Wasai Taiwan: True stories about Taiwan that make people say Wasai (Wow)

Wasai-- Southern Hospitality

2007-12-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

So here I was. A hot Sunday afternoon waiting for a local bus to take me from the center of Tainan to one of the larger temples on the outskirts of the city. I must have been there for about 20 minutes when a young lady walked by and asked in very broken English where I was going.

“Matsu Temple,” I explained.

She seemed surprised and then conveyed that she and her family were going there too and offered to take me there.

“Sure,” I thought looking around, half expecting to see the family station wagon pulling up.

Then she went on to explain that they weren’t here yet and that I should go up to her nearby apartment with her and wait for them.

Yeah, I know. It sounded really fishy but what the heck, I was young, reckless and actually had nothing better to do.

So we went back to her place. She sat me down in front of the TV, gave me a cold green tea and told me she was going to get ready and ducked into the next room.

Being from the big city, I started getting really paranoid. My senses were heightened and I tensed. Tensed for what? Flight? Fight? I wasn’t sure but in a few minutes my hostess came back and announced that we could go downstairs now.

Downstairs I her uncle and another young lady had pulled up. We got in and headed off to the Matsu Temple. On the way I found out that these two newer strangers spoke even less English than my first acquaintance.

I was a bit skeptical of the whole affair. There must be some angle here, right? But in the end, we ended up going to the temple. We walked around. We laughed at a Buddha that was displayed with a lit cigarette on the counter top at the front entrance. They helpfully pointed out some of the more arcane icons at the huge temple (even if their explanations in broken English were equally arcane).

Then on the way home stopped off at 3-4 small, cheap snack shops which I later found out were known for their respective specialties. They even refused to let me pay even though I did manage to force my money on the owner of one of the shops.

After 2-3 hours spent together, they asked me where I would like to be dropped off. I mentioned a place and that was it. No fuss, no muss. They had just seen it as a pleasant encounter for the afternoon, no questions, no demands.

This was just my story about the incredible hospitality of the Taiwanese. I’ve heard so many since.

There was my friend Josh, who after pushing his broken down motorcycle in the baking Taiwanese summer, was greeted by a young guy on his scooter. The guy slowed down just enough to tell Josh that there was a repair shop down the road and that it was his uncle’s. “Great,” Josh thought. They’re just looking for sucker foreigners to milk. His options were limited though and so he continued pushing until he found the shop in question.

When he got there, he recognized the guy that had just hailed him. He grabbed a tall cold tea that he had just bought, handed it to Josh and told him not to worry. In the end, the uncle fixed his bike and didn’t even charge him.

Sure there are horror stories too but never have I, in all my travels, heard as many wonderful stories of hospitality as I have here in Taiwan.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Robert Dawson

Wasai--- Cute little castles on the hills of Taiwan

2007-12-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Not long after my arrival in Taiwan, while traveling to and fro through the land, I noticed these “little castles” on hills around the island. I kept looking at how pretty they are and how nicely colored some of them were and I told myself, one day I got to go and visit these little castles and see what the deal with them is.

A few more weeks passed and I made a couple of more trips around the island and I kept seeing more of those little castles and I finally said, “that’s it, I’m going to go up to that hill and investigate the situation.

So, I planed out my adventure, approached my Taiwanese friend, and said “ok, you’re going to take me up to those little castles so I can take pictures and see what is the deal with so many of them around the island. I ignorantly told my friend “is it because the island is so small that Taiwanese people decided to make or build mini castles? J You should see the size of some of the castles in Europe, Central, and South America”!

My friend smiled calmly told me to relax because no matter what, we’re not going to see and investigate any little castles because they are someone’s grave or resting place, and it will be very impolite and disrespectful for anyone to go and wonder around through someone’s burial place. Wow! What a shock that was to me when I heard that! “Graves… but they look nothing like graves” I thought! “They definitely don’t look anything like graves from other countries (especially the western countries) but nevertheless, that doesn’t make them any less graves than they are” my friend said. Fair enough, I though, but why all of them are on hills? “Well, in the Taiwanese tradition and belief, it is important that the person that died has a good view” my friend continued. At hearing this, I was so astonished; I could hardly keep myself from laughing. I knew and I saw all the things other cultures laugh at when they see what we do in the west, especially USA, and I thought how rude for them to do so, therefore, I forced myself not to even squeak out a smile at hearing all the stories about the dead, the little castles, the grave or tomb sweeping day, and so forth.

The whole experience just made me realize how different people are and how tradition and beliefs makes us even more different around the world. Although some things may look ridiculous and seem beyond absurd, we should respect the culture, traditions, and practices around the world. It is unimaginable for a westerner how a dead person might be interested in a good view, and as anyone can see, graves in the USA are always on a flat field and far from anything close to a good view, but then again, if the Taiwanese believed the same we did, I would have never seen those “cute little castles on the hills of Taiwan”. I did manage to quickly take an unnoticed photo of the Taiwan graves, and everyone that saw the photo and heard the story was just as shocked as I was. On the other side, they all agreed that unless people are different in beliefs and traditions, no beauty and variety would be seen anywhere.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Daniel Clinciu

(Sacramento, the U.S. --- Hinchu, Taiwan)

Wasai--- Foreigner's Night

2007-12-04T06:48:00.000-08:00

Many foreigners have been to a ladies night at the local bar or pub. The idea makes sense from a marketing standpoint. If the ladies can get free or reduced price beverages they are going to come in droves to the bar. Every guy knows that if the ladies show up in numbers the guys are sure to follow. In Taiwan, it is also not difficult to find bars hosting ladies nights. However, here the marketing scheme has taken an unexpected twist. Every weekend, somewhere in Taiwan, there is a foreigner's night at a local bar. Is the implication that having foreigners turn up will prompt Taiwanese to come as well? I have no idea what the logic of this tactic consist in, but I have been the happy beneficiary of no cover charge or free drinks numerous times.

A British friend who lives in Kaohsiung was discussing the strangeness of foreigner's night with me at just such a night and many pints into it. "If a pub in England advertised that foreigners could get in without paying cover, while English citizens were being charged five pounds, that pub would be fire bombed before the end of the night", he claimed. Having never lived in England, I can't substantiate the ferocity of his claimed response, but I'm sure the spirit of the response is valid. I imagine that in the United States a foreigner's night would result in a discrimination law suit. How do local Taiwanese feel about this reverse discrimination?

I took a trip to Penghu with some Taiwanese friends. We had a fun day snorkeling and scouting around the main island. Come nightfall, we decided to search for a local watering hole soon finding a funky place serving Belgian beers with hookahs packed with vanilla tobacco on every table. When my friends asked for a table they were told that there were none available. I was standing in the back of the group. We were disappointed as we turned to leave. At that point the waitress spotted me in the group. Her whole attitude changed. Suddenly there were two tables for us. After we sat down and started in on our beers, my friends jokingly thanked me for getting them a table. They clearly thought the situation was unfair but were resigned to it. Being put in this situation was slightly embarrassing but I would be lying if I said I was unhappy about getting the table.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Dustin Floreance

( Tainan County, Taiwan --- Lubbock, the U.S.)

Wasai--- A Legion of Miniature Janitors

2007-11-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

The bell rings after 6th period and the 20 minute break begins. All day the kids have sprinted out of the classroom with every 10 minute break to start up a quick game of dodge-ball, jump-rope, hula hoop, catch or toss, and so on. They don’t waste a second of play time at Gong Jheng Elementary School (公正) in Yilan County.

But this time, something is different. Like the marching mops and brooms from Mickey Mouse’s magical escapade in Fantasia, 15 red handles waltz by my office window. It’s an army of little cleaning soldiers! . I walk out of the office and look up at the 1st grade hallway on the second floor, there’s a girl with a window squeegee, standing on the windowsill and whisking away the Windex. Two little munchkins run around below her, one sweeping loose dirt and trash into a dustbin, another doing a spotty mopping job. Continuing down the hall, two kids sprint past me, laughing, a large trash bin held between them. Two young girls with small trash cans and long tongs pick trash up out of the plants and out of the courtyard. A loud laugh causes me to look up towards the 1st floor boys room, just as 3 boys and girls come running out, tossing sudsy water back in and on the floor. The whole building is being cleaned by a legion of minature janitors!

This is different from the US, where you can normally find a crew of one or two sometimes pleasant, sometimes grumpy looking janitors, emptying all the trash bins, vacuuming all the carpets (of course, there is no carpet here with the amount of rain and obvious risk of mold and mildew – instead, almost every surface is ready for a soap and water scrub, and set up to drain water out of the way), and spreading sanitizer over any evidence of a sick second grader. Here the kids clean everything at break, and do so happily! They all smile and laugh and treat it like a game. This I find is a wonderful contrast to US culture. This isn’t child labor, but school instilling a sense of responsibility in kids from a young age. It took me a long time to realize that if I throw my trash on the ground, someone is going to have to pick it up! Children here are given a great degree of autonomy during free time. Recess means a break for kids to run in the halls, laugh and yell, and play whatever games they want. There is less supervision in my school than in US schools during recess, and the whole school, classrooms and hallways, all become a jungle gym. But there is no need to worry about the children behaving irresponsibly and disrespecting property, for the most part. They know the value of putting your trash where it belongs, because they’ve picked up what someone else has thrown down since 1st grade. I wonder how well this behavior carries over to the household. These are values I hope to instill in my children someday as well.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Dale Albanese

(Yi-lan county, Taiwan--- the U.S.)

Visit his blog: http://dalbanese.blogspot.com/

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Cleaning in schools

At my Taiwanese public elementary school of around 200 students, there are no “janitors” – at least not in the same capacity as in the US. Instead, students arrive 10 minutes before class officially starts and clean the school to cheery, upbeat children’s music. I will never forget the surprise I felt at 7:50 in the morning on my first day when I arrived to a school swarming with children toting brooms, mops, and squeegees, accompanied by a spunky Chinese version of “Old MacDonald.” There are also cleaning breaks during lunchtime and again at 3pm, right before the last class period of the day. I regularly have to jump over piles of debris and squeeze by students sweeping and mopping in order to enter or exit the teachers’ office. Even the tiny first graders can be seen wielding squeegees nearly as big as they are as they wash the classroom windows. Sure, sometimes it seems like the students do just as much gossiping and horsing around as they do cleaning, but that way no one seems to really mind. The mindset among students here isn’t that it “isn’t their job” or that “someone else” will do the cleaning. Instead it is just an established norm that the students will take a break from their day of sitting in class and spend a few minutes doing routine cleaning every day.

This concept of “cleaning up after yourself” applies to the lunchtime routine as well. While lunch as its own entity is also very different from its counterpart in the US in ways that extend beyond on what lunch is served, lunch dishes are the responsibility of the individual students. Instead of eating with school dishes and utensils, the students bring their own dishes and chopsticks. The students fill their bowls with school lunch, eat it, and then either pack their dishes back up to be taken home and washed, or wash them at school in the large sinks located at the end of each hall.

The reason for these differences is probably mostly centered around practicality. It is less expensive to operate a school without a staff to take care of daily cleaning, serving lunch, and washing dishes. However, I think that putting the students in charge of these tasks has a greater benefit than saving money alone. When it is the students’ own agency that keeps the school neat and that gives them clean dishes to eat from, they are learning valuable life skills. I remember throughout my time as a student in the US seeing signs that read “Your mother doesn’t work here. Clean up after yourself.” Besides the problematic implication that it is the mother’s job to do the cleaning anywhere, this sentiment is actually not reinforced by the way schools operate in the US. What might seem so shocking to Americans (putting the students in charge of cleaning) is just a mundane part of daily school culture here. However, it represents a great level of autonomy and personal responsibility that young Taiwanese students take on as contributors to the operation of their school. And I have to admit that I am impressed.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Julie Goshe

(Yi-lan City, Taiwan-- Tiffin, the U.S.)

Wasai-- Racism in Taiwan

2007-11-29T02:02:00.000-08:00

If you approached most Taiwanese people and asked them about racism in Taiwan, they would probably tell you that there is no racism in Taiwan. They might say racism is a problem in other countries and they will be quick to relate stories about this if it has personally affected them. However, if you spend a little time observing and listening to people in Taiwan you will soon find that racism exists in Taiwan, just like every other country in the world.

