Scuba Diving

This past weekend I travelled down to Kenting, a town and National Park at the southern-most part of Taiwan, to finish up my open water scuba diving certification! I completed the classroom portion here in Taipei, but due to scheduling conflicts and the change in weather on the North coast, the water was too cold to comfortably dive in by the time I needed to do the dives in the ocean. Since we wanted to make the most of the weekend, the 7 of us - our instructor, 4 students, and 2 other divers along for the trip - met downtown just a bit after midnight and piled into a big van to make the 6 hour drive south. We only stopped once, but the road was so bumpy and jiggly that none of us got much sleep. When we arrived at sunrise in Kenting, we pulled over at a beach to eat some cereal and wait for the dive shop to open so we could rent some extra equipment. We also checked into our room, which was dorm style with 7 single mattresses lined up in a row. We got the equipment and headed off to the beach to start the dives!
The first dive was wonderful! We had to swim out in between some rocks to get into the open water. We practiced some skills and then got to look around a bit underwater. Once we were done, we swam ashore (underwater) and then got out onto the rocky beach. There was a Taiwanese family picnicking and they seemed quite shocked to see foreigner after foreigner emerging from the ocean with all this gear on! They followed us up to where our van was parked, and seeing that some of us were really cold, offered us some nice hot tea. Yet another example of how friendly Taiwanese really are. Then we did our next dive and I saw a huge(~3ft long) sea snake! I didn't learn until after I got out of the water that their venom is 10 times more poisonous than a cobra's!! But they are not considered very dangerous because their mouths are too small to bite anything except fingers...!
After we finished with our dives for the day, we showered and headed down the main street to see the stores and find a good place to eat. Amongst all the street shops selling flip-flops, board shorts, squids on sticks, and various carnival style games we found a suitable restaurant and had a nice meal (although extremely spicy!)
The next morning we headed off for our 2nd set of dives in a unique location: right next to a nuclear power plant! We suited up and headed into the water...this time we saw even more fish than before (including yellow and black angelfish, blue, white, and yellow striped butterfly fish, and a clown fish) and near the end of our last dive we saw a huge cuttlefish! The creature looks more like a squid than a fish, and is a master of disguise. It can change to reflect it's surroundings so quickly and drastically that I had no idea what it was for the first few minutes. It was really cool to see these sea creatures and plants that I have only ever seen on film or in pictures before; I can't wait to see what Kenzie and I come across when we go diving in Bali over Christmas!
After we showered again and packed up, we hit the road for Taipei around 6pm. We stopped for a brief dinner and at most of the rest stops because our van kept giving ominous beeps to alert us that the water level in the radiator was low; we had to jump out every so often and pour more water in... We arrived back in Taipei a little before 2AM Monday morning. Just in time to scooter home and get a few hours rest before another week with the kiddos! It was a really great trip and made me quite excited about going diving, not just around Taiwan but especially in Bali!

Taroko Gorge

This past weekend I visited Taroko Gorge National Park, Taiwan's most popular tourist destination. I set off at 9AM Saturday morning with Kenzie, Katelin, and her friend Jessica. We took the 3 1/2 hour train (which was freezing, even in a jacket and several layers because of their love for air conditioning, even in colder weather) down the east coast, where there were spectacular views of the ocean on one side and steep cliffs on the other! We got to Hsincheng, the town at the entrance to the National Park, and were met by the lady from our 'hotel.' (Booking the hotel was a strange experience and left us wondering if we were really going to a hotel or somebody's house where they would charge us to sleep on the floor...) She had a friend (of course!) who rented scooters and so even though you are supposed to have a Taiwanese driver's license to rent them, all we had to do was give her the money and off we went! There was no signing of papers, paying a deposit, or leaving collateral! Things like this are a lot more casual and trusting here, which is nice.

So then off we went to the hotel (which did indeed turn out to be a hotel, with a whopping 6 rooms.) We then headed off to scooter up the gorge. It was so amazing...the gorge itself is extremely steep walls of marble carved out by a river of blue-green water. There are lots and lots of tunnels and caves (apparently over 450 people died to make this road) and every time you emerge there is more pretty scenery. The water is really blue-green and is never made murky by flooding because there is a dam further upstream. We took our time going the 20km up to the little village and then turned around to make it back to the hotel before it got dark.

