Impressions after 7 months

This post was supposed to be titled impressions after 6 months but for obvious reasons I changed it.

Things are going quite well and I've settled into a nice little life here. I've been trying to see as much as I can around Taipei and Taiwan. I went to Alishan mountain a few months ago and that was awesome. The scenery was amazing. A few weeks ago I went to Leofoo Amusement park and that was cool too. Not quite on par with Canada's Wonderland or other North American parks but it was fun. In between there were visits to rivers for BBQs and a mountain much closer to Taipei called Ya Ming mountain. There was a concert at a beach about 2 hours from Taipei called Fulong beach. The music was horrible but the beach itself was fun.

I am so far loving my time in Taiwan. The people seem very nice to me and patient with my lack of Chinese. A lot of them like talking to me in English so they can practice their English. Of course when I'm trying to practice my Chinese it can sometimes be frustrating but I find it enjoyable too. I'm enjoying the cheap food and variety of eating establishments. I hesitate to use the word restaurant because many eating establishments are nothing more than a kitchen or BBQ set up outside. Which brings me to the night markets. I find the food can be quite enjoyable as long as you don't mind standing or walking and eating. I've gotten used to that. However many places do not serve cold drinks and most do not serve alcohol. There are many times where I have had to walk out of a restaurant to purchase a drink at 7-11 or another convenience store and bring it into the restaurant. And most restaurants are nothing more than tables and stools. My favourite kind of restaurant is called a Taiwanese or quick fry restaurant. It is as it sounds. Just wooden tables and stools, most times plastic. The food is quick and tasty and there is a variety of dishes. There are bottles of beer in a fridge and you just keep picking up and drinking bottles until you are finished. At the end they tally up your empty bottles and add it to your food bill.

I brought a friend of mine from Toronto, Omar, to my favourite Taiwanese restaurant a couple of months ago and a funny thing happened. First off I'm sure it was the first time two foreigners went there without a local. We were treated like celebrities. After Omar left I went back with Kelsie and the owner had the entire menu translated into English. I can now order whatever I want all by myself. We're changing Taiwan for the better! And on that note I've gotten used to the fact I can read almost nothing when it comes to food or anything else I want to buy in a store. I rely heavily on hand gestures and body language.

I've also gotten used to my school and it's so called English teaching. We're not teaching English at all. The kids just learn to parrot everything we say. They don't learn how to speak English, they learn how to repeat English. The positive thing is I no longer worry about what to teach day to day, there's no point.

And now on to things that piss me off about Taiwan. I've already done a post about fashion so there's no need to repeat myself. One thing that really steams my whistle is the total lack of courtesy, politeness or respect for others the Taiwanese have. They don't care if they walk into you or cut in front of you in line or push you out of the way to get on the bus. I've had old ladies try to muscle me out of the way on the bus and walk into me on the street. I'm getting used to it but I still don't like it. There just seems to be a lack of civility in the way they interact with each other. And the best part is they avoid confrontation like the plague. So if they do something like bump into you and you even look at them angrily they will profusely apologyze. But only because they are deathly afraid of furthering the confrontation.

The other thing that really pisses me off is the total lack of service at restaurants and bars. Orders are often incorrect, late or forgotten altogether. Entrees never arrive together so you're either forced to start before the other person gets their's or you have to wait while your food gets cold. And it's the same with drinks. Drinks are often made incorrectly and usually take forever to come. I guess it's the lack of tips. Funny how someone's salary isn't enough to motivate them to do a good job, they need something on top for them to give you adequate service.

Plans are to visit other countries in the near future, including Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. Also to tour around Taiwan a bit more and see the south part. I guess that's about it for now. Keep on the lookout for more updates.