All that and a Flip-Flop Tan

So... it's been a while since I last wrote and I'm still in that I want to do everything/go everywhere phase! Every day this week has been up and out at 8 or 9 AM and then back in the door at 11 PM or midnight! I've been taking a college classmate (Blake) around this past week. He is about to start his senior year at GW and decided he wanted to explore Taiwan for two weeks before going back to DC. I was worried about feeling like a babysitter (he speaks absolutely no Chinese!) but he seems to really enjoy the full immersion environment and he hasn't been holding me back at all so that's good.


MONDAY IN TAIPEI:

On Tuesday, I took him around Taipei to see some of the more notable places that I have already seen and written about (Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, 228 Peace Park, Taipei 101, Presidential Building... etc.) However, we did make one new exciting and fabulous discovery.

(Photo Cred: http://www.google.com.tw/imgres?q=台北兵館&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1128&bih=603&tbm=isch&tbnid=2oJh0a6oNpYibM:&imgrefurl)

This is 台北兵館, or as it was referred to on some of the English signs, "The Taipei Guest House." We did not know what this gated building was when we walked by, but I asked the guards if it was free to get in - it was, so we went! Once inside, we saw an exhibit commemorating the peace treaty that was signed between Japan, China, and the Allies post WW2. However, the most memorable part of this pit stop occurred on the second floor. 

While touring the second floor, we were approached by a middle-aged Taiwanese woman who happily greeted us in English. She asked us if she could show us around the place and given how Blake cannot read Chinese and I had no idea where we were, we figured we'd hear what she had to say. Furthermore, it started storming out side, so we needed a place to wait out the rain. We learned that the building was built in the period after the First Sino-Japanese when Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the late 1800's. One of the Japanese Emperors cousins and his wife were to live and rule in Taiwan, sort of like how western colonial administrations would employ governor generals to rule in their colonies. At this time, Japan's plans for the establishment of a "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" had already been set into motion. Taiwan was not to be viewed as a colony, but given its proximity to Tokyo, the Japanese intended to assimilate it entirely and make it part of Japan proper. Using the war reparations from the Qing Empire and later the Russians, the Japanese treasury was booming and heavy investments were made in Taiwan's economic infrastructure. The island was to be a launching point for Japan's later conquest of China, SouthEast Asia and Indonesia. 

As Nancy shared this history with us, a Korean Professor from Pukyong National University approached us and joined in our conversation. He is a former professor of economics and international relations at Columbia University. The four of us spent several hours discussing contemporary economic, social, and political issues in East Asia. The professor's research is on East Asian Economic integration and he is currently on a grant to study Taiwan's economic relationship with China and how that affects prospects of reunification. He believes that Taiwan will be reunified with China probably even within the next 10 years. 

More interesting than hearing his thesis; however, was having Nancy there to rebut it and give a Taiwanese perspective on all of this. The professor asserted that the Taiwanese should welcome reunification with China, as their economy has become dependent on China's and they cannot continue to grow if they keep resisting integration. Nancy on the other hand had a very emotional response that comes from a traumatic history and vast breadth of cultural and political differences. She would consistently say "But I am not Chinese. I don't want to be Chinese. You see what they do in Tibet, you see what they do in Xinjiang, you see what they do to their other special regions. I don't want that for Taiwan." 

I don't know what my own opinion is, but I did not really fully agree with either of them. The professor was too focused on solely economic issues. His sole argument for why Taiwan should accept reunification with China was that it would be good for Taiwan's GDP. It didn't seem like he had a grasp on the political and cultural ramifications for what he was arguing. I'm glad that Nancy gave him a piece of her mind. 

After some wonderful discussion, I got both of their cards and we took a picture. Nancy is thrilled that I am studying anthropology at NTU. She is a volunteer guide at many museums in the city - with a staunch sense of a responsibility to represent her country and share her culture with the world. Her husband also works in the government and she let me know that an archeological site was recently discovered in the mountains outside of Taipei when they were building a road. Archaeologists and anthropologists from the Academia Sinica have been commisioned to investigate, excavate, and survey the area. She said she'd ask her husband if there is anyway we could go see it together. I'm so glad to have made such a great contact and a wonderful new friend.

