Ni Hao,
First and foremost, my flickr photos are up and the URL follows for those of you that haven't seen it: http://www.flickr.com/weissinternational.com, or just click the purdy flowers over yonder. ---------->
Check it.
Compared to my first two weeks in Taichung, the last has been rather mellow, which is a nice change. Nearly a month of teaching done and I'm feel fine. Today was payday; a very fine day as my funds have started to run a bit low. A small paycheck (only two weeks or so) is still better than no paycheck at all.
New news.
I finally took a trip outside the city and into the country that surrounds Taichung. Yikes. I thought the city roads were pretty crazy because of the endless amounts of scooters and cars filled with people that can't drive; not to mention buses and maniacal taxi drivers. But let me tell you, if driving in the city is stressful, driving on a mountain road in Taiwan could make your hair fall out. There were six of us between three scooters and a motorcycle that morning, slightly hungover and hungry for adventure. The trip out of the city was fun, a few nutty turns and such through traffic that made staying in a group rather difficult. But once we got out of the city proper, traffic lightened and I thought "Nice, easy street here I come. Bushes and flowers to see and some winding roads."
Hah. That is when the fun began.
The roads were narrower than Hank Hill's urethra and totally without a scooter lane, or anything resembling one. I was driving close enough to cars that I could have grabbed a wing mirror without extending my arm more than a few inches away from my handle bars. A few inches of cracked pavement separated me from the dense green depths of the Taiwanese jungle that was whizzing by at 60km/hr.
And that was right outside the city.
After 10 minutes or so we took a few turns and motored up what I thought were some steep hills, and then coasted down the other side. That is when the road mirrors began to appear. Some corners were so sharp, traffic driving in the opposite direction had one of those big round mirrors to look into as they came up to the corner, like the ones you see in drug stores that usually have a camera behind them. I liked to think that the other drivers actually used them, instead of whipping around an almost 45 degree corner at speed with me on a 125cc scooter buzzing my way around from the other direction. After that, was the switchback. Going down the other side of the mountain we first ascended from the city side was a switchback road. It wound it's way down the hill side at probably 55 degree downslope (I'm estimating), that usually ran for about 50 feet before turning into a 180 degree turn to go back the other way. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Those fun bubble mirrors are on every corner providing at least an illusion of some kind of safety. Oh, by the way, minimal guardrails and people were passing each other as they went down, myself included.
After that it was no problem, just a few jungle roads that had been half-washed away, literally, by the last typhoon and some jockeying with nutty car drivers for position to hit some patches of pavement that looked more like moguls from Sunday River than an actual road. Scooters do not have very much in the way of shocks. My innards were thoroughly jiggled, shucked, and jived.
At long last we arrived at our destination, Lavender Cottage Farm. Brandon, our point man on the motorcycle and a nice fellow from Texas, told me that LCF used to be just a farm for the pungent herb, lavender. But then, a few of the more savvy employees built a gift shop and cut a few paths around the lavender bushes. Add in a coffee shop on top of the hill and a pretty good restaurant with nice outdoor seating and you've got yourself a picture perfect Taiwanese tourist trap. Aside from that cynical view of financial gain and prudent business practice, it was a very, very lovely place. The most vibrant shades of purple, ahem lavender, that I had ever seen were absolutely everywhere. We had lunch, delightful, and then toured around. The farming part of the place was a hill that had lavender bushes planted all around it like delicate purple stripes. Stone walkways (see photos on Flickr) threaded their way around and up and down the hill to allow tourists, foreign and domestic alike, to stroll their merry way all over the hill. At the top was the wishing tree. A normal enough looking tree, but with all the small pieces of parchment covered with Chinese wishes on them pinned to it and an ancient looking bell, likewise surrounded by wishes, it very special feel to it. Palm and betel nut trees were planted all over the surrounding hills apart from the chaos that is the real jungle.
Cool place. You could make your own lavender soap jar thingys and buy all kinds of knick knacks and keepsakes and what-have-yous. I lasted about two minutes in the gift shop; it was like being rolled into a lavender candle, too much for this cat to handle.
Oh, funny story. There was a misting device that sprayed misted water and I told Jon to use it to cool off. Little did we know it was lavender scented, and bees love that smell, and Jon hates bees. Nothing like watching an adult shriek like a girl and and walk farther and farther away from everyone else as I said "Still on your head man, still there, still there, still there..."
I killed a couple to make him feel better, mostly because I got to clout him one on the knoggin when I did it.
:D
Anyhoo. Awesome trip overall. Some really great mountain side views of the country even though it was a smoggy/hazy day.
Sushi express. SE is a food chain out here that is unlike anything I have witness in the States. You sit on basically a bar stool with a counter in front of you with water dispensers and a cup and some chopsticks. By the way, the Taiwanese always server warm or room temperature water as it does not inhibit your Chi, as cold water does. Not quite as refreshing.
