Taiwan Part One: Assimilation
Well, I'm finally getting around to posting about Taiwan more than a week after I left. I hope my memory's not faulty. I'm splitting it up into several posts because if I had to post everything all at once, my brain would probably turn to mush before I finally. Anyway, here goes...
After I left Carolyn and Bernice's house, I finished packing a few extra things. My SAT prep CD, iPod, Degler, four DS games, a few games for my laptop, a book... Yeah, I tend to overpack everytime I go on a trip. I ended up not even using a lot of the stuff I brought. *cough*SATstuff*cough*
Our flight was Saturday 4 PM, which meant we would be arriving in Taiwan at around 10 PM the next day. My goal was to sleep a short two hour nap, then wake up so that I wouldn't be jetlagged. I ended up not sleeping at all because apparently I can't sleep on airplanes. Oh well, they had nice in-flight entertainment. Watching Ratatouille twice in a row in two languages - how exciting.
When we arrived in Taipei, (or the airport in some small district outside Taipei, I forgot the name) there were two things I immediately noticed: First, I noticed how humidly warm it was. There I was, standing in three layers, all bundled up with a scarf, and quickly burning up. Hey, it's winter- I thought it would be cold. I quickly stipped down to a t-shirt and sweatpants, and then was struck by the traffic.
By the time we got out of the airport, it was at least 10:30 PM, and I was expecting there to be only a few cars out on the streets. But noo, I found myself in the middle of what I like to describe as a giant cattle herd. I'm serious, that's how bad traffic is (and the drivers are) in Taiwan. You'll have two cars trying to merge into the same lane at the same place during the exact same time, and a random motorcycle will speed through between them. And then a huge bus will come along and scare everyone out of their wits by nearly barrelling into a whole lane of cars. Pedestrians are probably the most in danger - when turning, cars will drive right up within inches of anyone crossing the street, and the moment the pedestrian walks out of the driver's view, the car accelerates like no tomorrow and speeds off.
But where was I? Oh yes... after the lovely ride, we arrived at my grandparents' house where my sister and I were going to be staying. (My parents stayed at my dad's apartment he rented a few blocks away.) Luckily there were less mosquitos there than I remembered. All would have been well there if we hadn't been accross the street from some apparently very abusive parents. Almost everyday I was there, I would hear loud slaps followed by anguished cries coming from a nearby apartment. I really felt bad for the kid... whatever he did wrong, he probably didn't deserve to be punished like that. I guess even though many Taiwanese people have stopped using violence as a means of discipline, it still exists...
Over the next few days, we ate a lot, went to a lot of places, ate a lot at a lot of places... One thing that sticks out particularly in my mind is the time my grandma took us to the local farmer's market. When you think of a farmer's market, what do you visualize? A neat, orderly set of stands organized in a rectangular manner in some empty parking lot? Apparently farmer's markets in Taiwan are REALLY different. The one we went to was located in some alleyway and spanned what must have been at least five blocks total. People just grab their stuff and plop it down in whatever empty space they can find and start yelling at people walking by to buy their stuff. It was really crowded too. I mean, all of Taipei's crowded (it looks like someone just started randomly building buildings together while trying to cram as much in as little space as possible), but the alleyway, already pretty small for a paved road, could barely fit four people walking side by side after the roadside stands were set up. But even so, it being Taiwan, someone tried to DRIVE through the farmer's market, causing mass chaos and my grandma to herd us away before we go run over.
On one of his days off, my dad took us over to a local shopping center. Which really ended up being just a whole bunch of small buildings connected by overhanging pieces of cardboard to keep out the rain. The stores there all seemed to specialize in either books/manga, DVDs, or games/electronics. All at rock bottom prices too. I ended up buying the Death Note movie and some manga there, and I was going to buy some games, but all of them were in Japanese. I was amazed by how many Wiis there were. I mean, here in the US, where Wii's have been officially released for more than a year, the only way to get one is to line up for hours the day a shipment arrives. But in Taiwan, where Wii's have NOT been officially released, you find them everywhere. Figures.
Post more when I have time...
