In preparation for what will surely be the most captivating blog in cyberspace, I write my first post. The intention of this blog is to document the start of my new life in Taiwan, when I move there in two months. If all goes well, the blog will serve it’s purpose of allowing me to vocalize my undoubtedly impending amazement at all the craziness that goes along with moving to a new country with a vastly different culture. If all goes really well, I’ll be so into blogging that I’ll continue to do so, beyond the honeymoon phase, all the way through the disillusionment, distress, depression, anger, and ultimate acceptance feelings that are sure to follow. I want to keep the blog Taiwan focused, but fully expect that sometimes that may mean something Taiwan-ish sparks another completely unrelated thought.
So what will I be writing about exactly? Hard to say right now as I still know so little about Taiwan. I’m sure I’ll talk about my teaching job. I’m thinking I’ll also be talking A LOT about food. I love food. So very very much. I love thinking about it, researching recipes, shopping for unique spices, waiting on my Greenling (greenling.com) deliveries, having friends over to eat the food I make, and watching people’s faces as they thoroughly enjoy something that is both delicious and good for them. I could go on forever about this but I won’t, at least not yet. What I’ll do instead is talk about some of the preconceptions I have about Taiwan, what I think things will be like. This will hopefully be amusing later when reality hits as I affirm or completely reject my notions. My notions are based on things I’ve read, heard, or just inherently think must be the case:
- The people of Taiwan must have strong feelings about politics, especially because of the ongoing struggling Chinese relations.
- All Taiwanese people get up to do Tai Chi in the morning and sweep their stoops.
- Taipei is a valley of smog-ridden air, where the 90 percent summer humidity pushes the air quality index off the charts.
- Drivers are insane. People nearly get run over on their scooters every day, but somehow survive. This is because they are Taiwanese. If I were to do this as a foreigner, I would be instantly killed.
- The food is freaky. All parts of the animal are eaten. Fortunately, they have great tea, I hear.
- Taiwanese are polite but do not want to cause tension or make anyone upset. I’ve heard this can result in them promising things they know they cannot do, just to keep the peace. This can be confusing for westerners who would expect that they actually follow through on what they say.
- There are temples. Lots of them. This is awesome! I love seeing temples, I love the idea of them.
- The students will be well-behaved, polite, and very respectful. Gosh, I’m hoping this one is true. I’ve already earned good karma for life teaching in the Bronx.
- No one’s really going to speak English. It’ll all be haphazard and confusing. And awkward.
- I’m going to mess up social norms and totally offend someone. Like bringing a white gift to someone’s house or keeping my chopsticks stuck in a bowl of soup.
- I have started teaching myself Mandarin Chinese (speaking only, as I will NEVER be able to write it) and am under the impression that it will be easy, I will learn it fully in months and people will be greatly impressed with my skills. I hope this is not completely delusional.
- I will make friends with Taiwanese people, not just other westerners and ex-pats. I feel that many westerners don’t bother with the language and never get to become friends with locals. I really want to make an effort to do that. Luckily I have a few hookups with some westerners with Taiwanese families….
- I want to become a great teacher. I think I’m a good teacher – I’ve been doing it 5 years now – but I want to be better. I want to love my subject again, read voraciously, and be excited to get into the room to share with the kiddos and see what they think.
- I want to eat a lot of good food. I want to try everything, including weird animal parts. There is NOTHING that I won’t give a chance. Well, except for maybe the blood of some animals. Hmm. Maybe even that.
- I want to explore and travel fully. I will have more money for the first time in awhile and, while I will save some of it, I also want to get out and do stuff – in Taiwan and outside. I want to travel to China, Tibet, Nepal, and India next summer, all summer.
- I want to live more simply. I want to not need as many things. I want to capture more memories, take more pictures, and find more pleasure in stepping outside of the consumer culture (as much as I can).
- Most of all, I am going to feel as alive as I can. Travel awakens us by forcing us to be completely present at every moment. Nothing makes you feel as human or as spiritual as living in the present moment. There are other ways to get to that feeling, but for me, that has always come most readily through travel.
So while I begin to pack up my life here, throwing out old stuff, saving a lot of it to store, and moving quite a bit to Taiwan, I go through the motions with a sense of detachment. I am doing what needs to get done. I don’t want to linger on it or worry about it. I want to live every second of my last two months in Austin. I want to spend as much time with the people I love here as I can. And then when it’s time, I’ll leave.
1 Comment
March 10, 2008 at 4:04 pm
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