[Cache Introduction]
Geocachers, welcome to NCCU! This is a mystery cache, therefore the coordinate provided is not the final location. You’ll have to answer a series of questions first to find out where the cache is located.
With the mystery and multi-caches that involve in annoying calculation most of the time, I’ve decided to create a new cache combining my passion for languages and at the same time without unnecessary calculation, hoping that in the future people can also create different kinds of caches for people who are not interested in numbers like me. This cache is dedicated to people who love languages.
If you first come to the original coordinate provided on this page (which is not where GZ is at but also not far from it), you will see Siwei Hall (四維堂), a symbolic building in NCCU. I chose this place to be the starting point since despite all the changes on the campus, Siwei Hall remains how it has always been for decades. Although it is not a glamorous nor high building, it carries a lot of history of NCCU. A lot of important events, ceremonies and activities are held here.
If you face Siwei Hall, on the left you can see our main library and College of Commerce, and on the right there’s the administration building. If you see the corridor on the right side, that is the way up the hill and I would recommend you to take that path and walk all the way up. There are other things for you to see on this way. Most importantly, there’s another cache created by me (GC49QQD) for you to search for (a relatively easy one)!
If you successfully find the cache, you will see the container with coins from everywhere in the world, each representing a country I’ve visited. Feel free to take one with you and, if you are willing to, offer your coin from somewhere else as well! J
[About The Final Cache Location]
The cache location is at the following coordinate: N 24°AB.XYZ E 121°34.PQR
Therefore, to decide where the real GZ is, you’ll have to answer the following questions:
[Question 1- Language Isolate]
Most European languages share some kind of “brotherhood” and are related to each other in a way, but there are languages called “language isolates” that have no obvious connection, no matter lexically, syntactically and phonetically, to any other language around. Which of the following languages is an example of a language isolate in Europe?
You will get the number “A” for the final coordinate when you solve this question.
-If you think Catalan (a language spoken in Catalonia, Spain) is the answer, then A= 2.
-If you think Basque (a language spoken in Basque Country, Spain) is the answer, then A= 5.
-If you think Flemish (a language spoken in Flanders, Belgium) is the answer, then A= 7.
-If you think Romansh (a language spoken in southern Switzerland) is the answer, then A= 9.
[Question 2- Differences in Orthography]
A lot of people think that languages from the Slavic root should be written with Cyrillic alphabets (as used in Russian language). However, it is not always true. The following is a list of several Slavic languages, and you will have to count how many of them are written with Latin alphabets.
You will get the number “B” for the final coordinate when you solve this question.
Polish / Slovak / Ukrainian / Belarusian / Bulgarian
-If you think that among them there are 2 languages written with Latin alphabets, then B= 9.
-If you think that among them there are 3 languages written with Latin alphabets, then B= 8.
-If you think that among them there are 4 languages written with Latin alphabets, then B= 7.
-If you think that among them there are 5 languages written with Latin alphabets, then B= 6.
[Question 3- Linguistic Groups]
There are three main linguistic groups in Europe, mainly Romantic, Germanic and Slavic. Please categorize the following languages into each group.
You will get the numbers “X”, “Y” and “Z” for the final coordinate when you solve this question.
Portuguese / Dutch / Danish / Czech / Italian / Icelandic
-Among them, the number of Romanic language(s) is X, the number of Germanic language(s) is Y and the number of Slavic language(s) is Z.
[Question 4- Variations for Latin Alphabets]
Although many European languages adopt Latin alphabets, there are slight differences among them and from time to time there are alphabets that only exist in one or several European languages but not in others. The following are some alphabets and you will have to recognize them and pair them up with the correct languages.
You will get the numbers "P", "Q" and "R" for the final coordinate when you solve this question.
Č, Ě, and Ř are the alphabets from “P” language. P=?
Æ, Ø and Å are the alphabets from “Q” language. Q=?
Ą, Ł and Ż are the alphabets from “R” language. R=?
Dutch= 1 / Danish= 2 / German=3 / Spanish= 4 / Czech = 5
Polish = 6 / Hungarian= 7 / Scottish Gaelic= 8