We went to the town of Hualien (about 3 times the size of Hsincheng, which didn't have much to do) and hit up some of the little night markets there. One of them was right on the seaside and there were stands to buy any size firework to light off over the ocean! So the whole time we were there it looked and sounded like fourth of July. As we drove the 20km back to our hotel, we were marveling at how little traffic there was compared to Taipei. When we got back, we were relaxing for a few minutes in our room when all of a sudden I saw a HUGE spider scurry under our bed! With it's legs, it was about the size of a grapefruit. We all screamed and jumped onto the bed. After a lot of commotion and planning, we moved the bed and tried to capture it underneath the trashcan but we missed it and it ran underneath the opposite bed! What followed was a lot of disassembling of furniture to get at the spider, shoe-throwing, laughing and shrieking, but we finally killed it because we all knew that we wouldn't sleep with it lurking in the room. We made quite a bit of noise, but there were no other guests and if our hostess noticed the noise and wondered what the heck was going on, she was too polite to say anything the next morning. None of us slept too well that night and as a result most of us felt the earthquake that night (a magnitude 5.6, which is common weekly occurrence for this area.)


The next day we scootered back up the gorge and stopped at some different places and then picked up some lunch to eat in the park of the little village. While we were eating, a Taiwanese Jehovah's Witness tried to convert us all; we tried not to be too obvious about throwing away the pamphlet she forced on us. Once we were finished, we tried to drive the 1km further up the road to start our hike, but the road was closed due to a landslide...what an inconvenience! (There are signs everywhere instructing you to wear a helmet while in the Park - the most famous area where tour buses unload actually has baskets of hardhats for borrowing.) So we drove down to the Park headquarters where there was another trail close by. It was so well kept and maintained that women were 'hiking' it in high heels. It went along the gorge where the water was especially blue! There are also aboriginals who live right in the Park and were selling candied flowers and marble sculptures. (While we stopped briefly at one of these stands, a Taiwanese tourist was surprised to learn that I was an American because he "didn't know they came that small!" He was sure I was Canadian.) Monkeys are supposed to be plentiful in this area, so we were kind of disappointed when we didn't see any. When we finished the hike, we went back to our hotel and sat out front with the owners for a bit to have a quick snack, then we went off to a beach area they recommended. It was another 30 minutes away and it was so, so pretty! On our way there it started to get fairly windy and stormy but it made it even more exciting (especially on the scooters...). Although the water looks so inviting, only the suicidal swim in it (according to our Lonely Planet book!) because of the strong undertows and currents.

We had dinner at a cute little restaurant on the side of the road and then went back to the train station to return our scooters and wait for the train. We got there early and figured there would at least be a little something to do, but as it was a Sunday night in a small town...there was only a convenience store about .5 km down the road! So after killing about 2 hours, our train arrived and we made it back to Taipei just after midnight...just in time to catch the last MRT home and into bed to start another week of teaching the little ones!

Taiwan Tidbits

This is a part of a funny list I found recently entitled 'You Know You've Lived in Taiwan Too Long When...'; it captures many of the hilarious things that I love about Taiwan!

