The end of summer... and the end of my first year in Taiwan

The walls are bare, and only a few cardboard boxes remain in the room I have rented for almost exactly one year. August 20, 2009 marked my one year anniversary in Taiwan. I'll be going back to Paris for a few weeks to recoup and meet up with family and friends before coming back for another year. I'm really looking forward to that.

The next year promises to be very different as I will be working (probably as an English teacher) as well as continuing my studies. But for now, I'm on vacation!

Morakot: The Aftermath

I know this is a bit of a cop out, but I've been pretty busy lately and haven't written about the biggest story about Taiwan so far this year, namely Typhoon Morakot, which hit the island on August 8, or ten days ago.

For me it was just another typhoon, with perhaps the most dangerous thing that happened to me was heavy wind and rain which was hitting me as I went to the video rental store to get some DVDs.

Now it seems everyone is blaming each other for the slow response to mudslides, broken roads, and evacuating people from isolated areas. The media blamed the Taiwanese government. President Ma Ying-jeou blamed the weathermen for not making accurate predictions of the rainfall, which depending on who you ask was between 2.5 and 3 meters in three days (a year's worth of rain). Some people are even calling this the Katrina of Taiwan.

If you want to read a general, bland, and not very interesting but at least informative article which sums up what happened, look here.

On Saturday I got an issue of the local English newspaper, the Taipei Times, and it was full of articles about Morakot. As usual in Taiwanese politics, the articles colorfully describe the antagonism between leaders and the people, like this one and this editorial piece. My favorite line is "In China, officials often overestimate the impact of a disaster to attract greater donations. In Taiwan, officials often underestimate the impact of a disaster to conceal their incompetence."

Hey, maybe this democracy isn't perfect, but at least it's a democracy (with a free press, I might add).

Update:

I just found this link of amazing pics from my friend Bob's Facebook links (thanks Bob). Looking at these pictures, I'm amazed that I'm living so close to the havoc with so little apparent damage around me. I really hope the government will get its ass in gear and help the people down there.

The super-futuristic library near my house

Near my house is a really beautiful, fully functional, modern library. The sleek gray building looks like it was designed by some hot-shot international architecture firm. When you walk through the gigantic glass gate surrounding the entrance, a moving LED screen alerts you of news about the library and events around town. Then you enter the lobby, which, though fully staffed, rarely has any lines because you can check out books yourself on special machines. Most people are at computers here, surfing the internet or viewing the library's book collection.

The library would be very good, except for a certain group of people who use the library. They start lining up outside the gate sometime around 7am (the library opens at 9am, I'm not sure exactly what time they start lining up because I don't get up that early on weekends). By the time the doors open, there is a huge line which snakes around the plaza in front of the library.

Students lining up outside the library. This photo was taken at eight in the morning on a Sunday.

I'm talking about students, of course. Which is all well and good-- I have no problem with kids who want to do well on their exams and study. The problem is that by the time I get there (which is usually in the early afternoon) there are literally no seats left. Again, this wouldn't be a problem if the kids were actually studying. But at any given time fully half of the occupied seats are unattended. What most of them do is leave their books at the place, and then go off with their friends to eat/play/chat somewhere outside the library.

Of course, in the West this would never work as people would be afraid of having something stolen and would always be at the desk, save for a bathroom break. But here no one seems to bat an eye.

There is one secret place, though, which I discovered when I first had the problem of searching for a seat. While floors one to four are chock-full of students (and/or their school accessories), the fifth floor is empty like Siberia, with only one or two seats taken (out of about a hundred).

I went to this floor (which to me seemed like the promised land of studying) quite often, until one day one of the staff informed me that I was not allowed to take books from outside to study there. Though I'm not sure exactly what she said, I imagine it was something like this:

"Excuse me sir, do you know you are not supposed to bring outside books into this area of the library?"

[confused expression]"What?"

She replied: "Please take your bag and put it in one of the lockers over there," at which point I took my bag, ambled over to the lockers, fiddled with one of them, then came back to where I was sitting and resumed studying.