EDIT: So what's the plan for next Monday? My mom's okay with people coming over for a movie/video game marathon... or are we going to AMC again?
After I left Carolyn and Bernice's house, I finished packing a few extra things. My SAT prep CD, iPod, Degler, four DS games, a few games for my laptop, a book... Yeah, I tend to overpack everytime I go on a trip. I ended up not even using a lot of the stuff I brought. *cough*SATstuff*cough*
Our flight was Saturday 4 PM, which meant we would be arriving in Taiwan at around 10 PM the next day. My goal was to sleep a short two hour nap, then wake up so that I wouldn't be jetlagged. I ended up not sleeping at all because apparently I can't sleep on airplanes. Oh well, they had nice in-flight entertainment. Watching Ratatouille twice in a row in two languages - how exciting.
When we arrived in Taipei, (or the airport in some small district outside Taipei, I forgot the name) there were two things I immediately noticed: First, I noticed how humidly warm it was. There I was, standing in three layers, all bundled up with a scarf, and quickly burning up. Hey, it's winter- I thought it would be cold. I quickly stipped down to a t-shirt and sweatpants, and then was struck by the traffic.
By the time we got out of the airport, it was at least 10:30 PM, and I was expecting there to be only a few cars out on the streets. But noo, I found myself in the middle of what I like to describe as a giant cattle herd. I'm serious, that's how bad traffic is (and the drivers are) in Taiwan. You'll have two cars trying to merge into the same lane at the same place during the exact same time, and a random motorcycle will speed through between them. And then a huge bus will come along and scare everyone out of their wits by nearly barrelling into a whole lane of cars. Pedestrians are probably the most in danger - when turning, cars will drive right up within inches of anyone crossing the street, and the moment the pedestrian walks out of the driver's view, the car accelerates like no tomorrow and speeds off.
But where was I? Oh yes... after the lovely ride, we arrived at my grandparents' house where my sister and I were going to be staying. (My parents stayed at my dad's apartment he rented a few blocks away.) Luckily there were less mosquitos there than I remembered. All would have been well there if we hadn't been accross the street from some apparently very abusive parents. Almost everyday I was there, I would hear loud slaps followed by anguished cries coming from a nearby apartment. I really felt bad for the kid... whatever he did wrong, he probably didn't deserve to be punished like that. I guess even though many Taiwanese people have stopped using violence as a means of discipline, it still exists...
Over the next few days, we ate a lot, went to a lot of places, ate a lot at a lot of places... One thing that sticks out particularly in my mind is the time my grandma took us to the local farmer's market. When you think of a farmer's market, what do you visualize? A neat, orderly set of stands organized in a rectangular manner in some empty parking lot? Apparently farmer's markets in Taiwan are REALLY different. The one we went to was located in some alleyway and spanned what must have been at least five blocks total. People just grab their stuff and plop it down in whatever empty space they can find and start yelling at people walking by to buy their stuff. It was really crowded too. I mean, all of Taipei's crowded (it looks like someone just started randomly building buildings together while trying to cram as much in as little space as possible), but the alleyway, already pretty small for a paved road, could barely fit four people walking side by side after the roadside stands were set up. But even so, it being Taiwan, someone tried to DRIVE through the farmer's market, causing mass chaos and my grandma to herd us away before we go run over.
On one of his days off, my dad took us over to a local shopping center. Which really ended up being just a whole bunch of small buildings connected by overhanging pieces of cardboard to keep out the rain. The stores there all seemed to specialize in either books/manga, DVDs, or games/electronics. All at rock bottom prices too. I ended up buying the Death Note movie and some manga there, and I was going to buy some games, but all of them were in Japanese. I was amazed by how many Wiis there were. I mean, here in the US, where Wii's have been officially released for more than a year, the only way to get one is to line up for hours the day a shipment arrives. But in Taiwan, where Wii's have NOT been officially released, you find them everywhere. Figures.
Post more when I have time...
EDIT: So what's the plan for next Monday? My mom's okay with people coming over for a movie/video game marathon... or are we going to AMC again?