1. Someone doesn't stare at you and you wonder why.
-I've had numerous people stop me on the street or in restaurants just to ask to take a picture of me, not with me.
2. You stare at other foreigners.
-My roommates and I have a game going called "spot the foreigner" - goal is to see the most foreigners first when we are out together!
3. 70 degrees Fahrenheit feels cold.
-After the sweltering summer heat, this is true!
4. You don't notice the smell.
-Everywhere and everything has a smell here (not necessarily bad), especially the streets.
5. You see three people on a motorcycle and figure there's room for two more.
-Or at least a dog or 2.
6. You leave the plastic on new furniture and appliances.
-The cling-film plastic that protects new things during shipping is always left on things here, along with the stickers of all the selling points...I guess they will be prepared at any point should they need to return anything!
7. The shortest distance between two points involves going through an alley.
8. You wear blue rubber flip-flops at work.
-Everybody wears indoor shoes here, at home and work and even some stores, and these cheap 30NT (~US$1) flipflops are very common. Many of the street food vendors also wear them.
9. Over half of your clothes were bought at night markets.
-The selection is very hit or miss, but there is an absolutely huge assortment of things, all very cheap. So cheap that I find myself rejecting a shirt because it is 'so expensive' . . . when it is 500NT (~$15). Many decent shirts are about 200NT ($6).
10. You become an expert on bug zappers: the best brands & where to get them.
-While I have yet to buy one, I have heard discussions amongst very different groups of people about why certain electric racquets are better because 'they don't just kill mosquitoes, they kill cockroaches too!'
11. Pizza just doesn't taste right unless there's corn on it.
-It is hard to find pizza without it.
12. You can de-bone a piece of chicken in your mouth within seconds.
-A necessary skill in order to not go hungry. Chicken here is just chopped any which-way with a huge cleaver to cut through any bones that are in the way. As a result there are also many bone slivers to watch out for...
13. Squat toilets seem normal.
-These toilets are built into the floor and you 'squat' over them. I still wonder how elderly people use them, and often there is no other option in restaurants and public places.
14. When the fashions in the stores look really hip.
-Many of the stlyes are unbelievably put together and are so strange looking. Just one example I saw on the bus today: A 45-year-old woman wearing a Scandinavian looking knit sweater with big green camouflage pants with 'Love' written in big pink letters on the backside. High-heeled sneakers completed the look.
15. Your pinkie nail is over one inch long.
-This is getting less common but you still see it on a lot of people. I've tried to ask why, and I've heard everything from it being a status marker showing you don't have to work very hard to it warding away evil spirits and casting spells on your enemies.
16. You've left umbrellas in more than 3 restaurants.
-I'm already on umbrella #5. It would be a bigger problem except they are dirt cheap and just about every store under the sun (or rain clouds) sells them here.
17. You keep stuffed animals in your car.
-Enough said.
18. You get used to the habit of not paying any tips while traveling.
-All prices here include tax and tip (if applicable.)
19. Your first reaction in buying things is to ask for discounts.
-Most places, except department and proper grocery stores (as opposed to outdoor markets), you are expected to bargain for things. If you look hesitant when looking at something for sale, usually the sales person usually offers you 'a special price, just for you!'
20. "A", "an" and "the" aren't necessary parts of speech, but "so" is.
- When speaking to a Taiwanese in English, the first 3 are all optional. "So" is so commonly used along with adjectives that it seems they learned it was mandatory. (You are so young, so good, so bad!...etc)
21. Your answer to an "either/or" question is "yes".
-Again, common when speaking to a Taiwanese.
22. You say "Wei?" instead of "Hello?" when you pick up the phone.
-This word is like 'hello,' but it is only used over the phone. Even though it's such a short word, I've heard oodles of slightly different pronunciations.
23. You can no longer tell the difference between a cracker and a cookie or toast and bread.
-These are used interchangeably.
24. You go into 7-11 at least once a day.
-7-11s are different because you can pretty much do anything there: pay bills, buy movie and concert tickets, find Hello Kitty wine, pickup internet shopping purchases, order a latte, scan documents and make copies, buy dried fish snacks or freshly microwaved popcorn or dumplings or beer or special garbage bags or hot dogs....
25. The main reason you stop at a 7-11 is to buy tea eggs.
-Strange as these sound and look (they are hard-boiled and are a dark brown color), they don't taste like tea but are very salty.
26. You look both ways before crossing the sidewalk.
-Scooters, weaving bicyclists, stray dogs and cats, and tofu carts are all common occupants of the sidewalk, as well as very slow walkers.
27. You turn left from the right lane.
-Scooters cannot make direct left turns on most streets; they have to go to the perpendicular street to the right to wait in a special box until that light turns so they can go straight (confusing as it sounds, it seems to make traffic flow easier.)
28. There are more things strapped to your motorcycle than you ever put in a car.
-I've seen 7 canisters of compressed gas strapped on the back. . . !
29. You drive on the shoulder to pass traffic.
-Because it is regarded by everyone here (including the police) as just another lane to drive in.
30. Your preferred parking spot is on a sidewalk.
-This usually just applies to scooters, but on any road except a main one, it also applies to cars. I am in awe at some of the amazing park-jobs I have seen. No wonder the driving test includes a portion on driving backwards in an 'S' shape!
31. Most meaningful conversations take place in doorways or on slow-moving motorcycles.
32. You start cutting off the gravel trucks.
-Even though scooters are smaller and more vulnerable, they have no hesitation about cutting in front of any moving vehicle.
33.The red light is merely suggestive to you.