(Nancy, Blake, The Professor, and I)

TUESDAY UP THE MAOKONG:

Taipei has water to the north and mountains on all the other sides. In the southeast part of the city, the Metro line ends and becomes a cable car line. All transportation in Taiwan is incredibly convenient. You keep a 悠遊卡 You-YouCard in your wallet and you can take any bus, train, cable car, metro, bike... anything anywhere on the island! The top of the mountains where the cable car goes is known as the Maokong. It is famous for its TieGuanyin Tea and there are a lot of posh little places to eat and drink up there with AMAZING views of the entire city. There is also a really gorgeous temple in the hills （指南宮）and different centers for learning about daoism. Taiwan has a vast diversity of religions, but most people follow local variants of Buddhism and Daoism. Different temples are for different gods, each with their own stories and things that you can go and pray to them for. The hike was brutal, but I bear no regret. It was amazing.

WEDNESDAY IN YILAN COUNTY:

On Wednesday, we made a day trip to Yilan County, the next county east of Taipei. The trip was only an hour and a half by train and the train fare came out to about $6 or $7 US (SUCK IT SEPTA!!!)

We spent a few hours in the city of Yilan. We went to a local distillery there and tried some of the different liquors that they make from local fruits, flowers, and vegetables. Some good things, some not... We also stopped at a temple. At the temple, I asked a woman about what these little ovens were for at the side of the temple. In Chinese culture, there is a belief that when you burn things they go straight to the heavens. By burning something, you can offer whatever it is you are burning to the gods or one of your deceased ancestors. People will burn gold paper, so that the gold can be used by those in the afterlife. I decided to make an offering to my ancestors and ask for them to bless my family still here on earth. 

After that, we had lunch at a buddhist vegetarian restaurant. It was buffet style and since we were eating around 2 PM, we were the only people there. The owner of the restaurant was extremely friendly and he talked to me the entire meal. His accent was hard to understand, but he was so thrilled that I am learning Chinese. However, he told me, if I am going to live in Taiwan - I need to learn Taiwanese as well! ... and that's what we spent the entire meal doing! He taught me 6 or 7 phrases and quizzed me on them over and over and over... come to think of it though, I only remember half of them!

After lunch in Yilan city, we went out into a more rural area to go to the beach. Waiao is a popular surfers beach and it is famous for its black sand, beautiful rocks, and the turtle island that you can see across the water. Having such a beautiful beach only one hour away from my house is going to be dangerous. I am going to become a beach bum. 

The water was about 72, maybe 74 degrees. It was absolutely perfect. We also saw a puffer fish.

Also - Waiao has a surprisingly large and beautiful mosque.

It started to get dark and gloomy. It was going to rain. So we left... :-(

THURSDAY IN RUIFANG, JIUFEN, and SHIFEN

Yesterday, we went on a train to some other places along the coast out side of Taipei. Jiufen is famous for all the delicious treats that they make there. We had all sorts of tasty and delicious snacks! 

The town is built into the hills and has simply amazing views of the coast. There is a natural sea port at the bottom and the place was developed by the Japanese for those reasons. We spent hours wandering the winding streets in this hilly town eating... eating... and eating...

We then hopped on a train and went further up the mountains to Shifen. Shifen is a tiny little railroad town and the railroad actually goes directly through the main street. It was really cute and had somewhat of a Wild West feel to it. I ate the most amazing thing there - a spicy chicken leg that had been stuffed with rice and all sorts of herbs and vegetables. 

People go to Shifen to set of TianDeng. TianDeng (means Sky/Heavens Light) are little lanterns that you write wishes on. You then light a fire inside them and let them fly up towards the sky. We also attached firecrackers to ours so that when it got high enough there was a little fireworks display. Blake, Dylan, and I decided to share one together. We wrote all sorts of nice and beautiful things on it, but then we started to get silly. Unfortunately, I taught Dylan the word "Pussy" on Monday and he has been saying it in almost every sentence. If you look carefully, you'll notice that he wished for "Pussy" on our TianDeng. 

Now I am just doing laundry and blogging... and after all that time I have realized that I have an incredible flip-flop tan. Next stop: Farmer's tan. 

Before the Fatigue Set in...

So you would think that after finding a place and starting to unpack I would maybe set things up, settle in, and maybe get some rest... WRONG. In fact, over this past week I have amazed myself with the amount I can do, especially with such little sleep. I guess it just hasn't set in yet that I will have time to do everything I want over the next two years. I can honestly say that since I have arrived here I have not passed up a single opportunity - I have seen amazing sights, eaten amazing food, met some pretty amazing people, and been able to reconnect with old friends. I guess the only thing that has been sacrificed is sleep.

Okay... so I did do a couple of hours of boring stuff since last time (when I first moved in): I got a new phone, I did some laundry, bought shampoo (so I can take showers YAY), went to Ikea... yadayadaya...

