When in Rome...?

The old adage 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' may have worked well for those visiting the Holy Roman Empire at it's peak, as those were dangerous times, and may still work for some travelers even today. I admit, I tried my best to fit in in Taiwan; I ate local food from street stalls and markets, I took public transit, I even started to learn Chinese - and managed to learn just enough to get by in most situations, like what to do in a taxi when you think he's driving you around, or in a restaurant when you're pretty sure that "vegetable" once had eyes.

After some time living in a strange culture, one naturally adapts to their surroundings, and some will even adopt mannerisms, good or bad, that stick with them for years after the experience. Whether it be out of survival or comfort or something else altogether is neither here nor there, but no matter how many strange customs I come across, there are some that never stuck to me.

First, public nose picking. Really, people? Even behind a hand, I can still see what you're doing! And also: it's disgusting!!
Second, plastic blue flip flops. I totally accept inexpensive ten-cent footwear on the extremely poor, but I've seen people get out of Mercedes wearing these awful night market plastic sandals.
Third, budging in line. Had I not grown up in Canada, I might take budging in line as part and parcel of daily living in a crowded urban environment, but I was raised in what I consider a civilized society and some things are just universally rude to me. Budging is near the top of the list. Nose picking, a close second.

I've had plenty of time to reminisce about the past four years in Taiwan, and now that I have less than two weeks until we leave for England, I'm trying to sum it up here on the blog. Part of it is that I want to feel like the time we've spent here hasn't been a total waste, that I'm coming out the end of it a little older and a little wiser. I suppose I can only count myself as wise if I take what I've learned here and don't repeat mistakes.

One of my only regrets, and I don't have many, is that we never traveled the island very much. Apparently, the rest of Taiwan is very beautiful, so it's unfortunate and unfair that the view of Taiwan that will remain in my mind is of an overcrowded, polluted city, when it's hardly representative of the whole country.

I am trying to get in what I can, though, in my own little corner of Taiwan. I've been eating some things I'm pretty sure I won't get anywhere else, like onion pancakes and bubble tea (I had the bubble tea in Canada, and it's just not the same as where is was invented!). I've also been hiking up Tianmu Trail on a semi-weekly basis, which winds steeply up the side of the mountain, and the photos here and in the post above are from my most recent hike (um, I mean, stair climb). Make what you want of them, as they're pretty self-descriptive. Butterflies, dragonflies, trees, mud, palm trees, heat. Yep, that pretty much sums up Taiwan: bugs, mud, and heat!

There are days, though, when I don't feel like climbing a mountain in 35 degree heat, so I climb the semi air conditioned stairwells at the mall. No joke. Takashimaya, the mall nearest my apartment, is 12 storeys, not including the 5 levels of basement, and each floor has two flights of stairs. Four times up and down amounts to 96 flights of stairs in 20 minutes; and yes, my butt still hurts!