Above your little counterspace is a conveyer belt that winds it serpentine length in a big funny shaped loop, with the sushi chef in the middle. On the belt are all sorts of different kinds of sushi, fish and rice, something brown and weird looking with something green and funny smelling, potatoe salad (CRAZY sweet tasting), prawns, soups, and jello of the likes you've never seen. All slowly marching past you, just waiting to be plucked and devoured. Granted, the portions are small, its sushi, but really good. Payment is done by the plate, which isn't nearly as expensive as it sounds. Each plate costs just over $1 US. I remember paying anywhere from $15-$20 for sushi at Sake in Portsmouth back home...you'd have to be SUPER hungry to put down that many plates at SE. Unless you're paying for someone else buy then, hey, that's your problem.
And now, the convenience of convenience stores. In Taichung, and Taiwan at large, there are three major convenience stores: Ok mart, Family Mart, and 7/11. All have pretty much the same stuff as the others, though I've found 7/11 has actually sanwiches, albeit bad ones (or just plain weird). You can purchase beer, spirits, or wine at any time day or night. A lot of clerks offer to open your bottle of beer for you before you leave the store. Here, you can also pay your utility bills, mail things through UPS, get phone card minutes, and a bunch of other crazy shit that I'm forgetting right now (its almost 3am give me a break :D). You can pay parking tickets too, I think.
Oh yea, every reciept is a lottery ticket and every two months they release new numbers. You can win anywhere from $200 NT to a few thousand (six bucks US to like 50ish). In essence, everyone becomes a gambler. I myself have a drawer in my desk, right beneath my typing hands, that is filled with crumpled reciepts from all over the city. $200 NT is enough for a six pack of Taiwan Beer; who doesn't like free(ish) booze money?
You would be hard pressed to drive more than a few blocks, in any direction, on any street, and not hit a convenience store of some variety. From any point in the city mind you. When I was in Taipei for training if I were to stand in the intersection in front of my hotel I would have been able to point out no less than 5, and that's just within and easy sight range.
Now that is convenient.
As you know, I own and drive a scooter; here and there, everywhere, to and from my work. The weather since I've been in country as been marvelous: hot, humid, and sunny; summer weather. Since I only got three months maybe of that back home, its been rather nice; even if I sweat through my clothes on occasion. I have an air conditioner but I refuse to use it; AC I can get back home. Anyway, I guess I had been rather lucky with the weather the last few weeks I've been scootering the 20-30 minutes to work. It had either rained in the morning or the late afternoon after I was already in the classroom. But last week...
Heh. Not so lucky.
It had rained on and off all morning but had quit for quite some time. I took the opportunity to try and catch the window and make it to work. At first it was just a light rain, a sprinkle. No problem, I thought, barely anything, I won't get that wet. Two blocks later I hurriedly pulled over and donned my rain jacket, a festive purplish bluish thing with a floppy hood and some weird Chinese company logo on the breast. The previous scooter owner had left them for me, thank goodness. Ok then, coat on, protected. HA! Two more blocks once my pants were soaked I pulled over under and over-hand to put on the rain pants of the same color. By now its pouring, and I'm still 10 minutes from work in optimal conditions. Lovely. I hit every red light from there to my branch and I had to drive much, much slower than usual. Road paint is extremely slippery when wet. Nothing like feeling rain water pooling under your heels as you watch people in their nice, dry cars sit next to you at a stoplight, completely at ease. Oh yea, my rain pants have holes in them around around mid thigh, right where everything higher than my legs drips down. Sweet.
I arrived at work, soaked. I had to park in a puddle that was a few inches deep right near my branch but it didn't matter, my feet were soggier than day old cereal anyway. Of course after all that the rain worsened. In the gutters the water had to be at least six inches deep. Foot traffic stalled for a good hour or so as no one wanted wet feet and there were deep puddles at every alleyway between buildings. There was simply no place for that much water to go that quickly; seeing real typhoon rain in a month or two is really going to be something, especially if I'm driving through the middle of it.
Thankfully, that day at work my boss Shaun, a nice British chap, gave me a pair of dry socks and let me wear his shoes. What a guy. (He offered his crocs but I said I'd rather teach in wet feet than put a pair of those ghastly things on.)
Next time: My new class of kids that are wicked smaht and that one wild kid that keeps it from a perfect class. The roadblock police presence and the guy with the M16. A market near Chongde road, and the insanity within. And, late night Taiwanese TV, and how hilarious it really doesn't mean to be.
Right, well I'm off for now. I think that's enough to keep you kid's busy for a little while. Im f'ing blitzed on passion-fruit black tea and I think I'll be watching the sunrise as its 3.30 and I'm goin strong. Yikes.
So, farewell for now my little pigeons. Many days and pleasant nights, say thankya.
Fun Facts:
-Caffiene gets me WIRED.
-In Taiwanese public schools it is still acceptable to discipline kids with physical force (NOT at Hess, where I work).
-Hess students are given English names, but they are frequently repeated and some classes can have up to three Andy's or Judy's or Peggy's.
-Taiwanese mattresses, like the one next to me, feel like slabs of stone. But are better than the floor. But no by much.
-Pale skin is considered beautiful in Taiwan. When most women are outside, especially on scooters, all skin is covered by clothes, detachable sleeves, and a face-mask (cloth ones like you'd wear to do carpentry or something).
-A cockroach half the size of a penny just crawled down the mirror behind my computer screen and when I tried to smush him he teleported to the floor. Those fuckers are fast. (He has since been smushed).