Jangmi

Another typhoon is almost over. It is slowly becoming a routine. This one was a bit worse than the previous, even the European media reported it. It cut off the electricity in many places, caused some mud slides, a bus was flipped over somewhere on the freeway and many trains and even MRT line stopped operation temporarily. The dorms seem pretty safe so far. Anyways, I made a video from the dorm windows for a bit better typhoon experience:




At this time, it must seem like this blog is actually dedicated to typhoon coverage in Eastern Asia. But there really isn't any other choice, as there is so many of them and they always almost completely shut down the life in Taiwan. Anyways, I had a lot of time to study, do homework and such over the weekend. When even that became boring, a little blessing came: I was asked to put up more pictures of myself here, and also shown a little funny website (many thanks to Marie for both :) Result?



1956............................ 1960


1970............................. 1976


1984 ........................... 1990

I guess a typhoon can have an impact on one's mental health. Regardless. This will actually help me solve one of my bigger Taiwan nightmares - going to have my hair cut. Being aware of the fact that I have a hard time explaining how do I want to have my hair cut even in my native language, doing it in Chinese will, at some point, be simply hilarious. But now, I can simply print out one of these pictures and show it to the barber. Please help me, pick out the best one and leave your opinion in the comments :)

Fire prevention workshop

The last week has been what will most likely become a "standard life in Taiwan" week. I. e. no acting like a tourist or a foreign visitor.. Classes (at the university and Chinese), homework and readings, sports, few parties. There also was the club fair on Thursday and Friday - a chance for students to join one of the dozens (possibly hundreds) of NCCU clubs. They range from the conventional ones (tennis, choir, guitar club) all the way to the rather unusual ones (tea drinking, acupuncture, manga), as well as those where I even with my best effort couldn't understand what they do. I have planned to attend several club meetings next week and definitely join some of them (probably not Falun Gong - meeting starts every day at 4:55 a.m., or the traditional folk dances).

Several things were supposed to be happening here this weekend. First, the Fire Prevention Workshop in the dormitories on Saturday. Apparently, this is a really important thing, we literally can't live in the dorms without having the workshop information. Moreover, people who fail to attend get 8 - 10 penalty points (whoever accumulates over 10 points is kicked out of the dorms). The workshop was originally scheduled for 2 weeks ago, but was cancelled due to the typhoon. 

I wasn't too happy about this rescheduling, as I had planned to join a camping trip with the "Mountain climbing club", which was originally supposed to be an overnight trip, Saturday until Sunday. Therefore, I wouldn't be able to attend the fire workshop. However, I would have a chance to go to a fire station some place in Taipei on my own and make it up later (and not get kicked out of the dorms). 

What happened instead? Attentive readers of the blog may have guessed... surprise, surprise...

A Typhoon is coming!

At this time, the typhoon is still pretty far away from Taiwan, and is supposed to hit us on Sunday evening. At the moment, it is a Category 5 typhoon (that's the worst one), or a Super typhoon. It is supposed to get weaker before getting here. Just in case though, the camping trip got cut to Saturday only, hence no more camping. However, on Friday night it started raining and rained the whole night, so the trip was cancelled completely. Which is too bad, but at least I thought, I'd have time to do the fire workshop. It was announced to last all morning, for 3 hours - lot of knowledge to be learned for sure! 

What happened in reality: Each student picked up a little form, filled it out and was asked to attend 3 checkpoints and get a stamp at each (as a proof of completion). First one was the "smoky room". I guess we were supposed to learn how to act in room full of smoke. So we stood in a big line and when our turn came, walked into this "smoky room". It was built in the corridor, about 3 meters in length, just few plastic sheets representing the room, at there indeed was some smoke inside. It wasn't hot, didn't make us choke, the visibility was pretty good. We walked through the "room" and got the stamp. Task completed. How the hell was that supposed to help me do the right thing in case of a fire?? 

Second checkpoint, I don't even know what it was. As I came, the firemen were finishing an explanation of something in Chinese. Then I joined all the others to get the stamp.

Third checkpoint was a fire hose tutorial. Basically, each person got to hold the hose for about 30 seconds, spray a nearby tree with water. Task completed. It was possible to get the stamp without even doing the hosing thing. 