Friday. During the day I got to travel around the city with another GW student who I guess met me from either one of the talks I gave at GW or ACC. Anyway, it was amazing talking to him. He has been studying abroad in China for over a year now and is here in Taiwan for two more weeks on a grant from the Sigur Center at GW. Meeting up with him reminded me of how much I'm going to miss the Elliott School. So many students just head over heels, passionately in love with their region of study and a sense of intellectual curiosity so strong that it affects ones ability to carry out what some might call a "normal" conversation. You can't talk international politics, history, economics, culture for 3 or 4 hours with anyone you meet on the street. I've tried. Their eyes roll over. But at the Elliott School you can. If they weren't passionate about some issue, some place, some region of the world... they wouldn't be there. I'm sure the students at TaiDa will be like this as well (since I have been here at least four or five people have referred to it as the Harvard of Asia... a little intimidating) but I can already tell I am going to miss the atmosphere over at E Street NW DC.

Here are some of the sites I did on Friday:

228 Peace Memorial Park Commemorating the Victims of the 2/28 Incident:

After World War II, Taiwan was returned to China from Japan after around 50 years of colonization. As China was currently in a state of Civil War, Taiwan was handed over to Chiang Kai Shek and the GuoMinDang (the U.S. supported faction). Unhappy with the corruption of the KMT and its governance of Taiwan, locals harbored extreme feelings of resentment, perceiving the KMT as merely another colonial regime establishing itself on the island . On 2/28/1947, an old widow peddling cigarettes on Nanjing-West Road had her goods and life's savings confiscated by KMT military police. When she begged for their return, an officer hit her on the head with the back of his pistol. Already frustrated with unemployment, corruption, and inflation, the display of police brutality incensed the crowd and others came to the old woman's aid. Shots were fired and the city erupted in violence. Angry mobs attacked government buildings and the police station at Yidingmu was razed. Martial law was declared and strict curfews put in place. Historians estimates of the death toll range from as low as 10,000 to 30,000. The park commemorates their loss and the loss of the families of those who went missing. The construction of the memorial was controversial and occurred in the period after the lifting of martial law during Taiwan's democratic transition. The opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, successfully advocated for its construction and the park (which had previously been the site of a radio station) was rededicated in 1996. It is a reminder of Taiwan's painful history of terror and conquest by outside forces, as well as a testament to the miracle of its peaceful political transformation.

The presidential building. For some reason I always live in capital cities. Taiwan has been democratic since the early 1990's. Its current president is Ma Ying-Jiu, who was re-elected in 2012 after defeating the DPP candidate Cai Ying-Wen. The building is huge. Security is present, but it has a more open feeling than the White House. It is not walled or gated and when I was there I even saw an elementary school class touring the building on a field trip. There was a day in the past when the White House was like that too...

The Chiang Kai-Shek memorial is a hundred times larger and more grandiose than I had imagined from the pictures I'd seen. That is why I made sure to include a person standing next to it in my picture, so that you all have a reference. This is Taipei's version of the Lincoln Memorial. There is a huge gate in the front that marks the entrance to the "Freedom Plaza". Two halls on each side, in the same architectural style of the palatial buildings in Beijing's forbidden city. In the center is a pagoda which resembles Beijing's Tiantan (Temple of Heaven). After you climb the stairs, there is a giant seated statue of Chiang Kai-Shek. I was wondering why people would like Chiang Kai-Shek so much and build such an grand memorial for him... I don't like him... and if you read the part about the 228 Incident, well, then you know one of the many reasons why I don't like him. He killed a lot of Chinese people on the mainland - why would you expect him to behave any differently when he arrived in Taiwan? However, having spent a lot of time in Beijing, I got used to people romanticizing and worshipping crazy dictators a long time ago. Initially I just assumed this was a similar sort of phenomenon. However, after talking with some friends, it turns out people here are actually pretty critical of him. Some people have a respect for him as the father of their nation, some people do love him, but some people also think he was an awful person. ... and as it turns out, it was Chiang Kai Shek's son (who led Taiwan as a somewhat more benevolent dictator after his father's death) who built the memorial and not actually the people themselves. Funny though: amidst all the glory and splendor of this grand monument, they have a special dinosaur exhibit now going on for a limited time underneath the central pagoda. Its fully air conditioned with a whole bunch of fossils on display. Convenience I guess? Come see your nations founder and a T-Rex skeleton all in the same trip?

FRIDAY NIGHT:

As much as I love history, Friday night is a different story. Nighttime on the weekends is when I make my own history - not study other peoples. 

