12. 國人如遭拒絕入境，可否申訴？

答：可。若遭拒絕入境，移民官員將給予載明被拒絕入境原

因的文件，但移民官員仍會立即將被拒絕入境者遣返回

原出發地。

13. 若入境時移民官未在護照上蓋入境章，未來是否會影響

出境或下次入境？

答：是。為利移民官員計算旅客可停留天數及期限，請國人

務必注意在入、出境申根國家時，確認海關官員已在您

護照內核蓋入、出境章。

14. 若移民官發現有逾期停留情況，是否會列入紀錄？未來

會否會拒絕再次入境？

答：是。逾期停留在出境時會遭移民官員在申根資訊系統

（SIS）及各申根會員國境管系統上通報，並可能影響下

次再入境申根國家的權益。

15. 6 個月內至多停留90 天的期限屆滿後可否延期？

答：原則上不得直接在當地延期，少數特別情形如天災、重

病…等因素並向當地警察機關出示相關證明文件者或

可例外，否則，仍應依法在停留期限屆滿前離境。

16. 以免申根簽證待遇赴歐是否仍須購買旅遊醫療保險?

答：旅遊醫療保險並非以免申根簽證方式入境的必要條件，

但是由於歐洲醫療費用昂貴，為保障國人旅遊期間自身

的安全與權益，建議國人出發前購買合適的旅遊醫療保

險，如有疑問，請向擬前往國家的駐台機構詢問。

17. 以免申根簽證待遇入歐可否在申根國家工作或打工?

答：否。不得從事任何工作（包括度假打工）、受薪及打工

行為，即便工作期間在90 天內，仍須事先申請相關簽證。

18. 何處可以獲得在申根國家旅遊的資訊?

答：申根會員國駐台機構及相關國家的外交部、內政部移民

局及觀光局網站。

19. 入境歐盟（申根國家）隨身攜帶的現金有無限制？

答：以現金 1 萬歐元（或等值貨幣）為上限，超過該額度須

於入境時申報。

20. 國人如在歐洲國家發生緊急事故，該如何求助？

答：可撥打我派駐當地代表處（辦事處）緊急聯絡電話請求

協助。我駐歐各機構的緊急聯絡電話請自外交部

（ www.mofa.gov.tw ）及外交部領事事務局

（www.boca.gov.tw）網站查詢；此外，國人亦可與「外

交部緊急聯絡中心」聯繫，該中心24 小時專人值機的旅

外國人急難救助專線電話為：+886-800-085-095。

21. 歐盟為何決定給予我國民免申根簽證待遇？

答：歐盟及其27 個會員國經審慎評估我國移民風險、護照

安全及國境管控等因素皆符合歐盟相關規定後，同意修

改歐盟相關法規（regulation），將我國自需要申根簽證

方能入境申根公約地區的國家改列為免申根簽證國。

22. 我所獲免申根簽證待遇是否可能會遭到取消?