The classified ad above (from the Taipei Times 24 June 2006) shows that Taiwanese employers can very specifically advertise for employees based on race. Discriminating on the basis of race or ethnicity is probably the worst one. However, in Taiwan it is considered quite normal to specifically state the age, gender and even marital status in an employment ad.

I remember once visiting a school and the owner told me she was having difficult employing new teachers. She said lots of people had applied but they were all “block” teachers. I wasn't quite sure what she meant and it was only later that I figured out she was in fact saying “black” not “block.” Discrimination against foreigners wanting to teach English whose skin is not considered to be the right color is common. So is the terrible treatment that many migrant workers from Southeast Asia are subjected to.

Racism manifests in many ways. In Taiwan it is probably reasonable to say it rarely manifests as physical violence. Instead it is expressed in more subtle ways through verbal discrimination and exclusion.

In many ways I am fortunate, as an English speaking white male I don't really experience the negative forms of racism discussed above. However, there are also positive and neutral forms of racism which I encounter on a daily basis.

The positive form is something that most people probably actually appreciate. The “foreigner” is singled out for special treatment. They are given a special place at the table, others insist upon paying for their meals or giving them things for free. This is often people being very friendly or going out of their way to take care of guests. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but I sometimes feel uncomfortable in these situations. Why should I enjoy all this special treatment when there are Taiwanese people around me just as deserving of it.

There is also a neutral type of racism that is also commonly encountered. It is the person who insists on pointing out the presence of a “foreigner.” This is often accompanied by chatter amongst their group speculating about whether the foreigner can speak Chinese or whether they should go and practice their English with him.

What annoys me about this is constantly being seen as other or outsider. In reality we are all humans. No matter what color our skin or what language we speak we share far more in common than that which differentiates us.

It is important to discuss this topic because Taiwanese people are in a state of denial. Although racism is not going to disappear overnight, if people begin to openly discuss then attitudes can change. Taiwan's demographics are changing with the presence of many foreign workers and spouses. They are all an important part of Taiwan's future. Taiwan must ensure that they are welcomed and integrated into the community.

Contributted to Wasai Taiwan by: David Reid

(Australia--- Taipei, Taiwan)

Visit his blog: David on Formosa

http://blog.taiwan-guide.org/

Wasai-- Ghosts in the Garbage

2007-11-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

When I first arrived in Taiwan I was working for Hess language school. The first week here was dedicated to training us how to be English teachers, and also giving us a brief introduction to Taiwanese culture.

Training was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of hard work. There about 56 new teachers when we started, but the numbers soon began to whittle away as the days went by. It felt like I was on some bizarre reality show and people were slowly getting voted off the island. I think that many foreigners come here with the wrong idea, and when they realize how different things are here, and how powerless they are to change that, many of them go running home with their tails between their legs.

We had lectures all day from 9am till about 5pm. After work we were allowed to go out and explore Taipei. This provided many of us, with our first taste of culture-shock. At Shi-Lin night market, many people ate strange things like sheep brains, pig intestines, stinky tofu and chicken-ass-kebab. One American teacher, who refused to eat the food at the night market, headed straight for McDonalds. He emerged looking pleased with himself as he gobbled down a Big Mac and fries. He wasn’t looking so happy a while later though.

Taiwan has very few public garbage cans, and while he was looking around for a place to dispose of his trash and unwanted fries, he saw some people gathered around a large tin drum with a roaring fire burning in it. Taiwanese people were throwing paper into the fire, so he casually strolled up and threw his garbage in, too. We soon saw him running down the street with three angry Taiwanese men close behind him. He had just learned the hard way about the tradition of Ghost money.

In Taiwan many people believe that burning ghost money as an offering to your ancestors will bring you or your business good luck. I think that business has closed down now and there is a McDonalds in its place.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Stuart Wilson

(Hsinchu, Taiwan--- Cape Town, South Africa)

Wasai--- Gan Bei 乾杯

2007-11-19T01:26:00.000-08:00

Gan Bei! The man who appears to be the leader of the group cried at the top of his lungs. At this point, the other 5 men around the table pick up their small glasses and practically inhaled the beer that was in them. This happened more frequently as the night wore on. I didn't need to steal a glance every once in a while to notice the decibel level of the conversation rising.

When I took a look at them to see what the commotion was all about, if I made eye contact with anyone they'd raise their glass to "cheers" me. Before I knew it, I had slammed my way through 6 small glasses of beer in an attempt to be polite. Feeling a little flush in the face myself, I tried telling them that in America, "cheers" is a toast to something, and doesn't require liquidating an entire glass. Their "gan bei", or "dry glass" literally, could be deadly in America where normal beers are 12 or 16 ounces. It was hard to communicate with the drunken Taiwanese at first, but that seemed to matter less and less as the beer flowed like water at a chili eating competition. The group proved to be a friendly bunch, albeit red faced and intoxicated.

The highlight of the evening was later when Mr. Wang downed about 12 ounces of Kaoliang (an extremely potent local Taiwanese liquor) in one gulp much to the joy of the group as they were cheering him on. That must have brought him over the edge though, as 5 minutes later he proceeded to fly into a furious rage, knock the table over and get slapped in the face by his wife while being restrained by several friends. That ended his night but the others kept on buying Taiwan beers and toasting us all into alcohol induced comas.

Contributted to Wasai Taiwan by: John Zadrozny

(Tainan City, Taiwan--- New York, the U.S.)

Visit his website: The Real Taiwan

http://www.therealtaiwan.com/

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Taiwan Baptism by Beer, Yellow Wine & Betelnut

I had just recently arrived in Taiwan during my first visit for a year of study and doing nothing, when a new friend – a business man from Taipei that pulled me into a sort-of language exchange friendship – asked me out on a drinking date. Well he did say let’s go for A beer and have some dinner. Of course at the time it did not occur to me that the phrase “drink one cup” in Chinese does not quite refer to the number of beers or drinks that is actually planned on being consumed. Usually though it does entail very much more than just A beer.

We stopped at a road-side open-air restaurant, or shall I just say “lu-bien-tang” and my dear friend, knowing I do not have any aversion to beer, ordered A crate of Taiwan beer together with a horde of various food dishes.

We drank, we ate, we talked, we drank some more. He taught me – or tried anyway – various local drinking games. Cannot quite recall what they were though. And we drank again. It was fully impressed upon me that slowly sipping your small glass of beer is not acceptable in any form. It is impolite. And especially impolite if you sip your small glass of beer ALONE. So it went through the course of the evening. Both of us taking turns to slam our glass into that of the other and downing the contents.

Until it seems, my friend decided that at the current rate, he will be way drunk before I even reach the initial effects of dizziness. So, in all his wisdom, he reached for his secret weapon.

A quick call to the man of the stall and two small plastic glasses appeared on the table. Each filled with less than an inch of a yellowy alcoholic beverage, which I later learnt by complete surprise was called Yellow Wine or Hsao Hsing.

Prodded by my dear ex-friend, we both consumed the contents in one smooth gulp. Now, I am a very daring person. I am always willing to try just about anything and no matter how bad the experience was, smile when I’m done. I could not smile. I really could not. Not this time. No way. That drink must have been the absolute worst beverage that has ever passed my lips.

You may ask, why I earlier said “ex-friend”? Well, I had hardly put down my glass and was still gasping for reality, when he his open palm extended toward me and on it an inch long green item of botanical origin. “Taiwan chew gum” he proclaimed.

Still having the most horrid taste in my mouth, I thought that anything he could offer me might help get rid of that taste. Man! Was I wrong! There is no worse combination than Yellow Wine and Betel-nut. Put that together with a really full stomach of beer and a rookie Taiwan visitor, and all you get is disaster.

I will spare everyone the torrid details of what happened exactly 3 minutes later. But all I can say is, I suffered really badly. And have never touched either Yellow Wine or Betel-nut again since that day.

Thinking of this night and many other similar experiences in Taiwan, brings to mind how different things are here when out drinking with business people compared to back home. Here I think the emphasis is on drinking as much as possible in the shortest possible period. And never sip your drink slowly by yourself.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Jason Burke

Wasai--- Footing the Bill, Saving Face

2007-11-10T02:52:00.000-08:00

Going out with Taiwanese friends, one is sure to notice the custom of one person treating all the others to a meal. Although "going Dutch" is common among westerners, it is foreign to Taiwanese culture. Nevertheless, when dining with Taiwanese companions, the question remains, which among a group of friends is to foot the bill, or put another way, which has the honor to treat his or her friends. Before living in Taiwan for long, one is sure to come across the common scene of two or three men pushing and twisting their way towards the check out counter vying to pay the bill, laughing and shouting all the while.

Moon Festival of 2006, my wife and I went on a road trip with our friends, a Taiwanese couple and their three year old son. The first night, we camped out at Mei Shan Kou, on the south cross island highway. The following two days, we drove down the east coast from Tai Tong via Tai Ma Li, ending up in Ken Ting National Park. Although everyone had a great time seeing the sights, eating and drinking, I felt slightly embarrassed that my friend A-Bin insisted on paying for everything. Any attempt to pay for food or drink was preempted by a smiling A-Bin.

The last day of the trip we all ate lunch in one of Ken Ting's many seafood restaurants. The fare included a few kinds of fish, crabs, clams and other varieties of shellfish, far too much food for four adults and one three year old. Every meal that trip had displayed the same superfluity. I mentioned this to A-Bin, who laughingly replied that his wife, Mei, and he always ate this many different dishes. He claimed that they hated to eat only a couple of kinds of food a meal as there was not enough variety in the flavors. I could not decide whether this statement was merely an excuse to further treat my wife and me to an overabundance of hospitality, or an insight into the lavishness of their dining habits.

I resolved to use this final opportunity to turn the tables and treat A-Bin and his family. While out wives were showing A-Bin's son some of the creatures swimming and crawling about in the tanks out front of the restaurant, I called the waitress over to ask for the check. A-Bin immediately told me not to worry that he wanted to pay. I protested that he had paid for everything not allowing me to pay my share. It was then that A-Bin taught me an important lesson about Taiwanese character that I had realized only vaguely if at all before this moment. He told me that paying for the meal was a way for him to gain face and that if I did not allow him to pay he would lose face. All Taiwanese men feel this way, he told me. From my experiences since that meal, I can vouch that what my friend A-Bin revealed to me is true. Again, I had no choice but to allow him to pay. He promised when they next visited us, that I, not he, could treat. From all I have learned, the sincerity of that statement is in doubt.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Dustin Florence

(Lubbock, the U.S. --- Tainan County, Taiwan)

Wasai--- Please listen to me

2007-11-09T02:41:00.000-08:00

I cannot tell you how many times what I have said has fallen on deaf ears.

"I don't want to drink, thank you." "Mei guan chee." (沒關係)

"No more food, thank you" "Mei guan chee."

"I can shell my own peanuts." "Mei guan chee."

"I don't like beer." "Mei guan chee."

"But, the elevator is full." "Mei guan chee."

I want to point out that this happens when I speak in Chinese, as well asEnglish. I live in a very small town and virtually no one speaks English.

Because of Chinese culture being what it is, people view "protests" as aperson's way of being polite. When you say "I don't want to drink" for example, people hear that sentence through their cultural filter. In Chinese society, greediness (although rampant) is regarded as impolite. So no one would answer "yes" to any question regarding offers of more food, liquor orwhatever. When you say "no thank you" you are telling others that you are polite and not greedy. This explains why you frequently see a Taiwanese man sitting down with his buddies for the express purpose of getting plastered,and yet saying "no! no! no!" over and over as someone pours him a stiff one.

No one is listening to him.

That is fine, unless of course you really don't want any more of whatever is being pushed on you. That concept seems to be lost as far as I can tell.Once I had to explain what "enough" meant. I had consumed what I consideredto be "enough" liquor for one evening and yes my glass was refilled with very pushy attempts to get me to drink more. My friends and others at my table were perplexed. One guy said "we could learn a lot from you because we don'tknow what enough means."

As far as I can tell there is no way to get out of these situations except to smile and just don't drink or eat any more. Just the other day someone kept pushing beer on me, even after I repeated told that person that I don't normally drink beer, and on that occasion I was drinking rum. He kept saying "Mei guan chee" and trying to make me take the can of beer from him by hitting me with it, basically. "Mei guan chee" and "mei wen ti (沒問題)" were said multiple times.

No one was listening to me.