So in the end, the fire workshop took about 20 minutes, out of which 15 minutes was waiting / walking / filling out a form. I can't imagine how this could help anybody. And yet, many people had to stay in Taipei for the weekend because of this, and those who don't show up get kicked out of the dorms. Sometimes, this place can be pretty ridiculous.

Jinguashi & Jiufen

Last Sunday, I organized a little trip to Jiufen and Jinguashi. These are two rather old, small towns on the ocean shore, about 90 minutes North-East of Taipei. They are popular tourist destinations, most notable for its breathtaking scenery of steep slopes and the ocean (for a foreign tourist, that is). There also used to be gold mines here - now rebuilt into a mining museum in Jinguashi.

One thing I simply love about public transportation here in Taiwan - even if these are really small places pretty far away, there is a bus leaving from Taipei every 5 - 10 minutes. 

Now, for the pictures. Joining the trip were, Jana - a Czech Master's student, Ryan - my Canadian classmate and Tomas - a Czech exchange student. 

First, we make our way to Jinguashi (金瓜石) and check out the "Gold Ecological Park", i.e. an outdoor mining museum. 

There are several old gold - refining factories, dormitories for the miners, old railway..

Entrance into the mines..

And a big golden brick in the museum. The weight is about 270 kg and value - don't know, but it's worth a lot of money.

As we're walking around, we have nice views over the sleepy Jinguashi town, as well as the nearby Jilong mountain. The mountain lies directly between Jiufen and Jinguashi and soon became the main destination of our trip. We have plenty of opportunities to size it up..

And then get going. Once again, it's scorching hot, so these "pit stops" along the way are very welcome.

The views from the top are amazing and absolutely worth the hike.

 

A peaceful moment at the summit. Not very many tourists come up here.

We meet a few brave ones on our way down.

Jiufen (九份) is the last place on our list. This is an old town with a spectacular setting.

And once again, we get to admire the Jilong mountain. 

Once again, most tourists don't have a chance to admire the vistas. They come to Jiufen for something different.. Shopping, particularly in this little lane. It is like any other Taiwanese shopping lane.. food stands, shops selling just about anything, and huge crowds of people. I didn't find anything particuarly enjoyable about it, but I guess that's just me. The locals apparently love the crowds. The moment we walked out of this area, to a place that has fresh air and views (see above), we were all by ourselves again. I still fail to comprehend the logic behind coming to a historic town for shopping. 

Regardless, the trip was very nice.

Taiwan facts and observations (I)

Ever since I arrived here, I've been trying to notice the little things that are somehow unique to Taiwan, or the Far East, and that are not too obvious to someone who's never been to this region before. This is my first list of Taiwanese observations, hopefully there will be more observations and more lists in the future.

Now, a word of warning especially for the Taiwanese readers. Having just finished my assigned readings for the Research methods class, I am fully aware that it's a lot of generalization and everybody is not like that. 

The Taiwanese people

• Sleep on really hard mattresses, at least by western standards. IKEA sells soft ones, hence saving many foreigners here from insomnia.
  
• Love to sleep in the library (I saw that in Hong Kong as well) 
• All seem to have mastered the art of pencil-twirling. 
• Over 50% of people wear glasses, 80% of those are the thick-framed ones.
• Never leave the building without an umbrella. Umbrellas are used for protection from the rain, or from the sun, or as a fashionable accessory.
• Speaking of umbrellas, every shop and public building has a very convenient rack to leave the umbrella at the doorstep.
• Baseball is the most popular sport. The biggest sports star is Wang Chien-Ming, a pitcher for the New York Yankees.
• Love to eat eggs and often boil them in tea. 7-11 sells boiled eggs.
• The idea of tourism is, find the most crowded place possible, hang out there, eat, go shopping.
• By far the most popular means of transportation is the scooter. There are special scooter traffic rules, areas for them to wait at the traffic lights etc.
• Speaking of that, a lot of people wear face masks to protect themselves from pollution when driving around, and yet act suicidal on the scooters (why even bother getting the mask?).
• Stand in orderly lines when waiting for the MRT, but then get stuck by the door and block the entrance / exit once inside.
• Can often be seen dancing in public places (parks, squares etc.)