答：歐盟定期召開會議對已獲免申根簽證待遇的國家進行評

估，若該國國民未遵守歐盟相關規定的案例過多，免簽

措施亦有可能遭到檢討取消。

23. 歐盟予我免申根簽證待遇的好處是什麼？

答：以目前我國每年赴歐平均31 萬人次，每人申請90 天以下申

根簽證需60 歐元，90 天以上申根簽證需99 歐元的費用計算，

我免申根簽證待遇生效後，我國人每年將可省下至少10 億台

幣的申根簽證費用，且預期未來因訪歐人數增加，將節省更

多。另外，我眾多台商因長期居住在中國大陸地區，若無免

申根簽證待遇，依申根簽證規定，居住大陸地區每年超過半

年者，須在大陸申請申根簽證，需時冗長且手續繁雜。至於

在大陸地區每年居住未超過半年的台商，則依規定須返台申

請申根簽證，然因該等台商往返兩岸頻繁，亦未必有足夠時

間在台停留等候簽證，凡此均對台商訪歐取得商機及旅遊方

面，造成相當大的困擾。在歐盟予我免申根簽證待遇實施後，

這些困擾已一併解決，大幅提昇我在陸台商赴歐的便利性並

有利即時取得商機，效益甚大。

24. 歐盟予我免申根簽證待遇後，我國在全球獲免簽（落簽）待遇

的情形如何？

答：歐盟予我免申根簽證待遇生效後，我國民可以免簽證或落地

簽證前往的96 個國家及地區將涵蓋我國人最常前往的大多

數目的地，較馬總統上任前我所獲免簽證(落地簽證)待遇國家

及地區數增加43 個，共成長81％（按： 97 年5 月時有53

個，100 年1 月有96 個），佔每年我出國人次總數的68.02 %。

25. 未來是否有其他國家可以給予我國免簽證待遇？

答：為進一步爭取擴大國人享有免簽證待遇，外交部已鎖定我國

人最常赴訪的美國、澳大利亞、馬來西亞、菲律賓、越南及

緬甸等6 國，爭取給予我免簽證待遇；另外，外交部並擬藉

甫洽獲免申根簽證待遇的機會，順勢推動我台商發展愈顯活

躍的歐洲西巴爾幹半島6 國，以及英國、荷蘭與法國的海外

省及屬地共18 個。以上30 個國家及地區將作為我爭取免簽

證的優先目標，提升並擴大我國民赴國外從事商旅的便利性。

國人赴歐旅遊請備妥上述相關證件及證明文件，並請

注意在外旅遊的人身及財物安全，如需緊急急難協

助，請與我國政府派駐當地的駐外館處聯繫或撥打24
小時緊急聯絡電話+886-800-085-095。

Moustos Wetland, Οικολογικό Πάρκο Υγροτόπου Μουστού

2010-11-24T20:23:00.001+02:00

Moustos is a wetland conservation park and the only one of a considerable size in the East Peloponnese. Water birds use this area as a resting and feeding station during their migration. Greek summer tourists like to come here because the spring water from earth cools you down, but few people will hike the trail from the highway to the sea, which I estimate to be around 2.5 km one way.

A slightly different kind of tourism when you think of Greece - eco tourism. I have come to Moustos a few times with my family, but only once I walked the Moustos Wetland path with a friend from the highway to the sea and back, that hike I captured many photos. The photos here are collected from many visits though, so they may cover different seasons. Unfortunately I have not come here during the winter time when the birds are abundant.

This is the official website of the management body of the Mount Parnonas and Moustos Wetland.

If you like to see a slideshow of my photo collections of the Moustos wetland, cliclk here.

Other visitors to Moustos had captured the winter scenery (and therefore lots of birds), and put them in the Facebook.

Photos of the 2010 Athens Classic Marathon

2010-11-02T15:40:00.001+02:00

Athens Classic Marathon (ACM)

A child was waving at me, 12 years old is the minimum age to attend the race, these photos are taken from near Syntagma (Constitution Square), 5km race was underway

My friend posed since she didn't want to miss the once-in-a-life-time chance to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon from which the marathon race is originated

I was looking for my husband, but I found out later that he had passed this area much earlier because his timing was better than average 5km participants, and he raised more than 1500 Euro for an orphanage

We walked to the Panasnaiko Stadium, the 5km and the 10km athletes are arriving now

A shot of the stadium, this is also where the marathon race ended at the 1896 and 2004 Olympic Games

Athletes (with disabilities) from the Special Olympics racing for 1000 meters are arriving

best-dressed athletes - judging from the time of arrival is probably 10km race

youngest participant - running with mommy

Raymond Bett of Kenya is coming in

a red-carpet welcome, the time was 2:12:11

he crossed the finish line just a bit further at 2:12:40, setting the ACM event record but missed breaking the course record of 2:10:55 set by Italian Stefano Baldini at the 2004 Olympics

He said later,

The course is very different to other marathons, with some difficult hills and lots of climbing. It is very tough but it is a great course and a different feeling to run here

another Kenyan Jonathon Kipkorir was leading all the way until the last km or so

Jonathon Kipkorir was near the finish line, he crossed it at 2:14:05 and took the silver

Edwin Kimutai came in 3rd

Edwin Kimutai, also from Kenya, finished 3rd at 2:15:21, he dressed the same as his compatriot who finished 2nd, I can only distinguish them by their bib number

sometimes you have to run faster at the end of a long race to beat the other

my best shot of a marathon athlete's muscle

3 came in at the same time, what a close race !

