Everything is great!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Hello! Everything is great in Taiwan.
Yesterday, 3 of the students, 1 teacher and myself all went to the beach and hung out all day. We rented a 6 person bike and peddled around checking out temples, drinking coffee, singing karaoke and eating. Ac cross the water was mainland China. It was way too far away to see but it was definitely there. All along the beach there were caltrops to repel invading Chinese tanks! Those are the 4 pointed obstacles where one side is always pointing up. Each one was about 10 feet tall and there were hundreds of them. There were also concrete bunkers dug into the sand.
There is no danger of a Chinese invasion, those military installations were only remnants of the past. Even if the Chinese did want to invade there isn't much Taiwan could do about it. People here are very sweet, thoughtful, generous and comically determined. For instance, when we finished riding the bike and turned it back in…we where all in the car less then 10 seconds later on our way to dinner. Seriously.
Chinese New Year is apparently just around the corner in 2 months. Already people shoot off fireworks…all…night…long. Not just the crackers, I'm talking about the big artillery shells at 4 o'clock in the morning. It's just going to get worse, people say that the 3 days of the new year the fireworks are absolutely constant. That should be fun, I think Chinese new year is bigger then any holiday in the world.
People here are focused on simple happiness. There isn't a lot of extravagant luxuries like, you know, refrigeration. They sell raw meat in the shade. I don't know how that works but the food is great. I might forget how to cook because it's is so cheap and convenient to get food on the go. I think it's very common to do that. When it's laundry time I will whip out the washboard and actually wash my clothes by hand. They have all the appliances and electronics, etc. And they are also cheap. It's just that many people are fine without them.
One thing that is uncomfortable is the traffic because people drive fast. There are many, many personal scooters. More then cars and trucks. All the traffic goes too fast for me. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way. They will pass by close to you when you are walking. If they drove like that around me in America, I would probably step out and knock them off the bike and tell them never do that again; but I'm just going to have to get used to it here. It's unnerving. People are aggressive to get around for sure. Oh and traffic lights aren't the law, just a suggestion.
A few years ago they banned eating dogs in Taiwan. Everyone I've talked to loves dogs as pets and have never eaten one. There are lots of homeless dogs running around. They believe that if a dog comes to visit your doorstep it's a sign of good luck so people feed them. Many people feed the dogs, and you aren't allowed to eat them anymore so guess what…Lots of dogs. Large, homeless, dirty dogs. I like dogs and everything but walking in a narrow alley with dogs laying around watching every move can put you on your toes. So far, they always have love in their eyes and haven't growled. Nobody I've talked to has ever been bitten.