Sun Moon Lake

This past weekend I visited Sun Moon Lake, which is the largest lake in Taiwan.

Kenzie and I took the train out of Taipei to Taichung, about 2 1/2 hours South of Taipei. From there we were going to catch a bus to take us the rest of the way to the lake, but when we emerged from the train station, we happened upon a traditional festival/performance/parade! There was a musical performance, then the 'dragon' costumes came out and danced with people who were watching. Next came people in colorful costumes who were on stilts about 3-4 feet high. The main character in this group did some amazing stunts that looked like kung-fu, but 3 feet in the air on these painted stilts! There was also a dance with people who had their faces painted very intricately. The end came when the whole ensemble marched off through a busy intersection with delivery trucks, buses, scooters to continue the festivities in parade form throughout the city!

We eventually found the right bus station a few blocks away, which was more confusing than it sounds because there are apparently numerous bus companies in the city and most of the 'stations' do not resemble what we were picturing - they were little hole-in-the-wall spots with a few chairs inside. Once we found the right one however, we bought tickets and headed the 2 1/2 hours more on to the lake. When we arrived in the early evening it was extremely humid and overcast so we made it to our hostel (actually called a Youth Activity Center even though we were the youngest people there by far...) and settled in for the night. Part of what was interesting about this experience was that we had heard the lake is so famous and popular that there are crowds everywhere and everything is always busy. When we went to dinner at the restaurant in our complex that evening, there were only 3 other tables with people in a huge room with at least 40 tables. We finished eating our Taiwanese style meal (lots of different dishes of vegetables, meats, and soup) at 7 and were the last ones - the lady promptly turned the lights off before we were even all the way out of the door...a huge contrast to Taipei where 7 is considered extremely early for dinner! I think perhaps why it was less busy is because of the economy and it is the end of the summer season. In Taipei it is hard to tell that the economy is down at all, but in Taichung and Sun Moon Lake things definitely seemed slower with more people waiting about for customers.

We got some snacks and decided to take advantage of the quiet and relaxing atmosphere (we could hear crickets, which I haven't heard since I arrived in Taipei!) and just read. Kenzie bought some dried wasabi peas (which sounds pretty strange, but are a common snack and surprisingly good.) She opened up the bag and found that instead of seeing lots of peas, there were about 20 individually wrapped packets, each containing about 15 peas! We both were laughing uncontrollably because this epitomizes packaging in Taiwan so well! Everything here is wrapped in (it seems) as much packaging as possible. Postcards, books, magazines, shoes for sale, toiletry bottles, bananas, and milk are just a few of the things that are always wrapped in celophane. Usually packages of crackers or cookies that look like the ones back home are not loose inside; packets of 3 or 4 items are individually wrapped. I guess it is to keep things from spoiling because of the humidity and heat or getting dirty, but it seems extremely excessive, although quite funny.

Anyhow, we got up the next morning early and rented bicycles to ride partway around the lake road (the total length of the road is about 30km) to a temple, complete with a pagoda that Chiang Kai-Shek built for his mother, and saw amazing views since it was nice and sunny! Growing up with such clean air, I never really noticed it and took it for granted but after having been in Taipei where I can feel the grime on my skin at the end of the day, I immediately noticed the fresh, clean air. The water in the lake is almost aquamarine colored which makes it look more like a tropical ocean. As tempting as it looks, people are forbidden from swimming in the lake except one day a year (on that day over 10,000 people show up for the annual swim across the lake event.) No one seems to have any idea why they limit swimming! An interesting note about Taiwanese though; apparently most of them do not know how to swim! I wasn't sure I believed this when someone first told me, but I have since read that there are numerous drownings each year when people are tempted by rivers and lakes on the first few hot days of each summer season. The government is trying to fix this problem though by mandating that kids take some form of swim lessons by a certain age.

