Observations

Here are some observations and notes about Taiwan that I have been collecting:

- For one thing.  There's one thing I haven't mentioned that I think is so... egotistical? about Taiwan.  Finding out about this when I first got here was just like when I first found out that Texas has its own state pledge that kids have to say in school...  But Taiwan actually uses its own year system!  As in, today's date is May 4, year 101. What happened 101 years ago, you ask?  Taiwan was founded.  I guess it makes more sense to use that start point than the birth of Jesus (for a predominantly non-Christian country), but it really surprised me.  So anti-globalization.  Anyway, both are used here... it's not like people don't know what the year 2012 is.  But something still feels very weird about it to me.

- Also, there is this funny stereotype here about how Americans love ice.  Like, we LOVE it.  But I guess it's pretty valid - think about how much ice a typical American soft drink comes with.  Here, most drinks don't come with ice at all, and most water is served room temperature or even hot.  Some people have even expressed disbelief at why we would ever want to drink cold water!  How odd.  Cultural differences.

- I am not sure if I mentioned this already, but there are tons of stray dogs that live on campus and I get to pet all the time.  And all the strays here are really nice and sweet instead of mean and scary like they are in America!

Doggy friend!

- Almost every single Taiwanese person I have met says the exact same phrase when first meeting: "My English is a little poor."  And they all phrase it the same way.  Afore, who heard from Gene that native English speakers don't usually use the word "poor", made a joke that if people say that (as opposed to, "My English isn't very good," or, "My English is bad," then it's probably true).  But yeah.  There are a few phrases that Taiwanese people say way more than English people do, so even if they're not wrong in any way, they sound distinctly Taiwanese to me.  For example, when discussing food, Americans might say, "Oh, it's really good," or, "I really like it," or, "Mmm, delicious," or whatever.  Every time I ask a Taiwanese person about food, they say the same thing: "I think it's very delicious."  Every time. (Unless it's so-so.)  Another interesting little phrase issue is that somewhere, someone must have made a mistake in an English language textbook, so that every time someone is clearly meaning to say, "it's up to you," (like, what time should we meet? It's up to you.), they instead say, "Depends on you."  Of course I know exactly what they mean, and it's not wrong,.. it's just ... Taiwanese.

- I have already mentioned how my classes are full of exchange students from everywhere, and how impressed I am with how widespread the English language is.  Well, we did presentations in one of my classes last week and I realized, it's official: I am the only native English speaker in the class.  And come to think of it, I am pretty sure I am in one of my other classes, too.  I feel privileged and guilty at the same time - guilty that the language of instruction has to be one that everyone else there had to work to learn!

-  Sometimes people ask me what I don't like about Taiwanese people.  Well, honestly, everyone is really nice, friendly, eager to help, and all kinds of other good things.  But don't let them fool you.  They all share one truly despicable trait that I think reveals a source of evil at their core.  And I'm not attributing this to cultural differences: this is just when Taiwanese people show their dark sides.  There is a walkway on campus going from the bottom of the hill to the top, where my dorm is.  It may be about three people wide, but no more.  And I swear, every time a group of people is walking towards me, spread out along the walkway, I politely get to the side to avoid a collision... and they just don't.  They never move aside!!  They keep taking up however much space they please as a mass of people as I, one measly, innocent, individual try to squeeze by!!  I don't know if they expect me to flatten myself against the wall, spread eagled, or what, but nothing makes me madder.  Because it's not cultural differences.  It's rude! and it's selfish!  I have come up with a few different ways of dealing with this since arriving.  For a while, as mentioned, I would step aside as far as I could until the point of it getting silly.  My next strategy was to stop, dead in my tracks, so that they would have no choice but to move aside or walk into me.  This was reasonably effective but disrupted my flow of walking and, frankly, made me feel like kind of an asshole.  My current strategy is to play along with their game.  I might move so that I'm on the correct half of the walkway, but I don't take extraordinary measures.  And then I look down, or off to the side, and we play chicken.  And somehow, they never bump me.  I guess they just like to live dangerously.

-  The mosquitoes here are making me miserable.  Enough said.

-  Taiwanese people have a stereotype that foreigners love to party... and it's completely true.  The only people I know who go out to clubs and bars are exchange students.

-  One interesting cultural difference: it's not considered rude here to make "suggestions" about someone's appearance.  I have heard (either about myself or stories from other people) suggestions to lose weight, gain weight, grow hair, straighten hair, lose the glasses, etc.  Can you imagine?  Ugh.  I'm glad we don't do that in America.

