There are days that my life takes on a dream like quality. Time becomes elastic. Days blur. Hours become minutes which become days which become seconds. I sit in the window of my apartment smoking and watching the street below, and it feels as if I'm looking at myself looking at myself looking at the world outside.
Part of this disconnect comes from being in Taiwan at this time of year. In my neigborhood, it's business as usual. If it weren't for the occasional Christmas movie on TV, you'd have no idea that it was the holiday season. There's also the fact that December in Taiwan is a non-weather event, unless you call chilly, damp and humid a weather event.
Also there is the fact that I haven't worked in about four months. This tends to add to the elasticity of time. I rarely know what day it is. I've taken to buying the newspaper everyday just to keep track (that and the crossword, hee hee). It's the first time in who knows how long that I have been unemployed for so long. I'm not used to it, and it's freaking me out a bit. Fortunately, I did find a job but I don't have many hours yet, so I still feel unemployed. Very strange.
...and so it goes
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Taiwan Rocks! Literally!
Last night, I experienced my second earthquake since I've been in Taiwan. The first was about a month or so ago and was a very minor tremor. Last night's quake, according to today's Taipei Times, was 6.8 on the Richter Scale, but because the quake's epicenter was off the southeast coast, it registered only a 4.0 where I live. It wasn't strong enough to knock stuff off shelves or anything, but it was certainly enough to get your heart pumpimg a bit.
I've been through earthquakes before when I lived in California. None of those were big ones; mostly short, sharp shocks that lasted a couple of seconds. Also, I was on the ground when those happened. A strange sensation, but not as weird as being on the 7th floor. The thing about being up in the air is that you can feel the WHOLE BUILDING move. It sways. The feeling is very much like standing up in a moving train.
Taiwan Rocks!
I've been through earthquakes before when I lived in California. None of those were big ones; mostly short, sharp shocks that lasted a couple of seconds. Also, I was on the ground when those happened. A strange sensation, but not as weird as being on the 7th floor. The thing about being up in the air is that you can feel the WHOLE BUILDING move. It sways. The feeling is very much like standing up in a moving train.
Taiwan Rocks!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Taiwan tales...
The following little incident happened to me last Sunday as I was blissfully off to the laundry mat to do some wash.
Unfortunately for me, at least in this instance, the laundry mat is just far enough from my house that it's too far to walk, so I need to take a cab. I'm in the cab, get to where the laundry mat s and tell the guy to pull over. He stops the cab on the side of the road next to a store that sells, apropo to this tale, motorcycle helmets. Now there is about a two foot space between the cab and a rack of helmets stting outside the store (there is no sidewalk). I pay the driver and open the door. BAM!! Some dumbass woman crashes her scooter into the door and falls into the rack of helmets. I pop out of the cab to help her up and make sure she's ok. She gets up and starts screaming at me in Chinese like it's my fault for opening the door. Of course, I'm like, "What the ...?" I start pointing at the cab and the rack of helmets and gesturing the lack of space with my hands all the while telling her in English that she's a lunatic. The taxi driver gets out of the cab and, obviously not on my side, starts consoling the woman. The owner of the helmet shop comes out and starts pointing at me and adds his two cents to the growing din. Another woman, this one thankfully, or at least it appeared this way, took my side of the argument adding her voice and gestures to the confusion. By the time the second woman came up, I had shut up and called Rebecca on the phone to get someone who could translate (Rebecca would later say that it probably would have been better had I not called her and just stood there speaking in English. Eventually the woman would've given up and just gone on her way).
The woman wasn't bleeding or anything, but I did notice that the longer the conversation went on the more she played the poor injured person, rubbing her hand, flexing her neck, looking at me, and repeating the actions in a more pronounced way. Needless to say, I wasn't overly sympathetic. However, the end result was that, although the woman was totally at fault, I HAD TO PAY the cost of her going the doctor to get her hand checked. Cost me 300 NT$.
Apparently driving like an idiot isn't a crime in Taiwan. In fact, it seems that if I'm walking down the street here and push someone into traffic, and the person gets hit by a car; it's the driver's fault for not stopping in time!
...and so it goes!
Unfortunately for me, at least in this instance, the laundry mat is just far enough from my house that it's too far to walk, so I need to take a cab. I'm in the cab, get to where the laundry mat s and tell the guy to pull over. He stops the cab on the side of the road next to a store that sells, apropo to this tale, motorcycle helmets. Now there is about a two foot space between the cab and a rack of helmets stting outside the store (there is no sidewalk). I pay the driver and open the door. BAM!! Some dumbass woman crashes her scooter into the door and falls into the rack of helmets. I pop out of the cab to help her up and make sure she's ok. She gets up and starts screaming at me in Chinese like it's my fault for opening the door. Of course, I'm like, "What the ...?" I start pointing at the cab and the rack of helmets and gesturing the lack of space with my hands all the while telling her in English that she's a lunatic. The taxi driver gets out of the cab and, obviously not on my side, starts consoling the woman. The owner of the helmet shop comes out and starts pointing at me and adds his two cents to the growing din. Another woman, this one thankfully, or at least it appeared this way, took my side of the argument adding her voice and gestures to the confusion. By the time the second woman came up, I had shut up and called Rebecca on the phone to get someone who could translate (Rebecca would later say that it probably would have been better had I not called her and just stood there speaking in English. Eventually the woman would've given up and just gone on her way).