We also took a boat tour across the lake which stopped at a few different places, including a tiny, tiny island in the middle that is made about 8 times as large by the surrounding floating bamboo squares. Originally (as well as currently) an aboriginal tribe named the Thao lived on one side of the lake, so for lunch we ate a traditional meal on the waterfront. It was amazing and presented so nicely! However, I was unable to eat the little fish because it was no different from when it had been in the water except that it had been fried with seasoning - all the scales, fins, tail, etc were still on. I have tried a fish like it before and the crunch of the head and tail are just a little too much...


It was a great weekend and nice to leave the city behind for a few days (even though I do love the hustle and bustle of Taipei and all that it has to offer!)

Kiddos

Here is a video of my kids on the schoolbus while we were on a field trip. This is really how crazy they are - imagine trying to teach them phonics and ABCs! Still, they are very cute...

Life Update

So...a general update about how life is here...

Everyone is really paranoid about the H1N1 flu thing, so probably about 75% of people everywhere are wearing those surgical masks to protect themselves. At first it seemed really strange but now it just looks normal to me! Even my kids have to wear them, so it's hard to tell if some of them are talking. These masks are so common that they come in a variety of colors, patterns, sizes, and even materials - paper or fabric. People also wear them when they ride on their scooters because of the pollution. Another note on attire - in Western culture people usually want to be tan, whereas here they want to be as white as possible! So, many people use umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun. On the scooters, they try to cover themselves up as much as possible so that they end up looking like they're on their way to rob a bank! They put on masks under their helmets and even little covers on their hands that look like oven mitts to keep the sun off their skin. Basically all that is left visible is their eyes... You also have to be careful when buying skin products, like face wash or cream, because sometimes they contain 'whitening elements'! I can only imagine what kind of chemicals might lurk in there.

I decided to take a scuba diving certification class since I am going to Bali, Indonesia over Christmas with my roommate, Kenzie. She is already certified and the diving there is supposed to be excellent, so I figured why not?! Two weekends ago I had the first part of the class, with 3 other students - one is another teacher I work with. Our instructor is a Canadian I met on one of the hash runs. Saturday was the classroom portion where we just reviewed the information from the 250+ page manual (although there were a lot of pictures) and took the written test. The next day we actually got to go underwater with all the equipment, in the pool! The air tank and all the other equipment is about 45 lbs, so out of the water it is very awkward and clumsy to get around. We went to a government (public) pool and practiced skills we had learned about in a shallowish pool, then went to the 5 meter pool to do the deeper things. It was really fun, but I started to get really cold even though I was wearing a wetsuit because we were in the water for about 6 hours, not moving very much. My lips matched the blue wetsuit I was wearing after about 2 hours, so I had to get out every so often to take a hot shower. My instructor made the comment - 'I wasn't cold until I looked at you!' Ha ha. Normally I will be ok, but this was a rental suit that wasn't quite thick or small enough. Some of the other things were too big as well, so for next week my instructor is going to find me kids sizes! Ha ha. Anyway, it was really neat to be able to breath underwater, although it was hard at first to trust because it goes against how you've always breathed before! Next weekend we are heading out to the North coast to make the 4 required ocean dives. Kenzie went to the same location a few weeks ago and said that both underwater and above water is gorgeous, so I'm excited!