- Some notes on food:
I have come to accept that there is just no good coffee here.  What they call "regular" is Americano - :( .  And most places will serve it with lots of cream and sugar.  The best coffee I get is from a very sweet woman across from campus, and it's good, but it's still not very strong.  If you're looking for strong, drip coffee, just look in a different country.  I think I have given up on my search and will hang my head in defeat and caffeine deprivation.

I finally did something I have been wanting to do since arriving: ate McDonalds.  I was really curious if it would taste different or the same as from the US.  So, I got myself a big ol' McDonalds meal to do a taste test:

Looks the same

It was only after ordering a double cheeseburger that I realized... I don't eat McDonalds very often.  I don't honestly know what an American double cheeseburger tastes like!  So, I enjoyed my meal regardless.  I think the fries are better here (but too salty) - maybe they're still allowed to use trans fats.  A couple of notes on McDonalds, though - it (and other fast food) is actually more expensive than an average meal here.  While noodles or fried rice might be 50 or 60 NT, a McDonalds combo meal will run you about 120 or so.  In fact, Taiwanese people were surprised when I told them that fast food was cheap for us!  Also, when you talk about "American food", everyone here assumes you mean fast food and burgers.  I am pretty sure all Asians think that the only food Americans eat is served with a side of fries.

Also, this is a weird looking fruit!  I don't know what it's called and it didn't have much flavor, but the texture was a bit like kiwi.

Here are  few foods that I don't have any special notes on, but they are very common here, I eat them all the time and love them and don't want to forget them.  Most frequently purchased at 7-11 (source of many meals).

Steamed bun with meat filling

Seaweed-wrapped rice patty with various fillings

The delicious coconut milk dessert with taro balls and baby tapioca! Outstanding!

Sentimental - I went back to the Japanese place we went for our first lunch - my first meal here, that convinced me the food might not be so bad after all - and ordered it again... Thai fried fish.  Just as tasty the second time.

Tea eggs!  Really common here (at every 7-11) - just eggs hard-boiled in tea, but I think they're quite good.  Definitely creepy looking at first...

...not to be confused with the thousand-year-old egg, this treasure right here.  Could it possibly look more disgusting.  Photo courtesy of internet.

Quick story about the thousand year old eggs... I tried one for the first time recently and actually really liked it.  It was creamy and salty and had a nice flavor, but mostly tasted like regular egg.  The person I was with made a joke about how "you don't want to know why it looks that way... horse pee!! just kidding..." But I chuckled and assured him that no matter what he said, I would still eat it, because I had already tried it and it tasted really good.  Not even horse pee could stop me.  But he didn't know the actual way they were made. Well, today I asked Thomas (a CIEE ambassador) the same question, and he again assured me that I wouldn't want to know.  I told him that no, don't worry, I'll be fine.  He then proceeded to tell me that the reason they look the way they do is that instead of using unfertilized eggs, they actually use fertilized ones and kill the baby chick inside, which then turns into .. whatever.  My jaw dropped.  He did it.  He found the way to ensure that I never wanted to eat one of these little chicken abortions again.  "I hope you're wrong, Thomas," I said sadly.  "I hope I am too..." he replied.  Well, I googled it.  And lo and behold... he was wrong.  They just wrap regular old eggs in mud, clay, and some other good stuff until they turn all nasty like this.  Now THAT I can handle.  Unfortunately, the eggs he described really do exist... called Balut eggs , and I will be steering very clear of those.

Also, in food adventures, I ate intestine for the first time recently.  I have to say, I objectively though it tasted pretty good, but was psychologically unable to enjoy it because I was so grossed out to be eating intestine.  Maybe one day I will get over that and be able to enjoy another good food.


It was really beautiful and sunny a few days ago - and REALLY hot.  There have also been some phenomenal sunsets, at least four days in a row.  But anyway, I was so happy to see this nice weather that I took pictures of the same stuff you've already seen, but this time, with better lighting:

I get frustrated by cameras' shortcomings with regard to capturing sunsets.  Here, the sky looks dramatic and great, but you can't tell how green and bright the grass really looked, too!  Maybe I should learn to paint so you can see what I really want you to.

The fake, ideal world version of Taipei

Also, today I went to a museum that reportedly has the biggest modern art collection in all of Asia!  And student entry tickets are just 15 NT - that's 50 US cents!  It was great - partly because the art was nice, but mostly because it was so great to get out of the dorm and explore Taipei a little.  I then had some stinky tofu, lounged at a nice cozy coffee shop, and then met up with Becca and Emily at Taipei main station for dessert!  It was a nice day!  Pictures to come.  Now I have to be up in five and a half hours to catch the bus to Tainan - more adventures on their way...