(no subject)
Driving in Asia (Taiwan and China particularily) is very...interesting. In the US, drivers stop for pedestrians because they don't want to get sued. In Taiwan, drivers stop for pedestrians because they don't want the blood to ruin the paint job. I kid you not. It's common to run red lights, make u-turns out of the blue, and take up both lanes. However, not all vehicles are personal automobiles. In fact, only about 20% of the vehicles are what we would consider "cars" (SUVs, minivans, sedans. No one drives pickups here except in the countryside). Another 20% are buses, taxis, and public service vehicles (police cars--they drive with their lights flashing, garbage trucks, etc). The remaining 60% are called motorcycles here, though everywhere else they're known as mopeds. Moped drivers are fearless. They cut off buses, thread busy intersections when they have a red light, weave in and out of traffic, etc. Crossing a street is like playing Frogger with your own body. Very exciting. Japan is more like America, but with more Benz. Asians love Benzes. Very good show of wealth.
So I don't even know how I got off on this rant here, and I'll leave y'all to whatever y'all is doing. Oh, in case you're wondering I just saw a commercial here for 2MBit ADSL lines here for 239 Yuan a month for the first 6 months (regular price of 409 after), which comes to about $7 USD a month (12 after 6 months). The problem you have with this is that the servers are nowhere as good as US servers, so normal surfing is a bit slow. But man oh man are your pings low in video games. Though I think cable tv (72 channels + HBO, Cinemax, etc) is something around 1000 Yuan, or about $32 USD a month. Oh, oh, a large double pepperoni (this is the most American pizza they have ) pizza here (12 slices) is only about 240 Yuan ($7 USD) and the movie tickets are also 240 Yuan over at Warner Village. The self-run theaters (AKA Pirated Films Inc) charge about 150 Yuan. That should give you a general idea of the pricing difference here. If you save 30k a year for 5-6 years in the US and then move to Taiwan, you very literally will not have to work anymore. Same with China. Not with Japan. Japan is about twice as expensive to live in as in the US and in spaces twice as small.
Anyhoo, I've babbled on far too long. Mata ashita.
So I don't even know how I got off on this rant here, and I'll leave y'all to whatever y'all is doing. Oh, in case you're wondering I just saw a commercial here for 2MBit ADSL lines here for 239 Yuan a month for the first 6 months (regular price of 409 after), which comes to about $7 USD a month (12 after 6 months). The problem you have with this is that the servers are nowhere as good as US servers, so normal surfing is a bit slow. But man oh man are your pings low in video games. Though I think cable tv (72 channels + HBO, Cinemax, etc) is something around 1000 Yuan, or about $32 USD a month. Oh, oh, a large double pepperoni (this is the most American pizza they have ) pizza here (12 slices) is only about 240 Yuan ($7 USD) and the movie tickets are also 240 Yuan over at Warner Village. The self-run theaters (AKA Pirated Films Inc) charge about 150 Yuan. That should give you a general idea of the pricing difference here. If you save 30k a year for 5-6 years in the US and then move to Taiwan, you very literally will not have to work anymore. Same with China. Not with Japan. Japan is about twice as expensive to live in as in the US and in spaces twice as small.
Anyhoo, I've babbled on far too long. Mata ashita.