Luthuanian Rasa Drazdauskaite was the 1st woman marathoner to come in

She raised her hands to celebrate the coming victory, recorded as 2:31:06

Awards being given out to the men's marathon winners, I have labelled them 1st, 2nd, etc. I was too far away from the podium and didn't notice that the first two winners had already received their awards

Olga Glok of Russia came in 2nd at 2:33:51

It seemed to be a long wait for the 3rd woman to come in and finally Svitlana Stanko of Ukraine showed up and finished 3rd at 2:38:59

I salute to all the athletes who participated in this year's Athens Classic Marathon, although this marathon is not as big as the one in New York, but it is the most significant one because it is where it all started, without the original "Marathon", all the other ones could not have existed.

2500th Anniversary of the Legend of Marathon

2010-10-30T07:31:00.002+03:00

The 28^th Athens Classic Marathon of this Sunday celebrates the 2500^th anniversary of the legend of Marathon.

Don’t forget to read from a defense expert’s point of view, the legendary messenger, Pheidippides, who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory and then collapsed and died, is not the whole story, he must have actually covered more than 280 miles in less than 10 days before dying of exhaustion.

Modern men try to follow Pheidippides’ footsteps by creating the 246 kilometre (152.85 miles) ultamarathon race called Spartathlon, and the record holder is a Greek Australian called Yiannis Kouros.

Back to our main topic of the Athens Classic Marathon, I think the climb between the 20 km to 32 km will be the hardest part of the race but the Kenyans may find this section just a daily routine.

Aside from the 42 km race, there is also the 10 km and 5 km race. Our representative office’s Economic Director, Mr. Lo is running for the second year in the 10 km race. My husband is running the 5 km race in a team to raise charity for an orphanage, SOS Children’s Village in Vari. Good luck to both of them, but with so many runners participating in this year’s event, it will be hard to spot them at the finish line.

Back in Taiwan, the recent damage to the Suhua Highway from typhoon could discourage some marathon runners from participating in this year's Taroko Gorge Marathon, nevertheless a previous participant was fascinated by the scenic route.

links, language, education, etc.

2010-05-22T16:39:00.001+03:00

This seagull was taken in a beach near Kavala, Greece (and clicking on the image will take you to an educational site).

An on line quiz to distinguish an English teacher's native tongue.

By the way, I got 9 out of 10 right!

A San Francisco-based high school, Think Global School (TGS), is about to launch a program that will take students around the globe, literally. By the time they graduate from the private non-profit high school, students will have lived in 12 different countries and experienced 12 different cultures, languages and histories. The students will also be information technology gurus, as advanced communication technology will be at the curriculum’s core.

When the first class of "global students" graduate in a few years from now, I think it will be time to assess these students' social behavior, such as national identity.

How did they translate “Oh my God!” into Chinese Mandarin in Taiwan?

Don't miss the interesting comments 1, and comment 2.

Also taken from reading one of the comments left on the same post, what does this sentence below mean?

"阿右勾引兔比逼俚力斯衣分寜?" ( I have no clue, the answer is given below and there exists a phrase book that one can buy!)

Can you write the Chinese characters for “awkward” (gāngà)? I could long time ago, but not anymore because now we have computers to do the job for us.

If you are learning Chinese, the Pinyin info is indeed a very helpful site, which I have linked (1st one under "Useful Links") on the right-hand side since a while ago.

This “Diet” is not about health and food, it’s about parliament! And this explains why the two ways of using the word “diet” actually came from the same source.

Answer to the question above:

"Are you going to be busy this evening?"

Photos of Nafplio Φωτογραφίες του Ναυπλίου

2010-05-03T12:53:00.024+03:00

You can also see a slide show of 64 photos.

Despite it was drizzling on the day when I visited Nafplio, it is still one of the most beautiful places on Greek mainland. Under normal traffic conditions, it takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get there from Athens by car.

After spring the weather gradually becomes dry and in the summer it is so dry that there won't be any flowers left, only cactus will survive.

On the way from Athens to Nafplio, one must pass by the Corinth Canal, it is a common place for a stop-over break.