Other random facts

• Taiwan uses its own calendar. At the moment, we have year 97. The start of the calendar is apparently the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912.
• MRT announcements are in 4 languages. Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, English.
• Just about any food can be purchased in the "on the stick" version from street vendors.
• To order in a restaurant, one usually has to fill out a special "form" and take it to the staff.
• Most toilets are of the squat type.
• Every bus seems to have a different stop signal. Sometimes, the signal is very long, loud and annoying (how can the drivers listen to it all day long is beyond my understanding).
• Last but not least, it is Taiwan, not Thailand.

Saturday afternoon stroll in Maokong and the cultural differences

Friday night was dedicated to exploring the bustling city and nightlife in Taipei (more about that some other time). Upon returning to campus, I met some friends from Slovakia and few beers outside the local 7-11 convenience store followed (truly conveniently open 24 hours a day). After that, I met some Polish friends who had just realized that they really miss home and opened their bottles of Zubrovka to drown the sorrow (greetings to all AEGEE people :). Therefore, Saturday morning didn’t happen as I only got out of bed around noon. Fortunately, we get on well with my roommate in that department. My usual bedtime here is around 1:30 a.m. (with the exceptional 4 a.m.). However, in the 2 weeks I’ve been here, Joyce never went to sleep before I did – not once. He also never got up before me.

In the afternoon, I decided to go for a short walk in Maokong, the mountains directly above the university. This is a popular weekend getaway place for the local population, famous for its temples, tea plantations & tea houses (especially the well-known Oolong tea) and the Maokong gondola to facilitate transportation up the mountain. The weather was nearly perfect for such an occasion – a clear day and scorching heat – around 35 degrees Celsius.

Below is a picture story I created to explain the cultural differences between a Czech student in Taiwan and the local population. 

Here's how a Czech would go on an afternoon stroll:

The trail begins at the campus. It is best to first read all the optimistic warning signs to be well prepared:

For these steps. A French student told me about them. Apparently, these are the never-ending steps. He never made it all the way up. That makes me even more determined!

The steps felt like they were never-ending, but in the end, the trail changes.

And the trail leads further and further into the woods (and always up!)

At this point, it is still possible to meet other living things. As far as the dogs are concerned.. I guess it's too hot for them. 

The effort is rewarded with nice views of the surrounding mountains and the gondola lift.

The famous Zhinan temple, with a gondola station behind it. One can hear the bells and the chanting of the monks from these temples along the way.

The view of Taipei city, with the 101 on the right. The day was clear, but misty, so the vistas aren't that great. 

Walking even higher up, I walked past many tea plantations like this one:

I got to mingle with the local tea farmers..

And watch them working.

The braver people can dare to follow them deeper..

.. into the jungle.

The last part of the journey is literally jungle with no visible trail. I was trying to push away that nagging thought of said poisonous snakes. This is what your average stroller looks like upon arrival to the ultimate destination (one of the higher mountains in the area, at an elevation of about 500 meters above the sea level. The elevation of the university campus is about 30 meters. Did I also mention it was really damn hot today? That's where the exhausted looks come from.)

But then, the view from up here are great. Zhinan temple again, from the highest point.

More views of the Taipei basin.

The feelings of achievement finally takes over. Plus the fact that it's only downhill from here.

This is back to civilization. And to the cultural shock.

This is how you do a Saturday afternoon stroll if you come from Taiwan. You take the air-conditioned gondola up to the mountain.

Once you get there, you go shopping.

And take some pictures to show all your friends how adventurous that was.

Image is especially important. You have to look stylish while taking the pictures!

Wow, that was really exhausting! Time for lunch!

The more adventurous dare to venture a bit further away from the station. 

For example, to sing karaoke..

Or to check out the cafe with one of the weirdest names ever.

What about some tea? I recommend this jewel, which hasn't realized since 1989, that it's better to stay away from English if you don't really know how to use it.

Nevertheless, the temples are still nice.

Especially with the 101 in the background.

What a nice day that was! Time to take the gondola back down and go eat to recover from all the eating and drinking.

Which is too bad, because the views at night are great too. 

The walk turned out to be a bit longer than I had planned. Still, really nice. Tomorrow we are going to the seaside and I hope it will be a bit cooler and the hills a little smaller. I bet I will be just like the Taiwanese before long.