Receipt Lottery

There is a magical thing that happens every two months in Taiwan: the receipt lottery. Basically, for no extra money and very little work, you are given a chance to hit the jackpot. Let me explain...

Every receipt in Taiwan contains an 8 digit number at the top, and every two months six numbers are drawn. Three of these are grand prize winners giving the lucky receipt holder 2 million Taiwanese dollars ($US62,000). For the other 3 numbers, if your last 3 digits match you get $200 ($US6), if your last 4 digits match you get $1,000 ($US31), $4,000 ($US125) for 4 digits, $10,000 ($US312) for 6 digits, $40,000 ($US1250) for 7 digits, and $200,000 ($US6,240) for all 8.

So every time you go to the store and buy anything from a bottle of water to a chocolate bar to a big mac to a beer, you are giving yourself a shot at winning big. And let me tell you with kinder chocolate available in the stores here, I hit 7-11 pretty frequently. I have been keeping my receipts in a big wad in my desk drawer, and had over 50 from the month of December alone.

Outside some of the stores downtown are men who beg for receipts instead of money as people walk out the door. Some stores also have boxes where you can put your receipts so any winning money goes to charity. The government started the receipt lottery as a way to encourage stores to keep their sales on the books, and thus allow the government to tax them. So really it creates a win win situation, where the government gets more money and hopefully I do too.

Last night before I checked my receipts I sat around dreaming about what exactly I would do with $62,000. I settled on a combination of sweet travel adventures and plane tickets for friends to come with me. I didn't actually win any money, but I am hopeful for the next drawing, and I already have a nice stack of receipts from January ready to go!

The top of all receipts here look like this. The 11-12 means it's in the drawing from Nov and Dec. It says 98 because Taiwan uses a different calendar. Last year was 98, and this year is 99...99 years since the founding of the Republic of China.

My receipts from the month of December

Hello Taiwan, my new home!

I've been in Taiwan for almost two months and am now officially a Taiwanese resident! Today I got my work visa, so I am not legally allowed to stay and work here for a year. I am slowly acclimating, every day I am less shocked and surprised by the things I see. There are many things that stand out to me as funny differences from home, so I've compiled my top ten list of cultural differences...

1. Lack of concern over general safety

Remember when Britney Spears let her son ride on her lap in the car for a few minutes, and the whole country freaked out? Well maybe Brit should try living in Taiwan, because as far as safety goes, apparently here anything flies. Everyday I see kids, babies, even dogs riding on the back of scooters. Sometimes it's even an entire family: dad driving, mom on back, a kid or two squished between, and one standing between dads legs. They don't always have helmets, and when they do it's often only a little one covering the very top of the head.

2. Intense fear of piggy flu

In a country that does not seem overly concerned with general cleanliness (ex: it can be rare to find soap and toilet paper in the bathrooms), everyone is completely freaked out when it comes to H1N1. Face masks are everywhere, and a lot of places they take your temperature when you enter buildings to make sure you are not about to contaminate the scene. They hold a thing up to your head that looks like it's about to scan your barcode before you walk through the door.

3. Stray dogs - a social issue

The dogs are EVERYWHERE. And it breaks my heart, I want to build a big house for them all to live in and play fetch with them all day. One of the QAs in class here is "What is a social issue in Taiwan?", and all the kids answer stray dogs. But at the same time, the Taiwanese accessorize with dogs in a way that would put Paris Hilton to shame. At the night market there are countless stalls devoted to dog clothes and there seem to be pet shops on every corner. As a side note, most of the stalls include Lakers and Yankees jerseys, because for some reason Tawian is in full support of those two teams.

4. Where are all the ninjas?

Drivers in Taiwan are crazy. Walking down the street I often feel like I'm in a real life game of frogger, except I only have one life. But I still prefer walking to driving a scooter, and as a few of schools are less than 40 minutes away I usually walk to class. As soon as I arrive at the schools and am asked how I got there, I see the look of shock on all the Taiwanese teachers when they hear I have walked. Apparently no one walks here. No one even seems to exercise, but the whole country is skinny and healthy.

5. I could go for a fudgesical about now

With 23 million people in this country, they make a lot of trash. Taiwan is very good with recycling, and you get fined if you throw away things that could be recycled. You have to pay for each bag of trash, and instead of leaving it at the curb, the trucks drive around twice a day and people are responsible for bringing their own trash out to the truck. To let people know it is coming, it plays a song on repeat just like an ice cream truck. So if you are home between 6 and 9 in the evening, chances are you can hear Beethoven's fur elise blasting from the truck. I hope when it gets warm I don't get confused and try to order a cone.

6. Stores, stores EVERYWHERE

Walking down the street here, every building you pass is a store of some sort. A lot sell scooters, a bunch have puppies, there are 7-11s on every block, noddle shops, but most of them I have absolutely no idea what they sell. One restaurant I went to looks like an abandoned antique shop on the first floor, only to house a delicious treasure on the second level. It's amazing that all of these manage to stay in business, but creates quite the adventure no matter what street you walk down.

7. Betel Nut Girls

Many men around here chew Betel Nut, a nut wrapped in the leaf that gives a minor stimulant buzz. You can tell the men who chew it because they have rotten teeth, and their mouths are stained red from the juice. You can also see the remains spit along the side walks and roads. Betel Nut is sold in stores with big glass windows out front. In these windows sit scantily clad girls ready to run and sell cigarettes and betel nut to cars that pull over in front. If this whole teaching thing doesn't work out, maybe I could check out a new career...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel_nut_beauty

8. Bushiban aka Cram Schools - they are building an army of super educated children

The school I teach at is called a cram school, meaning it is a place kids come after they have already completed a full day of class. The little ones come to Gloria twice a week for 2 hours at a time, and the older ones come just once a week for a 3 hour class. Most kids also attend cram schools for other topics, like math, science, or caligraphy. One kid told me that between school, cram school, and homework, he learns an average of 13 hours a day. CRAZY. My friend Clare said that when she was younger she even had to go to a cram school to learn how to use an abacus. I prefer my graphing calculator, thanks.