One of my classmates and coworkers from when I taught in Ningxia and Inner Mongolia last summer is teaching here in Taipei. He moved here a little over a month ago and was kind enough to introduce me to his group of friends. One of his best friends was celebrating his 22nd birthday on Friday night and was kind enough to welcome me to the celebration. My 22nd birthday was relatively uneventful. In the states, 21st birthdays are so big and then your 22nd feels somewhat anti-climactic. Here, 22nd birthdays are bittersweet for a lot of people. Taiwan still requires of all able-bodied males one year of military service. Needless to say, not everyone's passion is for military service (boot camp is not for everyone), and my new friend is not exactly thrilled to be going. I've only just met him, but he is such an amazing, funny, and friendly guy. I pray for his safety and that he will come back unchanged next year. That's another thing I'm lucky about. I will be here two years, so I look forward to hanging out with him again after his service is complete! A whole group of us had dinner and then went out for some drinks and some clubbing. Here's a picture from dinner... the late night pictures will be staying in my private stash...

HSINCHU:

You would think that after coming home at 3:30 AM I would not want to wake up at 7:30 AM to get to Taipei Main Station for a 9 AM train to Hsinchu. Wrong. I did... and the excitement managed to keep me from feeling the lack of sleep.

(Photo Cred: http://www.taiwanfun.com/pics/maps/north.jpg)

Taipei is central north, Hsinchu is the county in purple

The ride to Xinchu was about 1 hr 20 min. My friend Yiling, a Chengchi University student and another volunteer in Ningxia province, was already there to meet me. Her sister lives there. Together, we all went to NeiWan, which was in a slightly more rural area. It reminded me a little of like a town fair, or something of that nature. There were all sorts of snacks and fun food, as well as games and even some rides. There was also a small river that we spent some time by. 

Highlight of the trip however - I finally tried stinky tofu! Stinky tofu is a delicacy throughout China, but is especially popular in Taiwan. I got away with 8 months in Beijing of not trying it, but I didn't even make it a week in Taiwan. To be honest, it smells like horse shit. Exactly like horse shit. There is some kind of chemical additive/flavoring in the tofu that makes it so that when you grill or fry it, it literally smells like you are frying a piece of poop. It is served with garlic, pickled radish, some spicy and salty sauces. I actually really liked it. I was just a little paranoid after eating it about how my breath might smell.

Neiwan

Neiwan felt even more tropical... I had some awesome pineapple treats and fruit drinks!

Yours truly

Yiling (she makes the funniest faces), her sister, and her sisters friends

Shaky bridge!

Lunch

Oh ya... and that cute little thing from Gremlins was there... remember that movie from the 90s?

I took a 5:30 train back to Taipei and was back by 7 PM. You'd think I would rest and perhaps go to bed early. Nope, I met up with some of the people from the birthday party and the birthday boy himself to go to Ximen, a huge commercial district in Taipei that has a lot of stores, snacks, and bars that are all open late. At around 10:30 I started making my way home on the metro, but on my way back I got a text from another new friend I had made asking me if I wanted to go out again. ... and so I figured why the hell not! 

... and after another night of being out until 3:30 I decided my hyped up caffeinated adventure was finally coming to an end. The fatigue had finally set in and I slept until about noon. When I awoke at noon, I realized that it was kind of typhoon-ing outside, so I decided since the weather wasn't good that I would just go back to sleep for another hour or two. I'm feeling re-energized now and I'm ready to go! My next post will probably be about night markets, since I'm going to my first one in a few hours. Taiwan's night markets are famous throughout Asia and I'm excited to try all of the local specialties. 

Ta-Ta!

Running around in Flip-FLops

This post is going to be alot messier than I hope future posts will be. Probably because so much happened today. As I continue to make a home here, future posts will most likely be on more specific topics or events. This post; however, is just for me to share with you all some initial impressions, as well as to log a sequence of events - one of the busiest days of my life. I am writing now with callused and blistered feet after spending a day running around Taipei in flip-flops.

The flight was long, but I was able to sleep surprisingly well. I was worried because the owner of the hostel I am staying at had told me that they do not check in people after 10PM. I wrote him an email and he said he'd stay up for me, but I didn't know what to think. By 9:30 PM, my luggage had still not come out and I was nervous. My taxi driver was a man in his 40s - a history buff, like my father. He was thrilled to I could speak Chinese and he spent the 40 minute drive telling me about the political/social/cultural differences between Taipei and Beijing. We got into history as well and he recounted to me how Chiang Kai-Shek was able to manipulate other great nationalist generals and make a grab to power. He also mentioned a bunch of American military persons (who's names I cannot remember) who he greatly admired for their helping of the nationalists during the civil war, as well as when Chiang Kai Shek and his army fled to Taiwan. He seemed shocked that these peoples names did not come up in our history classes back in the states. He kind of made me feel stupid... but I guess I (like so many of my fellow Americans) am the product of an education system that focuses predominantly on the western world. As when I was in China, it is quite humbling being here. I know absolutely nothing about living in this world and at every corner there is exciting new cultural/historical knowledge to explore. I feel like a know-nothing here... but it is a feeling that I absolute love!

