January 30, 2007
Welcome to ‘Taiwan Seriously’

Another site on Taiwan, exactly what we needed. Right? One problem with writing about Taiwan is that it is such a small country with so many people in it. 23 million people are living on an area smaller than the Netherlands or Switzerland. However, the latter are home to only 16.5 million and 7.5 million people, respectively. So, Taiwan is densely populated but well developed and as a result everything that can be done and can be written about has probably already been done and written about numerous times over. That presents some creative stress if one wants to be innovative. However, it can be done.

If you click on Links, you’ll get to a growing list of sites about Taiwan, sometimes with comment, sometimes without - basically sites I like or find useful. (I found only a few sites that impress me - no offense intended.) If you know a site that you think should be there, let me know.

Why do I add another site to the list of Taiwan sites, when it’s so difficult to be interesting and impressive? May be because I have been living in Taiwan for almost a decade now and it’s about time to show off. May be I think, that I can do better than others. May be I can, you’ll be the judge.

I think it’s one of those things that one decides to do and then it’s too late to stop, because the mind is made up. Or it’s because it gives me an incentive to get away from the computer once or twice a week, leave house and neighborhood and check out some things.

I’m going to write something interesting now and then. Always from a personal (a.k.a opinionated) point of view. Promise. And I’ll put up some useful information (a.k.a. facts) now and then. I’ll focus on Kaohsiung, because that’s where I live.

I’d love to tell you more about me, but may be you won’t love it as much as I. So, I put it elsewhere. Click here, if you are interested.

Charon

February 5, 2007
Why I like Taiwan

As I said that my remarks here will be ‘opinionated’. It’s something that comes naturally and when I start venting my thoughts on Taiwan, some people might ask why I am actually here. Why don’t  I leave if I don’t like it? So, I think, it’s a good idea to start out with saying that I like Taiwan. Not all of it, but that’s true for every country I know.

What do I like about Taiwan? First of all, I like the people. It’s not a perfect love, of course. Asian culture is very different from Western cultures. One notices that about a year or so. But people are friendly, hard working, sincere - that’s a start. And when they treat you like dirt, act opportunistic, self-centered, narrow-minded - it’s not personal. They do it to each other, too. It’s a cultural thing ... more about that elsewhere. At the bottom-line the people of Taiwan are quite a lovable bunch.

Then there are the external issues. This is a world very different from the one I grew up in. Every day I am reminded of the fact that I live in an exotic place and people back home pay a lot of money to come here for a few weeks. Palm trees and rice fields in front of the door, downtown – and if you drive a few kilometers to the east ... everywhere.

Tropical climate and vegetation everywhere you look, tropical fish sold as food, crabs as large as a pizza, tropical fruits, strange smells and tastes. And a style of writing that to the uninitiated look like painting – all this still evokes a sense of wonder and magic – even after almost a decade.

Two of my children are born in Taiwan. All four go to local schools, speak perfect Chinese. They have their friends here, they don’t want to leave. How can you not like a country when your children do? And among the Asian countries Taiwan is still one of the easier ones to be in. Taiwan is more open to foreigners than Korea and Japan, for example. Okay, Hong Kong is more westernized, better restaurants, better bars, more access to Western culture – but then, do they have anything even remotely similar to Taroko Gorge? Thailand, Malaysia, …. may be a competition ... back to  Taiwan.

Internet flat rate for 13 USD – not too bad, and that’s not even the cheapest option. No heating required due to the climate – a few more years of global warming will even do away with the few weeks of winter – defined as December, January and February when temperatures below 20 centigrade have occasionally been observed. Okay, in summer our electricity bill goes up to 200 USD due to air conditioning – but that’s for two months. They send the bill bi-monthly here.

What else? Shops open around the clock - not all, but food and drinks you get here 24/7, even some supermarkets are open around the clock. In case of a cultural emergency, there is always McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Subway, Burger King. Some of my friends survive on these, but if you are not a food person that makes life easier. However, the food is okay, even if you don’t warm up to animal intestines, duck palm, pig blood with jello, cold chicken, rubber fish and vegetables that look like meat ... just to mention a few ... and the reckless use of vinegar ….

And I like the disproportional ratio of sunny days in the Taiwan south, where I live. If you life in Taipei: the sun is the big round thing you see from the rooftops. I like the wide streets of Kaohsiung and the playful architecture. Some of those fixtures on the roofs of downtown high-rises – entirely without function – are really cute. They put the reckless us of naked steel and concrete, into a more acceptable perspective. And life everywhere - even when you drive through the most desolate road, street, lane or alley – a turn around the next corner will land you in a buzzing center of activity, colorful shops all over again.

We have an electrical motorcycle. Whenever we run out of juice on the road – once or twice a year – we ask anybody with an electrical outlet and they will let us recharge while we chat - if you find someone at home, that is. People are working most of the time, but there is always a shop, or two, or ten that are open – or a security guard of one of those high-rises who has nothing else to do.

These are just a few things that come to mind. Remember that  when you read some of my other articles. I like Taiwan.

Charon