Six-Month Anniversary

As of today, I've been living in Taiwan for 6 months. (The picture is from my first week before I headed out to Xin Zhuang.) There was a time when I did not see myself making it to 6 months. A friend was exactly right, when they said if you get past 5 months, things just start to go okay. Have I changed at all? Maybe. Have I learned a lot? Definitely.

The contrasts were much more stark at the beginning. Now, the night market and food stalls are normal. A family of four on a scooter isn't surprising. Seeing a dog riding a scooter isn't shocking. Okay, it's still a little shocking. Yesterday, one was riding on the scooter without a leash. How does the tiny dog have such good balance? I don't even have that good of balance. (Although I should stay away from scooters altogether. A few weeks ago, and I managed to barely brush by one of the street, which is where the park, knocked it down. It then knocked over the one next to it. So yes I knocked over two scooters while walking home.)

I speak more Chinese than I did before, which isn't saying much since I arrived with zero. I didn't even have a guidebook. I was a little ill-prepared actually. My chinese is so limited, I still can't tell the difference between Taiwanese and Chinese, but I'm okay with that. When I got back from Japan, it was actually comforting to be around Chinese. I don't speak Chinese or Japanese, but at least Chinese sounds familiar.

My tiny apartment does feel like home as I discovered returning after the Chinese New Year holiday. I'm used to my neighborhood, but that didn't stop the surreal moment I had last week when I thought, "Wait I live where?" While I have my moments, it surprises me how quickly a place can start to feel familiar.

That's all for now, I'll keep future posts a little less me-centric.

Episode 7: On Observations and Assumptions

We all make assumptions. We all observe and judge. Living in Taiwan, however, has put a new spin on all of this for me. While I lived in France, the majority of people did not assume I was American based on my accent. They usually guessed English. They knew I was foreign, but they couldn’t pinpoint my nationality. For the most part, I don’t think anyone assumed, I was foreign based on just seeing me on the bus. In the States, you wouldn’t dream of walking up to someone who looks different from you and saying “So where are you from?” Here in Taiwan, you look at me and know I'm foreign. Most Taiwanese also assume you speak English and that you are American. It's true for me, but it would be a bit frustrating being German or French.

Although I’m getting used to it, I get stared at a lot, especially in Xin Zhuang. There are posters of white people all over, the same movies play here that are out at home, but people seem a little surprised to have me around. There are a few others foreigners around, but I can count them on one hand. When I complain, a friend said to me, “Well you knew you were going to look different.” But I wasn’t counting on people staring into my eyes or pulling over on their scooters to stop and look at me, or pulling their cars over. That’s when it starts to get a bit ridiculous. People also frequently want to talk to me as I walk down the street, either in English, Chinese, or even Taiwanese. I was once walking with a Taiwanese friend when a group of males sitting and eating yelled out “Hello” “How are you!” I politely responded and she asked if I knew them. No, I didn’t know them, but I’m used to people yelling out to me know. I’ve caused almost two scooter accidents when people were staring at my paleness rather than the road.

In short, the foreigners stand out. People quickly remember me at various stores and shops because the tall white girl with curly hair is easy to remember. It is quite nice when all of the vendors remember what you like to eat, and you only have to learn to say it once. It's not nice however, when you want to change your normal order. Now lately what other teachers and I have noticed is that the neighborhood is sort of watching us. I was waiting for the bus, when a group of boys pointed and laughed, and then I hear them talking about the school where I work. Now there are four other cram schools between the bus stop and my school. How did they know where I worked? Another teacher was told by someone in the neighborhood that they were pleased she didn’t’ smoke like the last teacher. They remembered that the last teacher smoked? He was here a month! So coming in and out of the building, I sort of get the feeling that I’m being watched, which is okay until people start making assumptions about you.

The first day I met my landlady she asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?” I found this an odd first question. It’s one of the first questions I get asked. I was the first female foreign teacher at my school in about 1.5 years. Some kids didn’t think I was a new teacher, I was just another teacher’s girlfriend. (I still remember one girl saying, "But you?! You're girl teacher." Yes Candy, girls can be teachers too.) Now kids have pretty active imaginations, you even talk to someone, and they think you’re dating. One class thinks I even stole a boyfriend away from another teacher. Depending on whom you ask in Taiwan, I’m dating any one of three guys. I’ve been told my Taiwanese boyfriend is very handsome, I explained he was friend, they don’t seem to believe me. People in the building see me with one of my friends, many of whom happen to be male, and all of sudden I have three boyfriends. So I’ve just decided that Wei Bei Si gets around. Her imagined personal life is way more interesting than my actual personal life.