I did make it in the hostel, but it was very scary checking in. The room is on the third floor of what looks like an abandoned garage. Very nice on the interior, but from the exterior you wouldn't even guess that there were people living inside. I would have guessed it was some kind of storage facility.

In the morning, I woke around 7AM (jetlag will do that to a 22 year old boy!) and went outside. The first thing I saw when I went outside was an army of motorbikes, bikes, and mopeds. I have never seen so many bikes in my life! The street out front of the hostel is narrow and long (about half the length of a standard city block). Yet the entire street was filled front to back, sidewalk to sidewalk with motorcycles - each driver shoulder to shoulder. With the changing of the stop light, I suddenly heard the sound of 200 + bikes accelerating... quite a site to behold for tired little me who had still not even had a morning cup of coffee!

I decided early on that I would walk the entire day, the point being that I wanted to familiarize myself with the city as much as possible before committing to an apartment. My first stop, however, was the immigration office. There is something about living on a tropical island that just makes people happier. When I arrived, I was expecting DMV style service, yet everyone there was smiling and super friendly. The lady who took my picture and I actually ended up having a really nice long conversation, which helped pass the time seeing as I had drawn ticket #680 and they were currently only serving #632.

Following my time at the office of immigration, I went to search for a phone. During my walk, I suddenly saw heavily armed guards standing in front of a very elegant looking corner building. Little had I known, I was coming up upon Taipei's equivalent of the White House! Why do I always live in capitals?

After finding my phone, I had set up 4 meetings with landlords to go and look at apartments. One South of campus, one east, one north, and one west... and I walked to each one... in flip flops! None of the following three, however, even compared to the first! Near Wanlong MRT, the apartment is both cheap, newly renovated, and in a quieter area! It is only a 15-20 minute walk from where my classes will be (or a 2 minute metro ride - which only costs 50 cents!). It is off in a small side ally, 5 minutes away from a busy street - just far enough to miss all of the crazy city noises! At the same time, some of Taipei's hottest and liveliest places are only 3 or 4 metro stops away. The other apartments were the same price, yet they were smaller, without kitchens, and only had twin beds (the first place had a queen size!). Needless to say, I jumped on the Wanlong apartment, which had only come on the market the day before I saw it. The landlords were thrilled. A cute elderly retired Taiwanese couple, I did feel like I connected well with them and they seemed to be really nice people. I will move in today and Rachel on the 1st of September!

My apartment search was over by 9 and a little after that I met up with a GW classmate, Christina. She has been in Taiwan all summer and has been to the island several times before this. We went jogging in DaAn park - one of the largest parks in Taipei. I admire her dedication - it is very hot, but she still goes jogging every night! Afterwards, we went to a tea shop - part of her post jog routine every night. She drinks an unsweetened green tea, I decided to order a lemon tea. We went and sat in a nearby park and she gave me a rundown on the city. It was so nice to see a familiar face. Keeping with the spirit of being healthy after our jog, I then bought some fried eggplant from a street vendor. For a 50 cent meal, it was absolutely delicious!

Oh yea... and somewhere in between all this I managed to take a tour of my new Alma Mater, which is also right across the street from the hostel I'm currently in. Picture time!

National Taiwan University (TaiDa or NTU) was founded in 1928 during the Japanese colonial era. NTU is Taiwan's most prestigious university and is among the best in Asia. More than half of Taiwan's presidents are alumni and the institution has produced multiple nobel laureates. So... what am I doing here? All I can say is that being a white guy who can speak Chinese definitely helped.

Various Academic Buildings:

The causeway to the library - which is absolutely gorgeous! (Note the palm trees)

Items of historical/cultural significance to the institution (I'll get back to you when I know for sure what they are/why they are significant):

Student Parking Lot - I'm considering painting my bike an obnoxiously hot pink... its probably the only way to be able to tell which is mine!

Yes, the school comes complete with a lake. It has a cute coffee shop with outdoor seating right next door. It is also filled with turtles. The school also has its own farm (not pictured) for the agricultural science students.

Track, tennis courts, basketball courts, gym... and much more!

... and of course, the surrounding area is incredibly lively with LOTS of FOOD!

Please excuse any typos. I have elected speed, over quality.