In Taiwan - Joseph Steinman

 

The other day, a few students from Davids and I went to a Go Cart track. The go carts at this particular place where unlike any go carts I've been in. They were big and fast, and the track itself was hella bad. It was similar to a supercross track, made of dirt and having crazy ramps and obstacles. You won't find anything like that in the U.S. for $6 for 10 laps. Total deranged fun.

 

I went to a western style pub and met a bunch of other English Teachers. Only myself and two others were from the U.S. All the others were from Canada, England, and South Africa. It was a rowdy, charming, raucous birthday party. Good times, I'm definitely looking forward to partying with them again. They had a ton of great advice like, don't drive a scooter. Then they proudly show me their scars.

 

Earlier in the day some of the students were telling me to stop whistling at night. I was lit up on coffee and whistled a tune absent mindedly. They said when you whistle at night, the ghosts can hear it and will follow you to lead them to the afterlife like obedient dogs. It's a tough habit to break and it was funny to see their reactions when I kept doing one in a while! They said something that was very striking to me about ghosts. The general idea is this; if you live with a lot of regret in your lifetime, then you will not go to heaven or hell but remain lost and confused in the natural world and become ugly and repulsive ghoul. People believe strongly in that here and some claim they can see ghosts with second sight. If you whistle at night and ghosts follow you, they will occupy your house. If that happens, you have to make an agreement that they hide, and don't show themselves while you are home. When you come home, you have to knock on your own door to give the funky ghosts a chance to hide!

 

Yesterday I visited a neighborhood with, a long time resident as my tour guide. We visited a metal smith who was making tiny bolts with a huge metal lathe. We also met a chicken cleaner, very good at her job. In her shop, a metal frame held 3 full sized road cones. She would cut the throat of a docile chicken and stick it upside down in a road cone for a few minutes. Next it would be dipped repeatedly into hot water with a machine similar to a paddle wheel on a river boat. Then she would toss it into a modified washing machine with lots of stiff rubber fingers and then… flip the switch. I had to stand back because splashing water and feathers and crap was flying around like it went into a fan. And it was loud too. Surprisingly, when she pulled it out, it was perfectly without feathers and bruises. Very impressive.

 

We ate at a typical Chinese place serving pot stickers, steamed vegetables, boiled peanuts, tofu, and eggs. Sooo good. Upstairs the owners were putting the finishing touches on a karaoke bar. I destroyed a few songs: Oh Carol, Diana, Let It Be, 500 miles, and House of the Rising Sun. Maybe a few others, the people clapped only out of politeness!

 

It was the same day of elections. People were very charged up and lighting off fireworks. We went to a beautiful pedestrian bridge to a historical part of Taiwan. They sold expensive lacquered wood furniture. We did all that because my bike tire went flat and we couldn't go for a bike ride which was the original plan. Forget about finding the correct size tube for my American Bike. It was funny because the tube was "Made in Taiwan". The bike mechanic didn't think that was very amusing. At the end of the day it was super windy. Windy like coming from an angry place in the earths mind - kind of scary

 

Today was awesome. 4 students and I met up around 9 this morning, after breakfast we went to this wild building. I don't know what it was, a temple, mansion, or what. The students didn't know either. I think it was the creation of a eccentric millionaire. The bottom floor was normal like an apartment, complete with the obligatory half dozen mangy dogs. We checked with the residents to make sure it's cool that we were there. Then it was a spiral staircase to a M.C. Escher style place. Staircases EVERYWHERE. Mind boggling! There were staircases build right on top of more staircases - not kidding. It was a freak show. Everything was concrete, it was very windy outside but the structure did not flex or anything, totally solid. It had wooden roofs, but it was open on all sides. Whatever it was, it was being remodeled, so it was both very old and new at the same time. It was so strange and different then anything I've ever seen. I'll attach pictures next time.

 

For lunch we went to a fish restaurant. We picked out our fish from a large live tank full of the biggest carp I've ever seen. They came from the reservoir in Taiwan. Our small fish weighed 4.2 KG. Theyserved it in 5 or 6 courses and they were all great, including the fish head soup. Whoever said carp are not good to eat was simply wrong. It was delicious and there is a lot meat in a 9 Lbs fish. 

 

Then we went bowling, played pool, batting cages, blah blah blah. We ended the night another Karaoke bar and I sang the same songs as before. I'm sure I'll sing those songs many more times because that's all they have in English. Thanks for making it to the end, I'll write more later.