I don't really feel bad about doing this because I find it's ridiculous that they have hundreds of perfectly good seats downstairs which could be put to better use. I wish they could have some kind of rule where if they see a place with someone's things unattended for over half an hour, they just confiscate it and let someone else sit there. Till that happens though, I'm going to be sneaking into the hidden library paradise of the fifth floor.

A video tour of the lobby (I was stopped by a guard before I could go further)

Taiwan, one of the last bastions of pro-Americana?

I was walking home from school today, listening to my iPod, when someone tapped me on my shoulder. I looked back to see a Taiwanese man with thick-rimmed glasses smiling back at me.

"Are you a student at Shida?" he asked in Chinese.

"Yes," I replied, somewhat cautiously. He didn't seem ill-willed, just a little nervous and excited at meeting a foreigner.

"Are you American?" he asked.

This last question took me off my guard. What if I said yes? Would this lead to more questions and pestering? It's not that the guy was unfriendly, just that I didn't see why being American should be the basis for meeting someone. So I decided to be French.

"No, I'm French," I said.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am in no way neglecting my American side. It's just that this is not the first time someone has tried to strike up a conversation, or ask me several personal questions in an interview format, just because I'm American.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that some Taiwanese look up to the USA. I met an American at a bar last week who was on vacation here. He said he was thrilled that he would get a positive reaction when he told people he was American, as opposed to when he visited Europe, and people would give him an answer like "Oh, you're alright, even though you're American."

Mind you, playing the French card doesn't always work. Once, in a similar encounter, a man (or should I say kid, as he was fresh out of high-school) wanted to do la bise with me after I told him I was French (and, after I declined, insisted on giving me a hug).

Anyway, after I replied, the man excused himself and said "oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else," and promptly left. I was relieved.

Doctor

I must've eaten something bad in Hong Kong because I've had the worst case of the runs in years.

Finally today I decided to go visit a doctor. I took my National Health Insurance card, some money, and my English-Chinese dictionary and walked to the closest possible clinic.

The doctor gave me four different kinds of drugs. The nurse next to him gave me helpful advice like drink sports drinks (to replace the electrolytes), don't eat oily things, and no dairy.

I just hope the medicine works. My stomach has been aching for days.

HK Visa Run

Last weekend I went to Hong Kong on a visa run with Paris. I took the opportunity to stay and see some of the southern Chinese city. I found it to be a lively, modern, cosmopolitan metropolis, thriving and bustling with people from all over. Imagine London's chinatown (with double-decker buses and trams), with New York-style skyscrapers, with hot and sunny weather, and you have a pretty good idea of what it's like.

On a tram (or ding-ding) at night on one of the main thoroughfares, Des Voeux RoadIn the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife district

Dusk and nighttime views from 'the peak' (my camera got busted so the pictures are a bit fuzzy)

Summer Session- Back To School Blues

Well, after a one-month break from anything remotely resembling studying Chinese, I got back to studying Chinese on Wednesday morning. Early morning, I add. 8AM is a hard time to start class, particularly when you are accustomed to not being awake for at least another two hours.

Since there are not many people who arrive in the beginning of July, I was put in a class which started at the beginning of the regular quarter, in June. When I got there, short of breath from walking quickly to avoid being late, I was met by a tall blond foreigner.

"Are you here for the class with Yan laoshi?" I asked (and may I add that the teacher's name "Yan" is the first character for the word "strict").
"Yes," said the young man.

We entered the empty room and exchanged our attendance papers so we could check we were in the right place. According to the paper, we were. The bell rang. I found out he was a new student at Shida, unlike me who is a returning student. He is a Dutchman who is to start his doctoral studies at Taida in September.

To make a long story short, we went down to the administrative offices, only to find that the classroom had not changed. When we got back, we found the teacher and one student, and slowly students filed in late. I should have known better.

To tell you a bit about the class, there are three Indonesians, one Vietnamese, two Koreans, as well as me and the aforementioned Dutchman.

Anyway, after the initial shock (what? writing test the first day!?), I think I'm getting back into the swing of things. At the same time I'm in a kind of visa limbo as I messed up when I went to Japan and just got a landing visa. I'm also trying to figure out what kind of job I should get. Now that my scholarship is over, I have to find some way to sustain myself.