Taiwan and Response to the Disease

The past three months have been quite the ordeal. The world is in turmoil and chaos. A virulent disease has virtually brought the modern world to its knees. For now, the foreseeable future, much is uncertain.

Here in Taiwan, life is not quite normal. It is, however, continuing in a manner that makes recent ways of earning and living somewhat normal.

Other than most people wearing face masks and being asked to spritz your hands with alcohol everywhere you go, it goes. One thing that is also affecting us adversely is the panic that we humans naturally fall into. Toilet paper, paper towels, face masks, hand sanitizer, and instant noodles have all but disappeared from the shelves!

Despite the relative normalcy in our lives here, people have responded to the news with panic. Hoarding is rampant and lines to get any of the above-mentioned supplies are long. You must line up to get a quota of face masks (you must present your national health Care ID). TP, and paper towels are almost impossible to find.

On a positive note, jobs are fairly consistent: school continues as normal (minus the initial two extra weeks of Lunar New Year Holiday), companies continue (some of them have opted for work from home or some version of that), private studios seem to have a normal or almost normal level of students.

Some group classes, especially with children, have been canceled indefinitely. The small children like to touch everything they see, which makes it difficult to keep hands, et al, clean and sanitized. That makes sense. Groups like choirs have also canceled gathering.

Fortunately, the number of cases continues to be relatively low compared to the rest of the world. The government in Taiwan saw the resemblance to SARS--from back in 2003--and acted decisively. I am happy they did it. It may have interrupted lives for two weeks but we can see the results and it looks fairly promising. Whereas the rest of the world ignored it and the results look grim and uncertain.

I do wish comfort and hope to all those who have been affected by this disease.

Stories and experiences: An ESL teacher

The experiences as an ESL  teacher are wholly unique for me. The initial shock of being thrown into a classroom down to the weekly battle and resultant pain thereof are being captured in a chapter by chapter account of my life as an ESL teacher in Taiwan. This job was always an "on-the-fence" type of decision for me. I love music but I was less than confident in my general abilities so never dove in all the way. These stories show how conflicted I felt about all the experiences after taking the plunge into the world of ESL.

I am writing the stories in short ebooks in PDF format.

Donations can be made using the following link.

Thanks in advance and I hope you find the stories useful for those who are considering ESL. Comment for link to download book. Make a donation if you feel it in your soul.


Get the book below. "The Alpha-What?"

Cold House

Summers are hot, searingly so. As though one were under a giant magnifying glass with the sun pouring through with all the intensity to use you, the human, as its source of fuel to start a fire. The humidity augments the sun's ability to make things baking-hot to punishingly, suffocatingly hot. Blast furnace hot.

It is now winter in Taiwan. The comparison between winter and summer weather is this. Take away most of the heat but lave the humid air and you have 50-60 degree Fahrenheit days that will still leave you feeling like you never quite dried off after the shower.

Why mention cold house in the title? Because it is cold in the buildings in Taiwan during the winter months! That's why. There are no central units in many houses or buildings that I've been in (this of course does not speak for every place on the island). It is pretty safe to say that anything you see here that looks old, out dated, decrepit, like it's a shed, made of cracked and sometimes crumbling unpainted concrete and has a generally inside out bathroom vibe to it probably doesn't have central air or heating.

I can vouch for my current place of residence in this. It has no heating other than some contraptions that look like modified fans but put out significant heat. Those are good, when you have it in the room, but buying one for every room is expensive--both to purchase and for electricity.

Here's the crux of the matter and my question to anyone who can give a decent answer. If the winter chill lasts from November to March--five months worth of cold ears and feet--why does my residence have no central heat? People are bundled up in heavy jackets and scarves around their necks as they sit and watch TV, eat meals, and do general things around the house. It's so cold! I fail to understand the logic here.

Flora Exotica

Found it along a mountain road in Taoyuan County (North part).

Lotus. In Taoyuan County.
There is a famous part that grows field after field of
Lotus.

Giant Lily.

Regular Lily.

This "tail" (that is what I thought of) flower was on a tree.
Or rather, it is the flower of this tree in valley region of Neiwan.

Seen in Tainan, the South Part.

Seen in Tainan.

Seen in Tainan.

Seen in Tainan.

Old Street

Any old town with a mind for drawing tourists has retained their "Old Street" or in pinyin "Lao Jie". There are some really stunning examples throughout Taiwan of exquisitely preserved city centers from a bygone era. It's a time that doesn't exist any longer and will never be extant again. Whole streets whose buildings are composed of stone or marble. Each entry way marked with a name or number or both in Chinese. Dragons, eagles, lions and other ornamental carvings adorn the roofs' edges while the street separating the buildings seem to march in between even though they are really paving stones set with such care that not one is misaligned.

Old Street in Da Xi

The interesting things about these old streets in Taiwan is not really the preservation of the buildings (the above example is a rather unusual occurrence from my limited experience) as much as the preservation of the food and the activities, which revolve mostly around food. There's the selling of wares that goes hand in hand with the whole historical experience as well to be sure. Clothes, souvenirs, shoes, bags, traditional Taiwanese wares such as tea and teapots, special dresses just for the sub tropical climate are some of the things that are not for eating.

When it comes to food there are almost twice as many stores or stalls as wares. The list can go from ice cream to squid, dumplings to shaved ice with mango on the top, and rice triangles--called cong zi--to sausage and green tea cookies. There are endless varieties and each region and town has their own take on the local dish. The best of which can be found on a town's Old Street.

Me eating shaved ice with mango ice cream and mango pieces!

Starting a blog about Taiwan

Of the Asian vacation destinations, which countries have you heard of? Japan, Indonesia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong...? Some of you may have heard of Taiwan, or was it "Thailand"? That is how it is for many people who haven't been to Asia and/or don't have any friends from either Thailand or Taiwan. Now that I have been to Taiwan several times I often am asked how my trips to "Thailand" have been and how I enjoy eating "Thai" food while there. I can't really blame those that haven't been there since they probably don't have enough interest to look it up on the map or remember which one is which if they do. After all, I was once one of those getting it confused. I'll insert a map here just so those who are interested in world geography enough to learn where Taiwan is and that it is a very different country from the oft confused Thailand can take a look.

Three things to remember about Taiwan:

1. Taiwan is an island, shaped like a bean as I've heard some locals describe it
2. Chinese is the official language, aka Mandarin
3. Don't get Taiwan confused with Thailand, which has neither of the above. :)

This post is more like a trial, to get the ideas for this blog going. I have a lot of material to write about and pictures to post. First I need to get the thoughts flowing out of the brain and onto this blog though. One of the main reasons I want to write about Taiwan is to share my experiences there. I have seen and read some interesting blogs on Taiwan but there are certainly not saturating the internet. My take on the Taiwanese experience may be more unique than the other blogs besides. Why? For the simple reason that I have never visited Taiwan on my own. Rather I have only ever stayed with native Taiwanese in their homes or riding in their cars or on their scooters as we traveled about the country. My experience is total immersion: eating most meals, going to the night markets, taking day trips or overnight trips together, and joining in the family get togethers. It has always been a great experience only the luckiest have been able to take part in. I hope it will inspire you to visit Taiwan sometime even if you are on your own.