This kind of thing happens all the time though. Once a few years back, I went to a karaoke place with a Taiwanese friend of mine. A hostess brought some peanuts, in-shell. I love peanuts! I was happily shelling and eating them by myself when one of the other hostesses came and sat down beside me. She grabbed a handful and began shelling peanuts and putting them into a bowl. I wasn't really paying attention to her as my friend was singing, and he’s such a bad singer it was just too funny. After a few minutes the hostess pushed this bowl of shelled peanuts in front of me offering them to me. I told her that I didn’t want them; I had my own, thanks. “Mei wen ti” was her answer(meant that it was no problem for her to serve me, not “no problem” as in “I understand"). In cases like this, because the person saying “no problem” they aren't really listening to what you are saying, and if you are forced to get your point across it will very often result in embarrassment for that person.I replied with a question: “Did you wash your hands?”

Now wouldn't it have been much easier if you had just listened to me?

Contributted to Wasai Taiwan by: MJ Klein

Visit his blog at http://www.thenhbushman.com/

Wasai--- Dating 101

2007-10-30T03:17:00.000-07:00

I was dating a cute girl soon after arriving in Tainan. I was smitten so did everything you're expected to do: open doors, buy flowers, gifts, dinner and dancing, the works. And things seemed to be going pretty well. We were seeing each other every few days and everything felt like it was going just right. Until one day, I bought her a box of chocolates. It was wrapped and still in its gift bag when I handed it to her. She accepted it and then to my surprise, instead of opening it up, she simply smiled and placed it on the table next to her and then went on as if nothing had just happened.

Whoa, there, I thought. That was odd. If she didn’t like the present, she was of course under no obligation to enthuse about the offering but sheesh, take a look and say a quick thanks at least. Right? I brushed it off as we were going out but the mystery lingering and began festering in the back of my mind.

2-3 days later, I couldn’t ignore it anymore and told her I was a bit dismayed at her “callousness” when she accepted my gift. She thought I was off my rocker. She was delighted, she said. “What did I do wrong?” she asked. I told her that I was offended by her completely disregarding my feelings and having thrown my gift aside. She replied that I was being too sensitive and unreasonable.

Now I really was stumped and the discussion started getting more and more heated as I repeatedly explained my dismay and she continually defended the improprieties that I was accusing her of.

Turns out it was a misunderstanding. In the West, when we get a present, we are expected to make a big to-do about it, even if it’s something unwelcome like getting that ugly lime green and brown striped sweater from Aunt Thelma. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Only later did I learn that here in Taiwan, most of the time, gifts are not opened but set aside. It would seem too greedy or impatient for a person to immediately unwrap a present. So for Taiwanese, it’s the thought that counts too.

It took a couple of hours until this little light went on for both of us but when we finally did sort through this we were both relieved and incredulous.

She's now my wife and we still have a good laugh at the funny cultural gaffe.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Robert Dawson

Wasai-- Playing with fire

2007-10-29T23:16:00.001-07:00

Fireworks are legal in Taiwan!

“So what,” I hear you say. “they’re just fireworks?” Well, this is true. They are just fireworks. However, look at the situation from my perspective.

In Australia, fireworks cannot be bought by the common citizen. We resign ourselves to waiting for New Years Eve, and then watching them on the television. A poor substitute to say the least, as a television can never capture the right atmosphere.

Why this ban? I’m not sure, perhaps one too many people blew their hands off, using them irresponsibly. Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that I had previously never played with fireworks, and had only once previously seen a live show.

Since I had only ever seen fireworks as distant, colorful explosions, I walked straight past the stall that sold them! I was stopped by the friend I was with and directed over to a stall with lots of small cardboard boxes and tubes. Cardboard! What the hell? I thought the covers would be waterproof at least. And yes, call me childish, but I was expecting the classic cylinder with a cone cap at one end. Some were even made of paper! To be fair on myself, there were a couple of cylinders with cone caps, and to my glee these all had words such as ‘Danger: Highly Explosive’ or similar on it, but were rather expensive, so I decided on quantity, not quality. This time anyway…

I spent a total of 1000NT. The stall keeper threw in a few smaller cheap fireworks for free, and we were on our way.

Anyway, now for the fun! My friend and I went to a nearby lakeside. We decided to use the smaller tubes first. They shot away, or hovered for a few seconds, in various colors, shapes and sizes, and I didn’t even lose a finger! They had they’re own type of charm, and were new to me, so I found them fun to ignite, but I must admit, they didn’t quite give me a feeling of ‘wasai’.

After that, we moved to the four meter high fountain of golden sparks, which was spectacular, but I had been around bonfires that were bigger and more ferocious.

I had saved the best till last. A thick slab made up of thirty two smaller cylinders. I lit it, and waited a few long seconds. Did it work? Did the fuse blow out? Then, there was an abrupt pop and sizzle, and I was treated to my own personal fireworks display. Thirty two projectiles rocketed into the air, one after the other, and exploded far above my head. Some were large explosions, some took on shapes, or patterns, others hung around like willow tree foliage. It was a great finale. I stood transfixed, utterly mesmerized.

I have noticed that Taiwanese people don’t often use fireworks for random fun, and instead generally use them for engagement parties, weddings, and other large celebrations.
I guess it’s true that if you see something too often, it takes the magic away.

So, yet one more reason for Australians, and other non-firework permitting countries, should visit Taiwan. It’s not the fact that you can see fireworks, but the fact that you can light them. No more being a passive observer, you can actively get involved.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Sean Wise

(Taipei, Taiwan--- Melbourne, Australia

=============================================================

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Fireworks and Bravado

At Lantern Festival two weeks after the Chinese New Year many temples around the country put on spectacular displays of fireworks. At Luermen, just north of Tainan City tens of thousands of people gather for the display. It is well worth the hassle of walking through the crowds that throng the streets of the village, buying snacks at the market stalls and making your way towards the huge temple. On arrival at the temple forecourt I was ushered onwards, towards the temple itself and told that the bridge linking two of the buildings would be my best viewpoint – and besides, it would be very dangerous for me to stay where I was. I little reluctantly, because it looked, from the appearance of the small stage that had been set up that this was where the action would be, I agreed and allowed myself to be moved on.

I was on the bridge in good time to find a place to park my camera and tripod and to wait for the fireworks. In the centre of the forecourt, where I had first wanted to stand, the crowd moved aside as a huge stack, about four metres high, was wheeled into place on the stage. Then the ‘fun’ started. The stack turned out to be crammed with fireworks. Some shot their streams of colour into the air, but the general direction of the majority was much more sinister. Firecrackers shot every way, many straight into the crowd. OK, I had to admit to feeling grateful to those who had moved me on! Most of the men standing near were wearing plenty of protection including crash helmets and thick clothes. That was not the place to set up a tripod!

After the ‘excitement’ came a display, in the middle distance on the edge of the village, a beautiful display lasting about ten minutes held the crowd enraptured. As it ended I noticed that the stack which had been removed from the stage had been replaced by another, equally menacing tower. That too erupted and spewed its flames and explosions in every direction into the crowd. It was followed by a second intricately artistic display from another spot on the perimeter of the village. This time the wail of an ambulance siren accompanied the scene.

I looked towards a building in front of the temple and discovered where the towers had come from as I saw doors open and yet another being wheeled out of the long warehouse. The cycle was repeated about a dozen times. Each time the tower seemed more lethal. Several times ambulances were heard starting their journeys to hospitals in the city. And each time another distant display elicited “Ooos” and “Ahhs.” from the crowd. A lantern in the form of a small hot air balloon failed to gain altitude and dropped into the crowd where the flames were safely extinguished.

I began reflecting on fireworks in Britain. Many families like mine used to have bonfires in their gardens to remember, around November 5th, the exposure of a terrorist plot to blow up King James in 1605. But in recent years, following many accidents, public and insurance companies’ concern over the inevitable injuries and fires had changed the culture towards having ‘safe’, well managed public displays.

The disregard of safety at Luermen was somewhat scary. I wonder how those who had been injured would look back on their night of bravado when they had challenged the fire dragons – and lost. What does this say for the values Taiwanese people place on life and wellbeing?

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: John Crocker

(Tainan, Taiwan --- London, U.K.)

Wasai-- Unexpected festivities

2007-10-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

I came to Taiwan for the first time in the summer of 2006, and stayed in DanShui for 10 days. I came a week before the Dragon Festival, and had no idea what the festival was about. Some of our friends from the States warned us about the celebrations and massive traffic that would permeate the streets, but I wasn’t expecting much. But when the day of the Festival came, I was shocked beyond my imagination. I was shocked by the immense celebrations that filled such tiny streets! There were cars everywhere with floats and long processions of people. What scared me the most were the fire crackers. There was one time where I was walking back home through the parade and I suddenly heard a long string of fire crackers explode near my feet!! It almost gave me a heart attack! If such celebrations were to occur in the States, the fire crackers would be banned by the police or at least done at a very deserted place far away from people. I was also perplexed by a peculiar sighting. There was a young man that was beating himself on his head with a stick with sharp bumps and ridges. He was bleeding from his head and even seemed to be enjoying the pain. I was struck with a lot of fear and disturbed. What is all this?! The other peculiar thing that I noticed was that throughout the whole parade, it seemed like the police were very passive. They were only controlling the flow of traffic, and didn’t seem to be watching the people as much. To me, the parade was getting out of hand with fire crackers going off every 5 minutes in the streets. If this were to happen in America, the police would be surrounding the man beating himself, confiscating the fire crackers, and maybe even arresting people for disturbing the parade. I was just shocked. The Dragon Boat Festival would be one thing that I would never forget!!

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Caroline Ogasawara
(Hsinchu, Taiwan --- San Francisco, the U.S.)

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Wasai---Living with parents

2007-10-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Like many, if not most, North Americans of European decent, after graduating high school, I was faced with two choices: go to college, or get a job and move out. Living with my parents was not an option, nor did I want it to be one. Though attitudes regarding this subject are slowly changing, it is generally still considered a point of shame for any working age person to be living with their parents. Above all, it seems that we value our independence, and to not exercise this freedom is indicative of some character flaw or social ineptitude. Ingrained in most teenager’s brains is the image of the solitary loner living in his parents basement, shunned by the opposite sex, and ridiculed by those around them. We need to look no further then the recent movie “Failure to Launch” chronicling a women’s look into why some [deviant] men choose to live at home. Our upbringing has taught us that it’s not normal to live with our parents. I was certainly no exception, living hundreds of kilometers from my parents, and visiting relatives only on holidays.

Through several interesting conversations I am learning that this aspect of life is very different here. From those I have talked to it would seem that children are almost expected to live at home, sometimes even if they are married! It seems very strange to me some people have secret apartments that they hide from their parents, or that they live in separate cities from their parents for the sole purpose of justifying living on their own. Stranger still is the young (and sometime not so young) married couples that live with their parents. Even back in Canada I was perplexed by someone’s decision to move back to Taiwan to live with his parents – even at the expense of leaving his wife in Canada!

Though in many ways this lifestyle makes perfect sense, my western way of thinking has a hard time accepting it. I can imagine that the strong family ties here make life easier in many ways. In Canada, many young couples struggle to support themselves financially, doubly-so if they have children that are sent to expensive day-cares; here the cost of living would be carried by the whole family, and so often it seems the grandparents watch the children while the parents work. I think Westerners could benefit greatly from adopting even a fraction of this family unity, but first we must overcome our fierce sense of independence.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Alexander Bunkowski
(Tainan City, Taiwan--- Vancouver, Canada)

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Wasai--- What's in a name?

2007-10-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

He looked miffed and rather discomfited. Had I said something wrong? Was my
Chinese bad? Was it that I was obviously a foreigner? All I had asked him was his name!
“It’s not important,” he replied stiffly, his voice almost inaudible through the loud thumping electronica that blasted through the dark pub in downtown Taipei. Baffled, I stuttered as I tried to forget the unexpected conversational speed bump and smooth over the awkwardness of the situation. Why was he there? Friend’s birthday party. How old was he? In his twenties. I quickly ran out of things to say and, crestfallen, turned away to rejoin my friends with whom I’d come to the loudly packed pub. That man hadn’t seemed to friendly. In fact, I was starting to wonder how people in Taiwan made new friends at all. The standard question that had served me so well back home—“So, what’s your name?”—seemed to have fallen disastrously flat.

Americans are mostly open and friendly people. Introductions often involve hand- shaking, sometimes even hugs, and a lot of small talk about names, occupations, hometowns, the weather, anything that keeps the conversation going. The first question I always ask—out of politeness, no less—is “What’s your name?” And I always, for better or worse, do my best to remember that name.