Wei Bei Si is my Chinese name, given to me for official documents. My last name Wei, pronounced “way,” was as close as they could get to Wilson. Bei si (bay si) is very close to Beth I think.

All the best,

Wei Bei Si

Places I've Been 7: Tokyo

I had a good time in Tokyo. It was a bit great and rainy so I did less shooting that i was expecting, so hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea what's there. I realized while in Tokyo I take pictures of the most random things. Also Japan was not my best photo trip. There were many cool things to see in Tokyo like the Asakuska temple, but much of what you see in Tokyo was rebuilt in the late 1940s...






So in Japan they use three systems of writing with some Chinese characters. So I would recognize stuff, but it would be pronounced differently and then there was stuff that was completely foreign. So I would look for a name, Chinese Character, Chinese Character, wait then squiggly line? What? Many people were really helpful and I got lost a lot! More so than any other country I've been to. Most people asked if I spoke Japanese to which I replied I live in taiwan and I'm learning Chinese. I seem to get a pass with that one.



At a lot of the temples you can write wishes on woodblocks. At some of the more popular tourist attractions you see woodblocks in all languages, but there was one I thought was pretty funny. 'I wish Elsye Klein a kind prosperous Jewish husband in 2009." Here's to hoping Elyse!


The Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. I will never get over the mix of old and new in japan or Taiwan. Where right next to a Temple is an office building. Meiji Shrine is like Tokyo's Central park, it's enclosed in trees and you can't hear any of the city sounds once you start making your way to the temple.


Barrels I would see at all the temples. I loved the difference designs on each one. I think I figured out they are filled with sake. Could be wrong though.





More Meiji



Night time in japan or Taiwan can sort of overload the senses. I love they way it looks at night all light up, but you are compeltely bombarded with colored lights.


This store may or may not have an entrance. But on second viewing that is a Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers clock! How cool is that!



Asakuska Temple in Tokyo

Places I've Been 6: Kamakura, Japan

For Chinese New Year, I headed off to Japan. I was fortunate enough to have a friend to stay with in Kamakura, which is about an hour outside of Tokyo. Kamakura was the capital of Japan from 1185-1333. I first learned about it in a Buddhist Art class my first year in college. So I was really excited to see the art there. The city has over 60 Buddhist temples and about 15 Shinto Shrines. It's also directly on the water and you can see Mount Fuji if the skies are clear. I was lucky to get a few view of Fuji while I was there.



Kamakura is known for the Daibotsu or "Great Buddha." This was the statue I really wanted to see. This pictures just gives you a sense of the size of the statue. It was once enclosed in a temple, which was washed away in a tsunami. The statue has survived tsunamis and earthquakes.





I first went to the Hasedera Temple. I saw that is had an 11-headed Kannon. Kannon is the name of the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion, known as Avalokitesvara in India and Guanyin in China. (Side note: The day I learned how to spell Avalokitesvara correctly was a real accomplishment in that class.) I was shocked to see a sculpture in gold and about 25 feet high. It was absolutely breathtaking. unfortunately, I have no pictures since I tend to respect "no photography" rules in places of worship. This is however a Buddha statue in one of the other halls at Hasedera.



Hasdera is also known for the Jisobotsu or "little buddhas" of various sizes. I was intrigued to see a "cute Budhha" in a red hat and cape. However, when I was reading later on in the week, I learned that the bodhisattva Jizo protects sick children and pregnant women mothers who have recently lost a child place the red hats as an offering to Jizo to protect their children into the afterlife.



At the end of my day exploring Kamakura, I walked over to a park to watch the sunset over Mt. Fuji. The clouds were covering Fuji, which is over to the right. The sunset was still very nice though. This is one of about 70 pictures I took of the sunset.



Don't know what I did on my camera but this one turned out different.

The blog only lets me publish 5 photos at a time, so you won't have to look at the 700 I took while in Japan. (And I didn't even shot that much!)