The woman wasn't bleeding or anything, but I did notice that the longer the conversation went on the more she played the poor injured person, rubbing her hand, flexing her neck, looking at me, and repeating the actions in a more pronounced way. Needless to say, I wasn't overly sympathetic. However, the end result was that, although the woman was totally at fault, I HAD TO PAY the cost of her going the doctor to get her hand checked. Cost me 300 NT$.
Apparently driving like an idiot isn't a crime in Taiwan. In fact, it seems that if I'm walking down the street here and push someone into traffic, and the person gets hit by a car; it's the driver's fault for not stopping in time!
...and so it goes!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Once more into the breach...
Well dear readers, this new blog starts with a bit of blatant thievery, i.e.: it's title "...And so it goes." This, of course, is the continued refrain from Kurt Vonnegut's classic book Slaughterhouse Five used whenever life's weirdness becomes apparent. I find it an apt title for a blog and, unlike the title of my previous blog, one that is general enough for me to be able use it no matter where I go or what I do.
As most of you who read my other blog know, I have left The Land of the Morning Inconvience for the supposedly greener pastures of Taiwan. I've been here for almost four months now and things are, if not exactly what I had expected, going well enough.
The greatest surprise coming here has been, despite tons of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, my difficulty in finding gainful employment. Before I moved, I was told by a lot of folks that finding a job here would be a piece of cake. All I had to do was get here, throw my resume around, and, voila, get a job. Well, it seems that I hit Taiwan at the perfectly WRONG time to seek employment even as an English teacher. I hit the internet, beat the pavement, and put out resumes where ever I could. However, days turned into weeks and weeks into months without so much as a nibble. This did nothing for my state of mind. I was bleeding money and not seeing any serious prospects. As November came to a close, I began to really consider the possiblity of having to go back to Korea. Not something I especially wanted to do, but I knew I at least had a job waiting if I needed it (thanks Jonathan). I did finally find a job working for a company that contracts English "trainers" out to companys in and around Taipei. Getting hired was a relief, but the financial problems remain as I haven't actually started working yet. Things are a bit desperate.
All is not gloom and doom; however. I like Taipei quite a bit. I have a great girlfriend here, Rebecca, and have met quite a few very cool people. The immediate thing that I like here more than Korea is that the locals don't stare at you like you have three heads. Nor do they make snide comments behind your back. In fact, they don't seem to care that you're a foreigner at all. You get the odd kid on the subway who gives you the boggle-eyed stare, but for the most part folks just leave you alone. Once I get settled in and the job is rolling along, I'll have more opportunities to actually explore different parts of Taiwan. I'm also going to make a concerted attempt to learn some Chinese (at least make more of an effort than I did to learn Korean, lol), which will make Rebecca happy and my life a bit easier.
...And so it goes.
As most of you who read my other blog know, I have left The Land of the Morning Inconvience for the supposedly greener pastures of Taiwan. I've been here for almost four months now and things are, if not exactly what I had expected, going well enough.
The greatest surprise coming here has been, despite tons of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, my difficulty in finding gainful employment. Before I moved, I was told by a lot of folks that finding a job here would be a piece of cake. All I had to do was get here, throw my resume around, and, voila, get a job. Well, it seems that I hit Taiwan at the perfectly WRONG time to seek employment even as an English teacher. I hit the internet, beat the pavement, and put out resumes where ever I could. However, days turned into weeks and weeks into months without so much as a nibble. This did nothing for my state of mind. I was bleeding money and not seeing any serious prospects. As November came to a close, I began to really consider the possiblity of having to go back to Korea. Not something I especially wanted to do, but I knew I at least had a job waiting if I needed it (thanks Jonathan). I did finally find a job working for a company that contracts English "trainers" out to companys in and around Taipei. Getting hired was a relief, but the financial problems remain as I haven't actually started working yet. Things are a bit desperate.
All is not gloom and doom; however. I like Taipei quite a bit. I have a great girlfriend here, Rebecca, and have met quite a few very cool people. The immediate thing that I like here more than Korea is that the locals don't stare at you like you have three heads. Nor do they make snide comments behind your back. In fact, they don't seem to care that you're a foreigner at all. You get the odd kid on the subway who gives you the boggle-eyed stare, but for the most part folks just leave you alone. Once I get settled in and the job is rolling along, I'll have more opportunities to actually explore different parts of Taiwan. I'm also going to make a concerted attempt to learn some Chinese (at least make more of an effort than I did to learn Korean, lol), which will make Rebecca happy and my life a bit easier.
...And so it goes.
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