The other attraction near Nafplio is the Mycenae (Μυκῆναι) archaeological site and museum, I visited the site many years ago before the museum was built, so I have to visit again one day to see the museum collections.

Links

2010-04-26T13:15:00.000+03:00

Nafplio (Ναύπλιο) is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece and was the first capital of modern Greece, from 1829 to 1834.

I am going to post some links from now on, since I don't write often (and nobody does in this group), I might as well try to post what I have read that may be of interests to our readers.

This may be a useful site if you are an expat living anywhere in the world.

Miss KTV posted with clips of Taiwanese singing sensation 林育群 Lin Yu Chun’s American TV performances. Wow!

SDO provided the sun image (Wow!) with clarity 10 times better than high-definition television.

A revolutionary way of gathering real-time top stories, lazy journalists will soon have to compete with diligent bloggers in the near future.

A Little Black Box to Jog Failing Memory, available only to researchers for now.

Chinese travelers react differently from European travelers to airplane delays due to weather conditions beyond human control.

High-tech copy machines a gold mine for data thieves, and watch out where you send your useless machines for recycling!

After reading this article about “plastic plants”, I have to start my own veggie garden soon before all the seeds are “contaminated”.

Todd had an injury to his palm in which he quit teaching the next day. I actually welcome tougher school rules and stricter teachers, better discipline at school may lead to better behavior at home.

Stephen A. Nelson compared the 3 important places in Taipei: the CKS Memorial Hall (the KMT government spent big bucks to switch the name back in memory of a dead dictator on Taiwan), the 228 Memorial Museum, and the National Palace Museum.

March 27 2010 lights off at 8:30 PM

2010-03-26T13:20:00.005+02:00

Join the Earth Hour 2010 on March 27 at 8:30 PM local time by turning lights off for an hour.

Aside from the above symbolic one-hour action, our kids should learn to turn off lights as soon as they leave their rooms and always pay attention to energy conservation; therefore sport or outdoor activities are much better than electronic games, not only for energy conservation but also for personal health.

For a while now, I have also noticed that the illumination of Parthenon at the Athens Acropolis is off at 2 AM, and no longer consuming electrical energy all night long as I blogged previously.

Related to the climate change topic, the most interesting article I read recently is the following by the ETC Group:

Top-down Planet Hackers Call for Bottom-up Governance

Some excerpt from the above link:

“solar radiation management” (SRM). This is a way of “cooling down the planet’s thermostat” by reflecting a portion of the sun’s rays back to outer space, through a variety of techniques ranging from sunshades in space, to aerosol sulphates in the stratosphere, to whitening clouds. These high-risk, planet-altering schemes affect global warming without changing its cause which is excessive greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."

“It is one thing to examine geoengineering through computer modeling and laboratory testing. It is quite another for the richest men and the richest countries in the world to begin actual experiments that tinker with the planet’s complex climate system that we do not fully understand."

Instead of tackling the problem for climate warming at source, which is to reduce the excessive greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the scientists in some "developed" nations are planning to experiment some risky "short-cut" and "quick-fix" schemes, this may put the most vulnerable people into further danger.

Aside from those people living near costal areas, the indigenous people are the most affected by climate change.

One report told us how these people's lives have become worse, Voices that must be heard: minorities and indigenous people combating climate change by Farah Mihlar

Some excerpt from the linked report:

Page 3 of the report

‘Because of climate change, mountains are crumbling’ Tung Chun-fa, Paiwan Tribe, Taiwan

Page 7 of the report

‘Bio-fuels are making our peoples’ lives worse’ Abdon Nababan, Batakpeople, Indonesia

"We can see the impact on the agricultural cycle. Now with climate change the rainfall is not like it used to be in the old times and also the weather, the seasons are not the same, so the agricultural calendarhas changed. It is difficult to predict the seasons, people already have their own systems – when to cultivate rice and potatoes – but now they can’t rely on it any more.UN can put pressure on ourgovernment but our government also have theirown agenda, they don’t say the truth of what is going on. The UN system cannot force our government to do anything."

When men trying to act like God, disasters like this cannot be avoided. The scientists and governments must also pay attention to the voice of the powerless people. It's a matter of basic human rights for the disadvantaged people, plus professional ethics of the scientists.