Status Quo, the beach, and cheese

School is going well, teaching about 20hrs a week, but it requires about an additional 10 hrs of planning, grading, and other trivial activities. Seeing how were still waiting for some semblance of fall, let alone winter, we decided a trip to the eastern shoreline was in order. We boarded a train (five of us) at the main subway station and were off. The trains are a stark contrast from everything else in Taipei, there is as much structure and rigidity as a James Joyce novel. We were relegated to the galley-way which was fine because we neglected to close the doors which provided a nice breeze and incredible scenery as we snaked through the city into the mountains and back down along the coast. It also allowed unimpeded drinking. We missed our intial train so we got on another that took us to within a short taxi ride of our desired locale, Dasi. The train/cab ride took about two hours and cost each of us roughly $6-7. When we got to Dasi it was dark and we were the only people on this 300yd stretch of sandy beach, sans a few night fishermen. We proceeded to set up camp, start a fire, eat, and of course drink. I know, not a good idea. Eventually we ended up in the ocean where I abruptly lost a sandal, and cut up my leg. The shelf falls precitipitoulsy at about 5 ft, and within 15ft you can't touch bottom. The waves are also the biggest I've ever seen firsthand. Easily 8-10ft consistently. The next day we went into "town": a strip of small apt's and shops and a few surf shops. It's truly amazing, here we were in this quaint town tucked between a string of mountain peaks, and right on the coast only 1 1/2 hr train ride outside a major city and it's as though these people were the Japanese soldiers who were stranded in the Pacific and had no idea WWII was over until found and enlightened by sailors 20yrs after the fact. No hotels, nice palacial homes, or even restaurants. We camped right on the beach, and just in front of this old, run down building that could easily be mistaken for something from the Greek Acropolis.Come to find out it's an old anti-aircraft base orginally constructed by the Japs during WWII to fight off Americans. Afterwards it was used by the Chinese Nationalists who escaped China in '49 and settled in Taiwan. They set up a quasi-embassy and warning beacon against Chinese subs and ships. It looks like no one has inhabitated it since the late 50's. As with a litany of other things in this country and region, it was a surreal sight. Sunday we left around 4pm, all toll we saw maybe 20-30 other people on the beach in our time there. I don't know what's more telling: the fact that we can go to the ocean and swim in it in late October, or the fact that no one else in Taiwan seems to care about said fact. The weather here is pleasant, most days it's low 80's or upper 70's. It's now dry and windy all the time and rain is rare. I've been told this is the most pleasant time of the year and thus far I concur. Next Wednesday it'll have been two months here, hard to fathom it's been that long. Working on my Mandarin, I know the #'s and a few basic phrases, the problem is that the tones are hard to master. They have 5 different tones so a word such as chi, can mean seven when said with a flat tongue, or excuse/sorry when said with a rising tongue. The characters are downright silly, not in the comical sense, but in tryin to understand them. The Chinese have purposefully kept them hard to learn and interpret for thousands of years in order to subject the masses and keep the status quo. "I hate a Roman named Status Quo." I finally ate pizza the other day, a friend from work informed us of an all you can eat Pizza Hut, it's $8 which is as much as I spend in a day, but damn it was worth it. Oh I how I miss cheese....

Soma and whatnot...

I have had a craving for reading a lot lately. Not sure if it's Taipei or not, but I have been reading anything everywhere. I read the two english papers everyday and then I will read or buy a Nat Geo mag at a local used book store and read it cover to cover. I drink some chilled drink and sit in a cafe and read. It's good. I like my life. Money is still tight, as the startup fees in moving to a foreign country are daunting. Yet the living is easy, cheap, and agreeable. I have an established set of friends that I work with, there all laid back and diverse. School is going reasonably well, lots of time at school, but its not hard. Went to Hong Kong last week. Met up with Matt in Hong Kong, he lives in a nice apartment with a Brit and Canadian. When I got there I had my debit card eaten by an ATM, luckily Matt was able to lend me money. We explored HK, a very hilly island, evcerythign is either straight up or down. Though its also so British, trolleys, driving on the other side of the road, pubs, donner kebabs, even the cabs and language. Much more Western than Taipei, ex-pats are ubiquitious. Not much else to note, a few discouraging thoughts. First, people dont move here, there is no sense of urgency. They wander, dwindle, mosey, lag, and sassha throughout the city. Even on busy streets during the day they walk around slowly with no sense of awareness of other people. If this was a video game and there was a catgegory for crowd awareness these people would rate a 0. Sorry for the obscure, quasi-nerdy reference, but thats how it feels. They just don't understand why a big American is running them over. The banks here are horrible. Apparently they are notorious for their ridiculously wretched banks. They are slow, ineffecient, and too bureaucratic. I have been to banks twice, both times I sat there for over an hour after finishing the paperwork. Those are my gripes, few and relatively minor. The food is good, started tutoring my landlord for about $100 a month, plus meals. People are so subservient and laid back, they go out of their way to try to accomodate you. I wanted to make it know: anyone who has an interest in coming to Asia, is more than welcome to come and stay with me. It's an opportunity to visit Asia on the relatively cheap. Anywho, she she shien