This past weekend was a busy one! I hiked to a temple near my house (only about 30 minutes up the road) and looked around. There are tons of temples here in Taiwan (I've read that Taiwan has the highest temple-to-person ratio) but some are definitely bigger and more interesting than others. (Some look like little store fronts because they are on main roads in the city, between a convenience store and a bus stop...) It was amazing because the temple is so elaborately decorated and there are so many people just hanging out there. It is a really peaceful place where some people are praying, and some are just sitting around chatting with friends. The whole place has a really unique smell (one that I like) because spirit money is always being burned, in little metal bins and a big special oven built especially for that purpose (as pictured). Spirit money is just a special paper printed to look like some kind of ancient money and people buy it, then burn it, to show respect to their ancestors and deceased relatives. This temple, Bishan Temple, is up on a hillside so there is a complete view of the city from there. I just love finding new things all the time that are so close - it is impossible to ever be bored here.

As I mentioned before, Kenzie just bought a scooter last week so we have been driving to school on it. Back home it is just accepted that only one person will be on a scooter at a time, but here it is way more common to see at least 2! And it is not uncommon to see a whole family - mom, dad, and 2 kids standing in the foot area...! Equally as strange (and common) is to see a dog or 2 riding in the foot area of the scooter - I guess they have better balance than dogs back home?! Kenzie and I decided to make the 45 minute drive north from the city to Yangmingshan National Park. It was just absolutely gorgeous! In some ways it felt like national park from back home because of the openness and abundance of hiking trails, but different in that there are not as many rules and there is no admission fee! We had bright sun and when we got into the park it felt like a completely different world even though you could see the entire city below. We did a 2 hour hike up to the highest peak (1120 meters) through bamboo and tall silver grass. There are also so many hot springs etc around here (actually in all of Taiwan) and here is no exception! From the trail head we could see a huge vent of steam coming out of the ground. Then on the way up there were also hot spots with steam and hot bubbling mud right beside the trail. Very cool! We have noticed another thing - there has been virtually no wildlife other than bugs and insects. Which reminds me: Taiwanese hold a special love for beetles. Kids love them and will pick them up and bring them for show-and-tell.

Scooters!

So, after being here in Taiwan for 3 months, I have decided to make the jump and buy a scooter! Before I came, I never thought I would buy one, but after riding with some other people and seeing how much more of the city is accessible, I have decided to do it.



Most foreigners who drive scooters do so illegally because just like many other things here, the law requiring licenses does not mean that's what people actually do! So many people drive scooters without the proper Taiwanese license - they just use one from back home. The standard practice if you get pulled over for something is to speak English really fast, since most of the policeman only speak Chinese. They usually just waive you away because they don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to make themselves understood or to lose face, which is big here. Crazy, but that's just the way things are done here.

I thought I would try to do it legally and get my scooter license, but of course a strange rule kept me from being able to. My ARC (resident visa and working permit) is only valid for 51 weeks, and it needs to be valid for at least 52 in order to be able to take the test and apply for the license. We don't really know why the rule is there - but we've also learned not to try to think too much about the 'why' behind some things here. We only found out that we weren't eligible to take the test after we had gone to the driver testing center during our lunch break, taken the necessary photos, and studied what some of the cryptic road signs mean. (There is actually a sign here for Wheelbarrow Crossing, as well as No Motortricycles or Animal-drawn Carts...)



Kenzie was especially keen to get a scooter right away, so since she had the rest of the day off she found an ad online for another foreigner who wanted to sell their scooter. Off she went to meet the person and get her scooter! She picked me up from school and we scootered on home...very fun and so much more direct than the lurching bus (some of which are structurally questionable: I was sitting in a seat one day when it was raining very hard and water was dripping onto my head from the light fixture in the ceiling.) The traffic really is quite something - weaving around the parked cars, bicyclists going against traffic on a 5 lane road, buses quickly swerving from the far left lane to pick someone up on the righthand side of the street...there's always a surprise, and then often it is sprinkling rain as well! There is also a very confusing way of turning left when you are driving a scooter - you have to turn in two sections. Instead of going into the left lane and waiting for an opening in oncoming traffic, you have to first turn right onto the perpendicular street and wait in a special box (white lines painted on the road) for that light to turn green so you can go straight through the intersection...but of course! Just another quirk about driving here.


Since I will be getting a scooter soon, it was a great introduction to driving in Taipei because I helped navigate but also got to experience the craziness first hand.
Tomorrow we are going to go exploring again, and I will take a video of what the traffic looks/feels like from the scooter!