Taiwanese people are also friendly and open. However, as I later learned from a
Taiwanese friend, it’s usually a bad idea to start a conversation off by asking the other person’s name. It appears too forward, too invasive. A little time is needed—a little more friendly small talk—before names can be exchanged. And, after all the strange looks I’ve gotten for my American nosiness, I think it best to remember not just a new acquaintance’s name, but also not to ask for to quickly.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Jeffery Weng
(Taipei, Taiwan--- USA)

Wasai---Bear on the beach

2007-10-24T04:21:00.000-07:00

In September, my girlfriend and I went to Fulong beach. My girlfriend is very pretty and its normal for people to stop and stare when she's on the street. Upon arriving at the beach, we changed in the bathrooms adjacent to the parking lot and headed toward the water. She was wearing a long skirt and a spaghetti strap top. We were holding hands and crossing the parking lot when a tour bus full of seniors pulled in. The bus was about half unloaded when they noticed us passing. The whole crowd next to the bus was frozen in awe. They stared at us like we were endangered pandas. My girlfriend giggled, she was flattered. She realized that she forgot something in the changing area and walked back in that direction. But, the old people's gaze didn't follow her. The whole crowd was fixated on me. Or, not "me" exactly; it was more like my chest hair. One old man drooled while he fixated on my chest. An old woman blushed and waved at me. When my girlfriend returned she instantly understood and laughed at me. Then she roughly scratched my belly the way you scratch a dog laying on its back. I felt like Chewbacca. The rest of our time at the beach was full of similar experiences. Taiwanese people tend not to be very hairy, which is common in Asia. Body hair is such a non-issue that the normal word for it, "毛 mao2", is the same word used for "animal fur". So, the accepted stereotype of Western people is that we are hairy compared to Asian people. As a person who is hairy, even by Western standards, sometimes I'm left feeling like the bearded lady at a freak show. I don't know whether to charge for a peek, or find a waxing salon.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Michael Garber
(Taipei City, Taiwan--- Pittsburgh, USA)

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Wasai--- Market night, every night

2007-10-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

Night markets. The English translation sounds exciting, risqué, and not quite legal. In reality they are just as exciting as they sound, but perfectly legal. Well, it depends which stalls you go to I suppose. However, a closer translation for these bustling hives of activity would be “mini-carnival”.

I was startled to find that instead of having two or three dotted around the city, there are one or two in every suburb! Since I live in Taipei, there’s about four rather large night markets within 15-20 minutes drive!

Before taking a walk through any of the night markets in Taiwan, I was expecting something like the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne. That is, seventy percent of the stalls selling the same types of clothes, the rest selling knick-knacks and trinkets, with a couple of food stalls.

My hosts told me we would eat at the market. I expected a few stalls selling the same sorts of food. When we got there, I was faced with many stalls selling a large range of cheap food. This presented a rather tricky choice. The choice was not what to eat. It was where to start! There will certainly be something that appeals to everybody’s taste. I ended up trying to taste everything. My favorite food so far? Deep fried mushrooms and a banana and mango smoothie. Pearl milk black tea and sweet potato chips covered in plum powder are tasty too. Why? Because most of these foods cannot be found in Australia. To me, they’re different.

Of course, rooster crests, pig’s hooves, and various other parts of animals anatomy normally not seen by western menus are also different. Very different! But my mind hasn’t got into the habit of regarding these as edible yet.

Ok, so I gorged myself. What then? I did some shopping of course! These are markets after all. There are a broad range of items, such as clothing, jewelry, electronics animals, etc. The prices were fairly reasonable, but then I was told that I was supposed to haggle with the shop attendants, in order to bring the price down. Suffice to say, the deals got even better after that. I must admit though, I’ve never got the hang of haggling. I’ve spent 23 years in a non haggling country, so I’m still coming to terms with it. In Australia, if a products price is too high, you go elsewhere, you don’t argue with the checkout chick (cashier) to make it lower.

While it didn’t elicit a “Wasai” from me, I’ve found that any night market bigger then an alley generally has entertainment too, whether it be picture booths, arcade games, or those other amusements such as shooting balloons with toy guns, fortune telling, and so forth.

I realize night markets are common throughout Asia, but for the westerner, or at least, for me, they are a must see, a place to immerse your senses in for a few hours, to have some fun, to try some traditional food, and, perhaps, get a bargain price on that item you’ve been hunting for.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Sean Wise

(Melbourne, Australia--- Taipei, Taiwan)

==================================================================

Night Market

I was born in Taiwan but immigrated to the U.S. for 20 years before moving back here to Taiwan earlier this month. I thought I would be pretty used to life here in Taiwan but when I visited some night markets, I was reminded of what a strange sight that was. I went to several night markets but especially Shilin Night Market was so crazy, jam-packed with people. My friends and I had to almost hold on to one another’s bags so that we didn’t get separated. It’s just a strange sight to see so many little food stands right next to each other, selling almost the same thing and as you walk by, people are shouting and trying to invite you to buy food from their stand. Sometimes I wonder how the entire night market can withstand all that electricity being used to power the stoves without burning down. I think this was a culture shock because even in the most crowded cities in America, you don’t see such a sight. I think most of it is probably because the U.S. just has more space so shops don’t have to be so crowded together. And I think storeowners in America don’t like to open similar shops next to one another because of competition. They would rather carve their own niche in a section of town that doesn’t already have a shop like it. I think shop owners in the U.S. are not as aggressive as those in Taiwan and so do not stand out on the streets trying to pull in customers. Once in a while you see some store in the U.S. hire a teenager to dress up as a chicken or a hot dog to draw in customers from the streets but even then they don’t really shout at passersby but just hold up a sign or something to advertise some sale or promotion.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Cythia Peng

(San Francisco, the U.S. --- Hsinchu, Taiwan)

Wasai--- Toilet-trained ?

2007-10-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I had finished learning about how to use a toilet by the time I began elementary school. At the age of 34, on my way to visit Taiwan for the first time, I learned that I was mistaken. On arriving at the KIX airport in Osaka, Japan, I went to the restroom to find a surprise waiting for me. I opened the restroom stall door and pondered how to approach the horizontal urinal. Which way do I face? Where do I put my feet? How do I position my body? How do I keep my shoes, socks, and pant legs dry? I am 34 years old, and I have no idea how to use this toilet.

The airport in Osaka was the first of many toilets that I came to know as squat toilets. At the CKS airport in Taoyuan, I was a “wee” bit smarter. I took a little more time to notice that the stall doors had pictures on them. Some doors had squat toilet symbols and some were labeled as handicapped-accessible. Ah-ha! All of my life, until now, I had been trained how to use a handicapped-accessible toilet. My previous trips to places like Ireland, Germany, and Russia taught me that toilets had many unique ways of being flushed. Asia, specifically Taiwan, taught me that I have been a physically challenged toilet user. During my four week stay in Taiwan, I learned a whole new set of toilet skills. I was being re-toilet-trained. After somewhat embarrassing discussions with others, I learned to face the small arch of the toilet. I learned to roll up my pants legs and carefully and steadily plant my feet on either side of the hole. After a number of trials with some humbling errors, I learned how to best deal with the physics of hair changing the direction of fluids based on pressure and other factors.

The previous 34 years were spent chastising male family and friends for struggling to get everything in the toilet. Wow, I didn’t know I was going to experience this same challenge. I now sympathize with them and apologize for my previous ignorance. After my first month in Taiwan, I no longer needed to use a toilet which allowed me to sit down. All of the muscles in my legs were finely tuned from their time spent holding me upright over squat toilets. I could hold my own with the best of the Taiwanese toilet-trained. I was feeling like a competent 34 year old again. Now, I just need to be diligent about always remembering to put the toilet paper in the garbage can and not in the toilet. Once I have mastered this skill, they might allow me to consider citizenship.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan: Kim Cusick

( Kaohsiung, Tawian --- the U.S.)

Toilet Restaurant, Taiwan

http://au.travel.yahoo.com/great-outdoors/taiwan/toilet-restaurant-taiwan.html

Themed restaurants are everywhere these days.
There are Rock n' Roll themed ones, restaurants where you can eat while sitting on beds, and even bars made completely of ice. But Taiwan has taken novelty restaurants to a whole new level. Welcome to Marton, the world's first toilet themed restaurant! Marton means toilet in Chinese and in this restaurant you literally sit on toilet seats and eat out of miniature toilet shaped bowls (both the Asian squat-style and the traditional Western variety toilets).
The restaurant is the first of its kind and only exists in Taiwan. The creator of the restaurant used to be a street vendor. He sold ice-cream in a special plastic toilet cup holder which he designed himself. He decided to take this idea one step further and so the toilet restaurant was born. The restaurants use ceramic toilet bowls/dishes to serve a range of meals. Apparently he was inspired by a comic book character who would put crap on crackers. No joke! This comic is popular with the young kids in Taiwan!
The creator has now patented the idea and opened up several more branches around Taiwan. So if you ever thought the world was going down the toilet, now you have proof! The restaurants attract a range of customers but it is especially popular with young people and families with kids. Apparently it's not all just about novelty value and the restaurant gets many repeat guests. As a result it has introduced a loyalty program so you can collect credit on multiple visits and then receive a big toilet shaped bowl. These are also sold separately so you can take home a ceramic toilet bowl with you!
Food is either served in a flat bowl that resembles a male urinal; larger main meals are served in a toilet bowl. Noodles or rice are served in a bathtub shaped bowl. Some of the most popular meals are curry noodles or rice because of their resemblance to....well....you know! Chocolate ice-cream is popular for the same reason.

Wasai-- The friendly and outgoing people of Taiwan

2007-10-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

In early April I went to the National Palace Museum. The public transport made it fairly easy to find my way there. There were a few troupes of school kids there too, as is the way of these places. They seemed mighty curious about me. However, kids always whisper and giggle (so do plenty of adults) so I ignored them, telling myself I was being paranoid. After all, I was just a tourist, no-one could possibly find me interesting. I never thought that it could work both ways, that the locals would look at me as an attraction.

I was looking at an exhibit, when I heard this loud sound, of about 20 footsteps rushing up behind me. I ignored it. I then felt 20 pairs of eyes watching me. I staunchly ignored it. I couldn't ignore, however the different forms of greeting, all in English. Well, fractured, incomplete English, but still understandable. I turned to find a virtual army of school children, aged somewhere between 10-15, all staring at me.

My tentative reply of hello was met with a cacophony of answers, such as more greetings, “where are you from”, “what is your name”, “you look cool/cute/awesome/handsome/white”, etc. Kids in Australia were never this bold. I was feeling a little overwhelmed at that point, so I beat a hasty retreat, but not before I answered a few questions. “My names Sean”, “I’m Australian”, “Thank you, thank you, you all speak English well”

An hour later they caught up with me again, as I was walking down the long plaza all traditional important Chinese buildings have at their entrance. I was amazed to see that almost all of these 20 children had cameras. I guess kids are getting richer. They insisted that I take some pictures with them. I was beginning to feel like a tourist attraction, but the novelty of being popular, even to a bunch of kids, hadn’t quite worn off. So, we all gathered together, me in the middle of a big bunch of teenagers, while they swapped camera’s and took photos. It was kind of fun, actually. I think it must be a little like what a movie or music star must feel in front of their fans. There’s nothing like a little hero worship to boost the ego.

This wasn’t the only time. There are several moments when I was just walking down the street in Taipei, and I would get hailed down by a complete stranger. No serious reason, they just wanted to practice their English. Sometimes I got lucky, and I could understand them fine. Other times I stood there with a polite, glassy smile on my face, while the other individual endeavored to make themselves understood.

It was definitely different from being just another white person in Australia. One of the aspects of living in a multicultural society I suppose. Australians never get excited about foreigners in our country, no matter what their race, because we see so many. It’s not a novelty to us. And it probably never will be.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Sean Wise

(Taipei, Taiwan------ Melbourne, Australia)

Wasai --- School on Sunday!!?