9. I'm so pale I could be a vampire. Or maybe just a beautiful Taiwanese woman

In Taiwan the whiter you are the more beautiful you are, so under this logic I am a stud. A lot of toiletries, even deodorants, have whitening agents in them which I guess is the opposite of a nice fake tan. People also have these gloves attached to their scooter handles. I originally thought they were to keep hands warm in the winter, but was informed that they are instead used to keep hands from getting tan. It gets pretty hot and humid here in the summer, but apparently people wear longs sleeves and pants and use umbrellas to block the sun.

10. Godzilla does Taiwan

I'm tall for a girl back home. I've had to deal with short boys, short pants, even short walls in toilet stalls. But here, I am a giant. On the trains most people walk right under the handles hanging down from the ceiling. They are right in my face. Everytime I teach a new class, I let the students ask me questions. The first is always 'how tall are you?' When I respond I get an automatic look of shock from the entire class. I don't even want to try shoe shopping here, because I know my big foot size will be no where to be found. But at least other people can always find me in a crowd.

Hsinchu - Taiwans Windy City

My Taiwanese friend Clare is from Hsinchu, a city to the west of Zhongli, about 30min by train. She had to go home to see her family, so I went to visit yesterday and she showed me around. Hsinchu has a big area called Science Park which is described as Taiwan's Silicon Valley. It's not a super touristy city, so we saw the sites quickly and then had a leisurely day drinking hot tea to stay warm and feasting on Mexican food from a street cart called the Taco House, which I think was worth the trip alone.

Glass museum - Hsinchu is known for glass making. We didn't actually go inside but it was pretty outside.

Riding in a pumpkin

Confucius Temple

Main alter at the temple. Compared to Buddhist and Taoist temples, Confucius temples are much more simple. You don't have the elaborate carvings and statues.
Side alter at the temple

Confucius say...

We also went to the Hsinchu zoo. This is how the donkeys were labeled on the map.

I just thought this sign was funny.

Xai-Hai Temple of the City God in Taipei

Last night after work I ran into another teacher Jarrod and his Taiwanese girlfriend Clare. I was starving, so I went with them for dinner. We decided on congee, although it is usually a breakfast food. Congee is kind of like a mushy rice soup, and I was feeling brave so I ordered the beef and hundred year old egg. The hundred year old egg is an egg that is soaked in a salt solution for a while and then buried in the dirt (or in these days probably wrapped in plastic) for a few weeks, which turns it black and almost see through. They have a strong smell, so the old legend is that they are soaked in horse pee. Mine was cut up and mixed in with the congee, so it didn't have a very strong taste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg

I had to go into Taipei today to get my work visa (on Monday I will final be legal!), so Clare decided to come with me and spend a day in the city. It ended up being super helpful having a translator at the embassy, and she even figured out how to save me a trip back to pick it up. It was a nice change from navigating the city on my own with a lack of Chinese. It was raining, so even little things like being able to tell a taxi driver where to go were much appreciated.

Clare showed me one of the oldest temples in Taipei, Xai-Hai Temple of the City God, or better known as the matchmaking temple. It was great because someone from the temple walked us around explaining how to pray and telling us the meaning behind the different statues. For a dollar fifty we purchased 3 incense sticks and paper money to give as an offering. Incense are held while praying because it allows the gods to hear your thoughts.

We started by addressing the god of the sky. I was told to first introduce myself to the god (in my head), giving my name, age, and address. They told me to be specific, so I was sure to include my zip code. We then made a wish, and bowed three times. This was pretty much the ritual at all stops inside. The main focus of the temple was the city god who seems to be a very busy god. He is in charge of protecting the residents of the city, as well as supervising Hades, and 'praising the innocent and punishing the wicked'. The temple also has a statue of the matchmaker, who as you guessed is in charge of finding loooove. The temple claims that in 2008 9,316 couples got married due to the miracles of the matchmaker. They have a special tea you drink to make you more attractive, and then you eat a wedding cookie. If you get engaged after visiting the temple you are supposed to bring wedding cookies for other people to eat, as an offering.

Front of the temple

Clare lighting her incense

Where you say hi to the sky god, and where you leave the incense at the end

I feel prettier already

Wedding cookies

Taiwanese Robin Hood

The Matchmaker

Main Alter at the Temple

Taipei Fine Arts Museum and Longshan Temple

Happy New Year! I had a three day weekend because of the holiday. So after relaxing a bit, I decided to go back to Taipei for some more quality tourist time.

We started off the day at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The name is a bit deceiving as it is really a contemporary art museum. The main exhibit was a Taiwanese artist (http://www.caiguoqiang.com/), and a big part of his stuff was using gunpowder to paint. He also had some crazy stuff like 99 life size wolves flying up into the air and crashing into a glass wall. There was also a really cool portrait exhibit of Taiwanese artists and political figures.

Main lobby of the Fine Arts Museum

Out in the courtyard

Afterwards we went to the Longshan Temple, a temple built back in 1738 to the goddess of mercy. The main temple was in the middle of a courtyard with a ring of temple around the outside. It was super crowded, and there were hundreds of people standing facing the center temple chanting together.

Dragon outside the Longshan temple

Working my asian pose

Inside the temple

People chanting at the Longshan temple:

Close to the Longshan temple is another night market called Snake Alley. One of the dishes they serve here is snake soup, and before your soup is made you can see the snake alive in cases in front of the store. Snake alley was full of these places, and had some pretty crazy snakes.

This thing was a giant