2007-10-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Before coming to Taiwan, I was teaching English at an international summer school course in England. Most of the students in my class were European, but there were also one Taiwanese girl, Amy. She was 15 years old, and so must have been in junior high school.
One day I asked the students what they liked to do in their free time; most of the students were of one mind, they hang out with friends, watch movies, play video games and sports. Amy however, told us that she didn’t get much free time because she was always at school. At first I thought that she hadn’t understood my question, “No, no,” I explained, “‘free time’, is the extra time you have after school.” “I know,” she answered, “but I go to school early in the morning and come home at about 9 o’clock, then I do my homework.” “And the weekends?” I asked her. “Yes, it’s the same.”

The other students stared at her like she was from another planet, and even I found it hard to believe. In Europe it’s just not possible for someone to spend that much time in school. Coming to Taiwan though, I realized that not only was it true, but that she wasn't particularly strange either.

On the rare occasions that I manage to get out of bed for my "daily" 6am bike ride, I see kids going off to school. At 9, or even 10 o'clock at night you can still see them coming back home. I can't help but feel sorry for them when I'm out enjoying myself on Friday night, and they're standing there at the bus-stop, waiting for their ride home. It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that a lot of them will be back off to school early on Saturday morning.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Andrew Crosthwaite
( the U.K. )

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Wasai--Driving in Taiwan

2007-10-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

What the heck. Are you all crazy? It's madness. Where is the organization, the rhyme and reason? These were my first thoughts regarding driving in Taiwan. Coming from the US where lanes are clearly marked, and heaven forbid you cross over without proper notification or sufficient time allowed lest you get the finger or worse, I was in complete shock when we took our first taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. I thought we were going to crush the pedestrians, mow over the enormous numbers of scooters, and for sure get into an altercation with fellow motorcar drivers for cutting them off. Nothing happened. We arrived safe and sound, no accidents, no causalities, no road rage.

Being here now for close to three months I have found the logic behind the madness of driving in Taiwan. Taiwan drivers are very deliberate. They have a destination and their mission is to get to it. The roadways are shared by all; cars, trucks, scooters, bicycles, and pedestrians. All of whom know where they intend to go. Accidents and road rage are avoided by adhering to this deliberateness. It is a different mindset for foreigners living here, but once you get the hang of it in makes sense. When walking you must be mindful of the traffic, but in turn they are mindful of you too. Following the walk and don’t walk lights one can ensure safe arrival. Scooters and bicycles have lanes designated specifically to them. Of course scooters also cross over lanes and drive in regular lanes, but for the most part resign themselves to the far right of the road. Cars and trucks typically drive in the left lane crossing over only when turning or parking. The speed of traffic here is very different too. Things are much slower which in turn cuts down on the accidents. “Stopping on a dime” is actually possible because traffic typically does not exceed 25 miles per hour.

These realizations came after a short time of being here. I now drive a scooter everywhere and am very comfortable in doing so. Deliberate, slow, and steady will get you there, unscathed, every time.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Meagan Atchley
(Hsinchu, Taiwan – Houston Texas)

Wasai---Making friends in college

2007-09-29T03:07:00.000-07:00

The education experience in Taiwanese colleges is very different from my experience going to college in the United States. In America, going to college seems like a bigger rite of passage than it is in Taiwan. Many parents as well as their children come to help move in, and there is sometimes a tearful farewell. Perhaps this is due to the fact that most students do not go home to visit their parents and families every week, as many of the students I've met have told me they do. Therefore, it seems harder to get to know other fellow floor-mates and spend a lot of free time with them. Whereas most American college students really treasure their times in college, it seems like going home every weekend does no allow the same kind of relational bonds to form in Taiwan. I also noticed when I went into the dorms in Taiwan to visit a friend that most students seem to stay within their rooms and play computer games. In fact it seemed like a lot of the students didn't know their floor-mates, or even their next-door neighbors. In America, all of the doors in a hallway are open, and people go in and out; students end up getting to know easily 30 friends like this as they see each other daily, hang out, play board games, eat together, play sports, and go on trips together. These bonds are strengthened by the fact that many students stick around campus on weekends. However, this kind of open life does not seem to happen in the dorms that I've seen or according to the students I've talked to.

In addition, America's college students do not have as strong a departmental identity as Taiwanese students. Rather, most of the friendships and relationships formed happen within the dormitories or student clubs (fraternities, sororities, and other social clubs). Students do meet many other students in classes, but a lot of their friends come from outside of their classes. It was strange to hear of intramural basketball teams created here within the math department or the civil engineering department. That would be really odd and even mocked as nerdy in the United States, since most people just create teams among their dorm floors, club, or friends.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Allen Chen (Hsinchu)

===================================================================

I was born and raised in the States by parents that moved over from Taiwan after college to study. Growing up, I have visited Taiwan on multiple occasions to see relatives, and most recently, I have moved back to Taiwan to stay here for a year.
One cultural difference that I have noticed here, especially this time around, is the strong sense of community that exists here, notably at the university level, since I am spending most of my time with college-age students and can compare them to students at UC Berkeley back home. There is a unity within university departments that is hard to find back in the States, and it seems like everyone belongs to some kind of club that they can call their family. There seems to be much less individualism and fewer loners here in Taiwan. From my conversation with students here, it seems like familial loyalty is also more pronounced here than in the States, where you hear more stories of sons and daughters happy to be out of the house and ready to rebel against their parents’ authority once they begin college.

Jonanthan Chou (Hsinchu)

Wasai--- Cars first, people second

2007-09-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

One shock experience I had in Taiwan was the massive amount of traffic and motorcycles. I’ve been so used to traffic in America, that I was not prepared for the way people drive in Taiwan. Actually, I thought the traffic in Berkeley was pretty bad since there were people everywhere. As a driver I was constantly frustrated with the pedestrians. In America, cars must yield to people. But in Taiwan, people must yield to cars, or else they will suffer dire consequences! It took me a few days to get used to the fact that as a pedestrian, I have the least amount of power to control traffic in Taiwan. I was constantly fearful of crossing the streets. Sometimes I wasn’t even sure where the street was since motorcycles would be passing through marketplaces and residential areas alike. Even if the street signs said “One Way”, there would still be two-way traffic!! I was also amazed to see how Taiwanese people carry almost everything on their motorcycles. From little babies, kids standing on crates, dogs, bags of groceries, computers, sometimes their entire family. Whenever I would look down from our tour bus onto the streets, I would be concerned if the bus saw the motorcyclists driving right next to it. How do these people survive Taiwanese traffic?! When I was taking a taxi to the airport on my last day in Taiwan, we bumped into some traffic on the highway. I noticed, to my utter shock, that there were multiple cars using the shoulder of the highway to get past the traffic!! This would be unimaginable in the States. No one would dare to use the shoulder as if it was another lane!! Where were the Highway Cops?! Or…are there any?! By this point, I have been surprised by Taiwanese culture so much, that all I could do was laugh. Taiwanese traffic is definitely one of a kind.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Caroline Ogasawara
(Hsinchu, Taiwan--- San Francisco, the U.S.)

Wasai--- Chewing your tea

2007-09-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Taiwan is famous for many things. Foreigners often laud Taiwan for its incredibly delicious cuisines. Food, no doubt is a cornerstone of life in Taiwan. All you have to do is flip through the channels to figure that out. It is common knowledge that 50% of basic cable channels in Taipei are dedicated to either news, cooking, or food related shows. One famous member of the Taiwanese pallet often gets left out of the stories foreigners often tell of their magical eating experiences in Taiwan, and I’m not talking about stinky tofu. I am referring to my favorite drink of all time, bubble milk tea (also known as pearl milk tea or tapioca milk tea.)

For those of you unfortunate enough to have tried this delicious concoction, it is sweet black tea, mixed with condensed milk, and waiting at the bottom are a handful of starch balls that look shockingly similar to frog’s eggs. The final little addition makes this delightful little beverage intimidating and/or unpleasant for many foreigners. “I don’t want to chew my tea,” many say. That’s exactly what I used to say too, my first 7 or 9 months in Taiwan, but I finally tried it, I mean really tried it. It takes getting used to, but once you do you’ll never go back to milk tea without it. For one, it slows you down, keeps you from drinking a sweet drink too fast. Also, it makes a drink into a little snack. So, if you have classes until 9pm, and you haven’t eaten since 11, it’s a nice little snack to carry you over until you can finally get some dinner.

The reason for starch balls in tea, or jellies, or coconut meat, or any of the other chewies “QQ” as the locals call it) that you find in your drinks in Taiwan is because of the Taiwanese love for texture in food. Texture is as much a part of the dish as its taste in Taiwan. In the US, we judge dishes on how well they taste, smell, maybe even look, but never on texture. We don’t want any strange textures in our food. Not the Taiwanese, they welcome new textures to their foods. Hence the obsession with shark fin, and other exotic sea foods like jelly fish and sea cucumber even though they don’t have any taste. So, don’t be surprised when you are offered a strange looking something and your host exclaims, “Good texture!”

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Jason Brunken (Taipei)

Relatd Video:

2. magic show

Wasai--- Who let the dogs out?

2007-09-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

I was visiting the National Tsing Hua University campus this past May and was perplexed by the many stray dogs that were walking through campus. Actually, I wasn’t sure if these dogs were strays or had owners. They walked through the cafeterias, begged for food by the tables, slept inside buildings and under any shade found on campus. There were dogs of all types and breeds, mostly mutts. One dog had a limp. However, I noticed they all had a collar on, and seemed to be well-taken care of. The oddest thing is that I only see these dogs within the campus. Rarely do I see them outside the downtown area or market place. Out of my disgust, I asked one of my friends who studied at NTHU about these dogs. She explained that there is a club on campus that takes care of stray dogs. They groom, feed, and vaccinate them so that they aren’t harmful to the campus students. The club even names each one of them. Due to the student’s care, the dogs are mostly well-behaved, quiet, and are very friendly towards people. The entire campus is their home. At my university (U.C. Berkeley), stray dogs stay as strays. No one cares about them, and dares not to go near them. We fear that the dogs have rabies, and make sure not to touch them. If the dog’s not on a leash, it’s bound to go to a city pound or animal shelter where they would stay there until someone adopts them. This was the first time I ever saw a student body taking care of stray dogs, as if they were their own. Now that I’m back on the NTHU campus, I’ve now come to have a certain fondness towards these dogs. If I were a dog, I’d like to live on the NTHU campus.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Caroline Ogasawara (Hsinchu)

===============================================

Happily Strayed

Coming from the US, I'm not accustomed to seeing stray dogs out and about on the streets. Having had so many dogs as pets had helped me to learn that dogs in numbers can be aggressive and dangerous. Seeing them collecting in the vacant lots of abandoned night markets looking for scraps I didn't feel they were dangerous. I wondered why this problem goes unchecked. Is there an animal control officer? Is there a dog pound? Are people encouraged to have their dogs spayed and neutered? I wondered about all these things until I came across a dog pound. Seeing the tiny enclosures the dogs were cramped inside, it dawned on me that the free roaming feral mutts I had grown accustomed to throwing any scraps that I could spare were the lucky ones. The animal situation is a very touchy one for foreigners in Taiwan. Many western countries have a longer tradition of animal rights than they do of human rights. Seeing so many animals running around uncared for, some victims of car accidents that have injured them very seriously, touches us more than stories of human injustice. Sadly, if my own country had the same outlook and care for our human homeless as it does for the homeless pet population, we would be a better country.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Aaron Andrews (Taichung)

related vedio:

Dog abuse against all odds stray dogs

Wasai---Unhealthy health care

2007-09-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be familiar with the nightmare of health services in some other countries. Well, not all forms of culture shock are bad! I still can't quite understand or explain the feeling of going into a doctor and paying with the money in my wallet. At home, a credit card, check, or a rich uncle has to accompany you to see every doctor, nurse or dentist. Even today, I'm still waiting for some mystery bill to show up in my mailbox saying I owe 1 million dollars for the 10 doctors visits, 5 dentist visits, and several trips to the Chinese traditional doctor I have had in my years in Taiwan.

I remember when I first started making Taiwanese friends that I thought, "Wow! They LOVE THE DOCTOR!" Everytime they sneeze, cough, or have a stomachache they run to the doctor. Many westerners don't go to the doctor except as a last resort when there is no chance of getting better through the expensive medicine bought in our pharmacies. When we fear this is getting serious, we breakdown and go to see a doctor.

When you grow up with something you just assume that is the right way, and if you don't find any reason to challenge it, you will maintain that idea. I was slow to see that around the world, seeing a doctor is something people do almost every time they don't feel well. It makes sense. Better safe than sorry, for sure, but when that sense of security in your health costs more than you can make with an honest days work, you tend to put off the trip to the dentist a few more months, you can ignore that cough for another week, and the pain in your back and shoulder isn't really as bad as you think. It took me coming to Taiwan to see what was really sick was the health care in my country.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Aaron Andrews (Taichung)

Wasai--- Niggar King

2007-09-17T10:24:00.001-07:00

Some Einstein in Zhongli decided to name his store “Nigger King” not long ago. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before some westerner saw it and reported it to the authorities, who called the Zhongli police and suggested they pay the guy a visit. The owner was apparently quite apologetic and promised to change the offensive sign immediately. Oh Happy Day. But what did he change it to?
“Niggar King”

Wow, he spent all that money to change a letter. Legally speaking, there’s not much the police can do, as there simply aren’t many laws here dealing with such issues. That’s why we get stores here with English names like this, “Motherfucker” (a clothing shop in an alley off Dunhua South Road) “Darkie toothpaste” “Hitler Cafe” etc. In general it’s not malicious behavior; they simply don’t see what the big deal is. For most shop owners it’s enough to have any English, even garbled nonsense, just to the majority of their customers see them as hip and trendy even though they don’t care what the English actually says, and they tend to be baffled when they’re told the signs are offensive. Though Western “offensensitivity” seems to have no bounds in some cases, it would be disingenuous to suggest that the Taiwanese cannot be racist, however. Just ask a worker from any Southeast Asian nation.
In any case, the Zhongli police apparently made another visited to the owner and suggested that “Niggar King” isn’t quite what they had in mind when they told him to change the sign. The Chinese name, by the way is “Hei ren wang” or “King of The Black People”. Looks like the owner’s going to have to shell out to change more than a letter this time.
Maybe “Nagger King”?

original post by Pogao http://poagao.org/pjournal/

photo (nigger king): The Real Taiwan
photo (niggar king): Pogao

related posts:
http://www.therealtaiwan.com/niggar-king/933

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Wasai--- Buying fish

2007-09-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

After living in Taiwan for a couple of years, I was invited to go to Yalio for the weekend. It was a lovely time; we saw the sights and swam in the ocean for the first time. In the evening, we sat around, drank copious quantities of beer, and even sat in on a few rounds of mahjong. In the morning, our friend, who is also a very good Chinese cook, decided that we should go to the harbor and see what fresh fish the fishermen were selling. When we got there, I noticed a nice big sea bass still swimming around in a small wash bucket. I asked the price, and since it was very reasonable, I decided to purchase this particular fish. Then, the fisherman asked me if I would like him to clean the fish for me. Since cleaning a fish is messy work, I said sure.Well, he grabbed the fish, raked all the scales off its body, cut open the belly and removed the innards, and then ripped out the gills. After a quick rinse, he put it into a plastic bag. But the fish was still alive and kicking, flicking around in the bag, gasping for air that it could not breathe. I felt very sorry for this poor fish that was dying as I walked down the street.

Then my friend noticed some fresh octopus. So we decided to purchase one to add to our brunch menu. The vendor opened the mesh bag that held one of these live octopi and proceeded to grab it around what would be considered its neck. Then with his thumb and two forefingers, the fisherman flicked his wrist and turned the octopus head inside out! Then he ripped the insides out of its head. Again, a quick rinse and into a plastic bag, wriggling and writhing as I walked back to the house to start making lunch.

Unfortunately, the two living-dead that I was carrying made me lose my appetite. Go figure.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: P. Tyler (Taipei)

Wasai--- Swastika 2

2007-09-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

Several days ago, I was shocked to spot a T-shirt with big Nazi Swastika on it. The T-shirt was located in a T-shirt store in Wu Fen Pu. In America, the Swastika symbol is synonymous with Hitler’s Nazi regime and genocide of the Jews. The Swastika reminded me of a serial killer and known as Nazi follower Charles Manson. Someone wearing this type of T-shirt in the United States might be associated withthe Nazis, Charles Manson, or hate in general. Therefore, it was shocking for me to see that this shirt. Swastika is a symbol notorious for “white power,” and against any other race. Anyone purchasing this shirt, in my opinion, would be regarded as supporting this type of attitude.

The major reason is the significance of a Nazi Swastika in both cultures. Because the US is a melting pot of various ethnic cultures, such a symbol of hate would not be tolerated. It would not be tolerated on someone of Caucasian descent or of any other descent for the implied associations. However, in Taiwan, whose population is made up of predominately Chinese, the symbol may not hold such association. Thus, the hate association means little or nothing. This is not to say that Taiwanese are ignorant or insensitive, it just may not be part of their culture. Therefore, to Taiwanese, there is no such negative affiliation with a Swastika. Maybe that’s why this shirt would sell in Wu Fen Pu but you would see it nowhere near Melrose Ave in Hollywood.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Eugene Yu (Taipei)

Wasai--- A very unusual holiday

2007-08-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

One day, after having lived in Taiwan for only a couple of months, I awoke to the sound of what appeared to be a massive festival. There was music blasting, people dressed up in costumes and performing, and people marching down the street with musical instruments. I walked to work that day, and saw that this festival went on for blocks and blocks, and that many roads had been closed off to traffic. People seemed very festive and happy, and I was sure that this must be a national holiday of some kind. When I arrived at work, I asked my co-workers what holiday was being celebrated today, and they were completely baffled as to what I was talking about. I described what I had seen on the way to work, and finally somebody figured it out. They told me that somebody must have died (!)

This was very surprising to me. Where I come from, funerals are very serious and solemn affairs. I attended a friend’s funeral a couple years ago in America, and the day consisted of people delivering quiet, serious speeches about the departed, and lots of crying and expressions of sadness. People usually wear black or very dark colors, and often hug each other to offer support. Although these are very sad occasions, people usually feel better after having expressed their sadness, and funerals offer a chance for people to let out their emotions, instead of keeping them “bottled up” inside them. I haven’t been in Taiwan for very long, so I’m not sure what the root causes are for these differences. Perhaps the Taiwanese have a different outlook on death? Or perhaps their culture prefers not to express negative emotions in public? When I die, would I rather that people wept over my passing, or that they threw a huge party in my honor? I think there’s something to be said for both approaches.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Randy Fowler (Taipei)

Wasai--- Making a name for yourself in Taiwan

2007-08-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Years ago, as an English teacher in Indiana, I learned to quickly memorize the names of students from four points of the globe. I couldn't pronounce them worth beans, but I could remember a basketful of Chinese names like nobody's business. Then, I had my first Taiwanese students. A joke going around the teacher's room at that time was, "My name is Bing-wang Flung, but you can call me Bob" referred to the Taiwanese fashion of adopting a Western name to make it easier to make friends with Westerners.

The trend can be traced back to te British colonial period in Hong Kong and the arrival of Christian missionaries. Some names, then, came from the Bible, such as Matthew James, Luke, Ringo. . . while others come from a dictionary. Some are chosen because they just sound cool.

Here is a list of some of the students that passed through our school this summer:There was, Silence, a quiet college student with a beautiful sounding name. Equal, a pudgy second grader; Clear, a bright-eyed young girl, and Juice a young college student who sat next to a girl named Apple.

One session, there was a girl named coconut who came back the next session named Mistubishi, and returned for a third shot of English with the name Computer.

I've given placement tests to Adonis, Neptune, Shiva, Orange, and Shagya (Oh be-Have). There were Yo-Yo, Ya-Ya, and Shoo. Shopping, Siting, Sing and Sting.

No idear where these came from: Sard, Bluce, Pevis, Junith, Chims, and Torocee.

There was Tangent, whom I never met, and Nomad who didn't stay around for too long. Septum was another one who deviated from the norm.

It could be worse. There was a noodle shop downtown called King Wang.

Paul Batt

http://battaiwan.blogspot.com/search/label/Culture

photo: http://blog.xuite.net/kenjidou/kenjidou/5531887

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Wasai--- Hugs, not drugs

2007-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

My first experience of Taiwan began before I had even set foot on the plane from America. Within moments of leaving my cab, and joining the line at Los Angeles airport, I fell into a conversation with a man from Singapore and a Taiwanese woman (the first person from Taiwan I had ever met). She was so helpful, asking me where I was planning to stay in Taiwan, offering to give me a ride from the airport when we got to Taiwan, and just generally going out of her way to be hospitable and kind. This was a level of helpfulness that I have never experienced from a stranger in the United States. At the conclusion of our 14 hour flight, I determined that the hostel where I planned on staying was very far out of her way, so I suggested that I take a cab instead. She talked to the airport information center to find out the location of my hostel, and then lead me to the taxi stand, and gave the driver instructions in Chinese. We traded phone numbers, and then I thanked her and gave her a hug goodbye. I noticed as I did this that she appeared to be extremely nervous, and very surprised. She didn’t respond the way someone normally does to a friendly hug, and seemed to be frozen.

I discovered later that the idea of a “friendly” hug is not usual in Taiwan. In America, if a man and woman know each other fairly well, a hug is a usual form of greeting or saying goodbye. Women also usually greet each other with hugs if they know each other fairly well. It is not as usual for men to hug each other, but certain men will, especially if they are greeting or saying goodbye to a very close friend whom they haven’t seen for a while, or don’t plan to see again in the near future. Pats on the back, shoulder, or arms are very usual among male friends. Hugs are a nice, friendly tradition between men and women, but there is nothing intrinsically sexual about them. If you think someone might be interested in you, you can often tell by the way they hug you. A friendly hug is much more casual (and usually shorter) than a hug between people who are romantically involved. After our long journey together, and after all the help she had given me, I thought it would be very rude to say goodbye with a cold handshake! From what I have learned, this difference in cultures starts very early. Mothers in America never stop hugging their children, often embarrassing their teenage kids, and continuing to hug their children when they’re grown adults. I understand now that this is not usual in Taiwan. Hugs are so common in America that there was an anti-drug slogan put out by the government that said, “Hugs, not Drugs"

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Randy Fowler (Taipei)

see some related videos:
1. Free hugs, Kaohsiung

2. Free hugs, Taipei (2006)

3.

VideoJug: How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

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Wasai---Ice water

2007-08-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Coming to Taiwan is a chance to experience new foods, and so I’ve found myself going to restaurants and eateries of all sorts as much and as often as I can find someone to go with me. Sitting down at one restaurant, after having walked around in a Taiwan summer and feeling the heat, out of habit I absentmindedly asked the waitress to bring me a glass of water with ice please while I browsed the menu wondering what to get. So it was with a bit of shock to hear that in fact, the restaurant didn’t have ice water. After all, what kind of restaurant doesn’t have ice water? Certainly none in America, not even the smallest hot dog stand lacks at the very least a cooler with drinks packed in ice. Yet in all my experience in Taiwan the only times I’ve encountered drinks with ice are in iced juice drinks or teas, and never ever have I run into ice water in Taiwan, not in houses or restaurants.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Bernard Kung (Hsinchu)

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Wasai--- Sidewalks

2007-07-30T01:54:00.000-07:00

At home we have sidewalks. They're places at the SIDE of the road where people WALK. They're safety zones for pedestrians. Sometimes there is even a strip of grass between the road and the sidewalk. We even have rules of etiquette for the proper to use of sidewalks. For instance, a man usually walks closest to the street if he's walking with a woman.

Here, in Taiwan, we have spaces in front of buildings that look like sidewalks to the Westerner but are hardly the same. The sidewalks here are much wider and used for much more than just walking. They're used by small vendors to set up tables of goods or food carts. They're also used as parking lots for motor scooters, and driveways to get to the parking spaces. To the Westerner they seem more like an obstacle course than a safety zone.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Peggie Scott (Hsinchu)

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Wasai---Temples in Taiwan

2007-07-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in Taiwan I was interested in all of the new and exciting things to do, and places to explore. When I was in college, and getting ready to come to Taiwan, I had learned a little about the temples in China. When my teacher taught us about them I was all ears. I have really wanted to see them in person, especially since I had seen so many in the movies while growing up. And when I heard that getting to one wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg, I was even more excited.

My first trip to a big Taiwanese temple was maybe a few weeks after I first arrived. When we headed out to see it I was expecting something spectacular. Like in the movies, I imagined a huge and ornate edifice on a hillside, surrounded by nature and beautiful scenery. I was not disappointed by the structure of the beautiful temple we went to, but the location threw me for a loop. When we first arrived, I didn’t even see the temple, but only the open markets along the streets. Then, as we were walking through these markets we were all of a sudden standing in a beautiful temple. I was surprised that the people had built so many shops around it, so that you couldn’t even see the temple from outside.

At first I had mixed feelings about making the area around the temple such a busy place. It is very different from what I had imagined they would be like, and from what the temples in the movies had always looked like to me. In the United States most religious places are void of loud and busy atmospheres. The majority of our churches are in empty, clean areas, and the only people who are there are quietly worshiping. But since that first experience at a temple I have had a change of heart. I have come to appreciate the unique culture and excitement of the temples and markets that are so closely situated to them. It all adds to the interesting experience and culture of coming to Taiwan.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Ryan Barber (Hsinchu)

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Wasai--- Taiwan, as I see it. (2)

2007-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the things I love about Taiwan, mostly because we don’t have them in Canada.
Tour buses with happy people singing Karaoke. Night market food stands where you can get a steak for $100NT. Taiwanese Chewing Gum (betel nut) beauties are so pretty! They are an authentic Taiwanese folk art. They are like Harley-Davidson choppers, not for everyone’s taste, but what eye-candies!

I like school uniforms. They make all the students elegant and the uniform doesn’t show who is rich and who is poor. Classrooms with windows on both sides make a lot of sense. I feel at home in post offices where they have writing desks, glue, twine and tape, all for free. In Canada we have to buy a roll. My thanks for the doctors who stay open until 10-11PM and charge little because they work fast. In Canada, you can’t find a doctor on Friday afternoon. They are out on golf courses all weekends. I enjoy theme parks with Monkey, Piggy and Monk Tang, logs and bamboo made from concrete, rock gardens with koi fish, Taiwanese Opera at temples, cheap rooms at some temples in the country.

Funeral processions delight me with their strange music, as well as when one temple god “visits” another with a huge retinue of costumed attendants and giant “generals”, their huge arms swinging, drums banging, flutes wailing, and one stringed instruments make the hair stand up on my neck. With pleasure, of course.

But, aside from the general warm welcome we get from the Taiwanese population, one group of people stand out above the rest: the tolerant Taiwanese policemen.
One dark night, I was coming out of a one-way alley in Taipei, the wrong way. Just as my luck would have it, a policeman was standing there as I made my turn, pulling drivers over at random. He motioned for me to stop, not at random, for certain. My chest tightened. I’m getting a ticket for sure, I thought. He looked at my papers. He looked the bike over. I had a Taiwanese 150cc Kwan Yang, modified to look like a Harley chopper. Lots of chrome, high handlebars, extended forks, double pipes…”Nice bike!” he said in English, and let me go.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Ivan Marinov (Hsinchu)

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Wasai--- Taiwan, as i see it. (1)

2007-07-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

I am not going to complain about the traffic; enough foreigners do that already. I like Taiwanese traffic. There are a lot of vehicles, motor scooters, buses, and trucks; there are lots of people, little space. In Canada traffic is orderly. There is no merit in that, we have the space and the police give out a lot of tickets.

I do mind scooters with their motors running, especially in front of a store where the sidewalk is covered. Don’t the owners know about carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide? It hurts everybody’s lungs!

I don’t like people spitting. And I absolutely hate garbage in the water. These things drive me up the (angry) wall. Nobody spits in Canada. Even “bad boys” turn off their motors when they go into a store. It’s highly illegal to leave a vehicle unattended with the motor running! Even insane Canadians don’t throw garbage into the water where the fish live. We like fishing too much. Litter, I can understand. In Canada, the good people always pick up after the bad people. In Taiwan, I’ve seen groups of students or church groups like Tzu Ji pick up litter. And Taiwan is a lot cleaner than before.

I have mixed feelings about dogs on scooters. It looks dangerous but everyone is used to it. But putting dogs in tiny cages would be against the law in Canada.

I love Taiwanese temples, but why do people have to light a handful of incense at a time? Lighting only one is enough for God or Buddha. But the incense sellers make a lot more money this way, don’t you think? Maybe they invented the custom. At the expense of the air quality, I should think.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Ivan Marinov (Hsinchu)

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Wasai---Scooter Flows

2007-07-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Nothing quite compares to driving in Asia. Especially since I’m broke, and not wanting to pay the high price for gas, almost always ride my scooter. It took me at least a month to really figure the scooter situation out. One of my friends had to fill me in on the ‘scooter box’ rules in big intersections, and if it wasn’t for them, I’m sure I would never have got it. Another one of my friends described the myriad of scooters on the road like a river of water, flowing around everything else. They couldn’t have been more correct. In many ways it’s really a miracle that so few people get hurt, with so many people moving in so many different directions all at the same time. And what’s more, many are not wearing very much by the way of protective clothing in case of an accident. On the flip side, when I do drive my car I’ve often been shocked by the way this river of scooters simply flows around me as I drive, but never quite touches me, and I have learned that I can drive with confidence that no one will hit me.

Now it’s been ages since I’ve driven in the States, but I still remember some big differences. Most come from the simple discrepancies in circumstance derived from more available land, and thus wider and more open roads, and much fewer motorcycles. In the United States the situation is so different that we often have problems with people falling asleep while driving, because you can go for a half hour without really thinking about what you are doing while driving. And my whole attitude about driving was different in the States. While I usually drive carefully in Taiwan for fear of getting hit by a car or scooter, back home I drove with a different type of fear. That was the fear of the police. What I’ve observed in Taiwan is that usually it doesn’t matter what you do on the roads, you probably won’t get a ticket unless you speed by one of those ticket giving cameras on the highways. But in the States it seems that the cops come out of nowhere to get you, and always want to ticket you for any mistakes you make along your way.

Ryan Barber

related videos:

Taiwan Drift

Discover Taiwan: transportation

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Wasai---Chinese Kong Fu

2007-07-14T12:06:00.001-07:00

One of my first fears of living in Taiwan as a foreigner was shet if something really serious should happen and I have t go to the hospital—communication will be a problem and god-only-knows what they might do to me. After a few years, sure enough my worst fear was realized. A back injury was really getting to be serious, my toes were going numb and it getting harder and harder to walk around. I knew it was getting serious when it was getting too painful to sit down. I only had two choices now—to live the rest of my life lying downed or go see a doctor. First I went to a highly recommended Western medical practitioner and she insisted that it was very serious and I would require surgery if I ever wanted to keep my legs. With nothing to lose I sent to a Chinese Gong Fu to mater. He told me it would take three massage treatments but that I would be okay after that. He didn’t tell me the treatments were more like torture and that he provided no anesthesia! During each massage I literally screamed in pain “hun tong, hun tong!” but he also didn’t tell me that every time I cried out he just went at me even harder to get all the pain out of me.

After three treatments one day I happened to sit down at my desk, and exactly what the little man said came true—all the pain and numbness that had been turning me into a cripple had simply disappeared. I still wonder about the differences between Western and Chinese medicine but now my suspicions have switched allegiances.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Tim Allen (Hsinchu)

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Wasai--- Chinese Medicine

2007-07-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

For some foreigners in Taiwan there is an adjustment period for a few years as their immune system adjusts to the new environment and a new set of pathogens. For me this adjust period brought me a few bouts with the stomach flu and indigestion. The advice the doctor gave me seemed a little strange—don’t drink any cold water. And that’s only the beginning of the strange medical practices that are very common in Chinese culture. I used to think all that herbology and bizarre treatments were very strange until I met Mr. Ling. When I first met him Mr. Ling had gone nearly bald—only a few scraps of hair in odd places around his head. However, a few years later he had a grown a beautiful thick growth of jet black hair and would even let you run your fingers through it to make sure it was real. All this was due to a concoction of Chinese herbology he had been taking. I am no expert but I know that, even with Rogaine, by Western medical standards that is impossible!

Now every time I hear of some Chinese medical practice that seems very strange to me I remember Mr. Ling and wonder. Maybe they know something that don’t teach at Harvard medical school.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Tim Allen (Hsinchu)

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Wasai---George Washington and the Cherry Tree

2007-07-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

In one of my first classes as an English teacher in Taiwan I made, what was for me an amazing discovery. Everyone had heard of that story of George Washington chopping down his father’s favorite cherry tree and then confessing “Father I cannot tell a lie, it was I who cut down your cherry tree.” It is remarkable when you think about it that such a simple story that may or may not have happened half a world away is well known in Taiwan. I was even more surprised to read in a book by Richard Hartzell that he had studied many works of Chinese literature and asked many students if there was any comparable story in all of Chinese literature. Neither he nor any of his students could find a story in all 5,000 years of Chinese culture with a similar moral--that you should speak truth to power even if it is a very inconvenient truth to swallow. Sure enough, I could find stories where the wise man tells one thing to one person and then the opposite to another presumably because it is the state of mind of the listener that is to be considered, but no story to praising the habit of telling the truth even if it very uncomfortable.

Ever since then I have wondered how much this could be responsible for the smooth operation of things here in Taiwan. Unless you watch the evening news you will see very few people getting angry in public and almost no disagreement on any issue. As a teacher I have been completely unsuccessful at every attempt so far to stir up a disagreement or a debate in any classroom, no matter how hard I try to encourage it! There seems to be a remarkable ability to frame and reframe opinions and viewpoints to smooth over any possible differences of opinions. Is this one of the secrets for a calm peaceful society? I wonder, if George Washington had been Chinese, what would he have told his father?

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Tim Allen (Hsinchu)

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Wasai---Ice Cream Truck?

2007-07-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

Originally getting used to living in Taiwan was easy as pie. Many things were similar to things in the States. Whenever I had problems someone always was more than willing to give me a hand, and often could even speak a little English. But despite all the help I was given, I can still occasionally make silly mistakes, which let everyone know how new I am to this country. For example, one day I was out for a walk with a friend when I heard a familiar sound coming from down the street. I immediately recognize it, or at least I thought I did. I heard a truck coming, and it was playing music loudly. We have trucks that drive around towns playing music in the United States too, and they sell ice cream on hot days. Well, that particular day was very hot, and I immediately went to get a bite to eat, only to come face to face with a big yellow garbage truck.

In the United States we also have garbage trucks in our cities. But they usually come on a schedule, the same times, maybe once or twice a week. Each house or business can bring their trash cans out and leave them on the side of the street, and when the garbage man comes by, he takes care of their garbage for them. I had never seen a truck before that plays music, and collects your trash. My friends though it was funny to see me make such a mistake. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get some of the ice cream that I had wanted so much. Then again, shopping is so convenient in Taiwan; I just had to cross the street to the Seven-Eleven to fill my craving.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Ryan Barber (Hsinchu)

related videos:
Garbage truck in Taiwan

Ad truck (Taiwan)

Garbage truck (the U.S.)

Heil Python ASL garbage truck

Ice cream truck cometh (U.S.)

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Wasai---Open Air Market in Taiwan

2007-07-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

The way open air markets differ from US to Taiwan has been one of aspects of taiwan i have failed to embrace. In america I enjoy making food, going to the market, buying food, making food and best of all eating the food. In taiwan, when i end up going to open air markets vendors I already feel very out of place with the crowds of older women giving me funny looks. Regardless, to find the price of something, instead of being asked nicely if I need help I am expected to yell at the vendor about how much the price of something is, all the while josteling with fellow shoppers. In america , yelling at a vendor would be considered somewhat rude and I do it with a lot hesitation often resulting in me getting ignored. Another interesting aspect of taiwan markets is the lack of refrigeration, especially at the makeshift butcher shops. In america meat is usually prepared in a very clean room and with clean high tech instruments and then immediately refrigerated. Watching butchers in taiwan hang raw meat out for viewing is unsettling, in fact I cant bring myself to buy meat like that. Though i realize that most meat in Taiwan is probably prepared like that, it seems too unsanitary to me, and just pretend that meat isn't prepared like such.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Bobby Chang (Hsinchu)

related video:
street market in Taiwan

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Wasai---Cross-culture Analysis of Education

2007-07-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

While studying in Taiwan, I have had the opportunity to experience a slightly different educational system. To a large degree, academic education is a highly valued commodity in Taiwan. In fact, academic prowess serves as the main, and – dare I say – sole means to evaluate the potential and intelligence of a student. As a result, standardized tests serve as the main tool to evaluate students. Admission into quality high schools, universities, and graduate schools are almost completely based on a student's standardized exam score. Due to this heavy focus on academics, every student I have talked to has attended cram school as a child. These cram schools act as second schools for many of the students who attend with many students in class from morning until late into the evening. The popularity of these cram schools make for a highly profitable business. Entire skyscrapers house a plethora of cram schools, and parents even sleep outside the night before in order to get their children into the best cram schools.

In the United States, supplementary course work is usually for students who are struggling with their normal school curriculum or span a few weeks in preparation for standardized entrance exams such as the ACT or SAT. Parents generally encourage their children to develop hobbies and interests outside of academics. Instead of cram schools, students regularly join extracurricular activities such as organized sport teams or common interest clubs. Many times, parents encourage adolescents to find part-time jobs more so for the experience than for financial reasons. Rather than solely a time for academic pursuit, Americans view college as a time for experimentation, self-discovery, and fun.

In Taiwan, the acquiring of “book knowledge” and the ability to succeed on standardized exams provide a means for upward mobilization – at least in the academic realm. Admission into a good high school, a good college, and a good graduate school are based on testing ability. In the United States, in addition to “book smarts,” students are encouraged to have “street smarts” or real life experiences outside of the classroom. In addition to grade point average (GPA) and standardized exam scores, college admission applications often ask for extracurricular interests, essays discussing personal experiences, and teacher recommendations. Elite colleges such as Yale, Harvard, and MIT include face to face interviews in their application process. Graduate school admission is much in the same fashion.

Ultimately, this difference in philosophy is due to differing views on the definition of intelligence and the proper skills needed to achieve success. In Taiwan, Confucius thought plays a large role in determining societal norms and educational philosophy. People in Taiwan generally place greater value on acquiring “book knowledge” than people in the United States. Parents constantly refer to their children's or other parent's children's college or class rank. “So-and-so's child ranked first in their class and goes to MIT!” Academic prowess garners respect for the child and parent. In the United States, students who may not achieve as high ranks in their class are not necessarily seen as lazy or under-achievers, but having talents other than academics. Parents brag about their children's achievements in areas ranging from academics, to sports, to social functions such as becoming class president or prom queen/king. As a result of these differing attitudes, the traits of a successful student are slightly different.

From my time abroad in Taiwan, I have come to appreciate the intricacies involving in the relationship between education and culture. A society's education and culture continually change with the advent of globalization and modernity, and they both influence the development of the other. The educational system in Taiwan is rapidly changing and developing along with Taiwan's dynamic culture. The educational system in Taiwan approaches an exciting turning point. Taiwan, a place where ideas and knowledge from around the world are consumed, is slowly transforming into a place where ideas and innovations emerge.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Sam Tsu

(Hsinchu, Taiwan--- Chicago, the U.S.)

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Wasai---Push my buttons

2007-07-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Going up to the Panoramic View Restaurant, located on the top floor of my hotel, I get into the elevator, push the ROOF button, and wait. There is a man inside the elevator. He gives me a dirty look, and pushes the CLOSE DOOR button. I have the feeling he is teaching me a lesson. Going down to the ground floor, I push the LOBBY button, and the same thing happens, a few women inside push the CLOSE DOOR button for me. We don’t do that back home. It feels redundant. If I push a floor button I know the door would close, and I would go. No need to push another button. But in Taiwan, the CLOSE DOOR button is the most worn-out button in the elevator.

Submitted to Wasai Taiawn by:Tad Isreal (Hsinchu)

Dont forget to push the button

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Wasai---Meaningless English words

2007-07-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

When I was fresh from the states I was surprised by how much is written in English here in Taiwan. As a native English speaker I often got a laugh from some of it, especially if I just didn’t get it. It was funny to me because there are many native English speakers in the immediate area, and any of them could have given the author of these English things a hand to fix those little problems. But instead they often just figure it out on their own, and are left with a concoction of words that falls a little short.
It’s true that I get a kick out of the English maladies because they are often silly, but I also was amused because it got me wondering what a Taiwanese student visiting America would think about the Chinese writings we have in America. It is often popular for Americans to use Chinese on a number of things because the characters just look so cool. For example, many of my friends who can’t speak a word of Chinese have tattoos on their bodies written in Chinese characters. They like them because the Chinese written langue is beautiful and intricate. But sometimes I wonder just what does their body art really mean. I have been told by some of my Chinese friends in America that often they see tattoos with bizarre or meaningless phrases. And when they had first got that tattoo I’m sure there were quite a few Chinese people in the area they could have asked. But perhaps in the states no one they know will ever really know what that tattoo really means, and they probably just don’t care. And likewise, I suppose few foreigners will read these signs in Taiwan, and most really don’t care either if the spelling is off.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Ryan Barber (Hsinchu)

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Wasai---Modesty

2007-07-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

In the US what goes on behind the closed door of a bathroom is very private and even embarrassing. We have special names for that room that don't give any clue about what one does inside of it, like "restroom" or "ladies room". Even the most commonly used name, "bathroom", carefully avoids any mention of the toilet. It can be hard for a visitor to get used to asking where the "toilet" is because then you're letting people know what you're going to do when you go there! Even harder is getting used to the way the facilities in the men's bathroom can be seen from outside the door. I find it very awkward to be walking by a bathroom and happen to see a man standing in front of the urinal relieving himself.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Peggie Scott (Hsinchu)

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Wasai---But where's the wedding?

2007-07-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

On my first day in Taipei we went to Danshui, where there is a lovely park. In the park a photographer was taking photos of a bride and groom. She had on a long, white wedding gown and he was in a tux, but there was no one else around. No Best Man nor Maid of Honor, no family members, no guests. My host explained that the wedding photos are taken before the actual wedding day.In the U.S. it's customary that the bride wear her gown for the first, and only, time at her wedding. All of the wedding photos are also taken on that day. It is even considered by some to be bad luck for the groom to see his bride in her gown before the actual ceremony.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Peggie Scott (Hsinchu)
related video:
K&Q wedding shoot

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Wasai---the "Swastika"

2007-07-04T04:56:00.000-07:00

In the West the swastika is associated with war and unimaginable inhumanity. Usually the only places we see it now are in history books or used by hate groups. The swastika is so closely associated with evil that the emotional revulsion many Westerners have when seeing it is
difficult to overcome.

So for Westerners, who are not familiar with Buddhism, seeing this "backwards swastika" comes as a shock. Even after we learn that the figure we see at Buddhist temples is a religious symbol that has been used for a thousand years it can still be hard to disassociate it from the negative feelings.

Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Peggie Scott (Hsinchu)

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Wasai-- Betel Nut Girls

2007-07-04T04:48:00.000-07:00

Back in the States, in the heyday of night clubs, lovely young women,in not very many clothes, would drift among the patrons with a tray of tobacco products calling, "Cigars, cigarettes?". And today, Cocktail Waitresses line their closets with saucy outfits designed to bring big tips. Hooters, the restaurant named after a popular aspect of the female figure, seems to have developed a thriving business on the premise that sex sells.
Yet, somehow, when I first arrived and saw Taiwan's glass-caged lovelies, my jaw dropped. No hiding in dimly lit, smoke filled rooms for these business women. They offer drive-through (or drive past, as the case may be) service to their customers. It all seemed so blatant, so not subtle.
A year later and I'm still fascinated with the betel nut girls.
Submitted to Wasai Taiwan by: Peggie Scott (Hsinchu)

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Hot Links

2006-08-01T23:19:00.000-07:00

Taiwan image

Taiwan travel

Forumosa

Taiwan Ho

Our Hsinchu

New Taiwan, Ilha Formosa

The real Taiwan

Poagao

The view from Taiwan

The new hemisphere bushman in Taiwan

What’s up in Taiwan

David on Formosa

The Taiwan Chronicles

The foreigner in Taiwan

Bloggers in Taiwan

Scott Sommers’ Taiwan Weblog

Talking Taiwanese

城市咖啡

Contributions

2006-07-31T22:50:00.000-07:00

In an effort to enhance cross-cultural understanding and competency between Western and Chinese cultures. We are looking for ex-pats to write about their experiences living in Taiwan. Specifically, we would like to know have you ever found something interesting or unusual about Chinese culture? If so, please share your experience(s) with us.

Here is what we are looking for in the cross-cultural essays:

1. Write an anecdote of your experiences that best describe a contrast between Taiwan and your home country. Try to focus on the differences that lead you amazed, surprised, or even shocked. Please try your best to describe the situation in full detail. If you do not have a specific story, you can write about your observations or opinions of the cultural items or phenomena.

2. Please try to account for the reason why this aspect of culture or items made you feel surprised or amazed.

3. 300- 600 words is enough for the essay.

4. Please write about one aspect of culture or one cultural item in each essay. Do not mix topics together.

5. Please provide related photos if possible.

6. Please write in a more academic style and try to be creative and humorous!!

7. Please name a title for your essay.

Send your essays to wasaitaiwan@gmail.com

About us

2006-07-31T22:42:00.000-07:00

What does "Wasai" mean???

“Wasai” is the exclamatory expression that Taiwanese would utter when they feel surprised, amazed, or even shocked. “Wasai” serves the same function as “wow” in English. “Wasai” is used rather restricted to teenagers or youngsters in Taiwan. Originally, Wasai was mainly used in Taiwan, rarely heard in other parts of Chinese-speaking areas. However, with the wide spread of broadcasts such as TV, radio, Internet and other media, “Wasai” might also be heard in Mainland China or Singapore occasionally.

We chose the name “Wasai Taiwan” for two major reasons.

First of all, for the foreign residents, whatever cultural backgrounds, must discover that parts of Taiwan’s culture is different from their native one, which may lead to foreign residents’ surprises, either positive or negative, and thus they may say“Wow” (To be more localized, they may say “Wasai” instead.)

Second, for local Taiwanese who read the articles written by foreign residents, they may also feel surprised about things that are taken for granted are now observed and felt quite differently by the foreign residents. Therefore, “Wasai” might be heard constantly by the local Taiwanese readers.

Our intent for creating such a weblog is not just to magnify differences between the two cultures, but we hope that both sides of the readers can be aware of the disparities and therefore have a better understanding of their own culture and their counterparts'. Put differently, the aim of this website is to enhance cross-cultural understanding and competency between Western and Taiwanese Cultures. Below, you will find a collection of personal anecdotes written by individual ex-pats who live or have lived in Taiwan that compare and contrast their everyday life experiences in Taiwan with that of their own native culture.

Please enjoy!!

If you would like to know more about this website, or would like to make a contribution, please contact Louis, Karen, or Ryan via email at

wasaitaiwan@gmail.com

This project is sponsored by National Chiao Tung University.

Video

2006-07-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

Travel in Taiwan

Taiwanese Commerce

Popular culture

Tribes in Taiwan

Transportation

Food

Life in Taiwan

Life in Taiwan

2006-07-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Taipei frenzy
An evening in Taipei—shopping frenzy, food frenzy, an insight into crazy urban life.

Taiwan garbage time

Taking out the trash

A mobile vendor

Betel nut girls Taiwan

Pole dancers and betel nut girls

7-11 Hello Kitty magnet collection

Engrish notebooks

Food

2006-07-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

The short clip introduces Taiwanese snacks from food stalls with the music of the “modified” national anthem of Taiwan.

Taipei food

Transportation

2006-07-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Scooter masks

Taiwan’s Hsuehshan Tunnel 1 ( Discovery)
Man made marvel

Taiwan’s Hsuehshan Tunnel 2

Taiwan’s Hsuehshan Tunnel 3

Taiwan’s Hsuehshan Tunnel 4.

Taiwan’s Hsuehshan Tunnel 5.

Tribes in Taiwan

2006-07-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

Time and Music in a Disappearing World
This is a short vignette of story told by the filmmaker Aaron Hose about his experience as he documents the story of discovery of Tony Coolidge of his Taiwanese indigenous ancestral roots.

Tribes of Taiwan
A short demo for a documentary series on the modern and traditional tribal music culture in Taiwan

Popular culture

2006-07-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hand in Hand
The song, Hand in Hand, was sung by many Taiwan artists in an attempt to strengthen the faith of people in Taiwan to fight against the lethal epidemic SARS.

Leehom on CNN part 1

Wild on Taiwan
Asia pop diva, Co Co Lee, introduced you some interesting places in Taipei.

Taiwanese Commerce

2006-07-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

Made in Taiwan

Innovative Taiwan

vote test

2006-07-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Take the poll

pic

2006-07-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

Travel in Taiwan

2006-07-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

Taiwan

This is my Taiwan