Tea Country

Today I went to Pinglin, a tea growing mountain town outside of Taipei with some of the Gloria teachers from the north. I met them at the train station, and we made our way to Pinglin.

Outside the metro station on the way to the bus, we saw a big group of people gathered. Half the people were sitting down, and the other people were standing there beating them repeatedly in one spot with little sticks. Some people were working on a shoulder, others the back, and some the foot. And this wasn't just a light tap on the skin, these people had big red welts and looked like they were in some serious pain. There was even a man walking circles around the group banging his elbows together. Everyone else was walking by like this was completely normal.

As tempting as it was to join this party, we made our way around to the bus and headed to Pinglin. When we first arrived in Pinglin we wandered around for a bit and explored this cool little temple on the top of a hill. There was a thick fog, which I'm starting to learn is common in Taiwan. It was surrounded by gorgeous mountains covered in tea fields.

Here you can see a close up of some of the tea bushes that were terraced into the hillsides.

It was a very scenic town with a river flowing through the mountains.

After we explored the temple we walked through the old town which was a little market road. Surprisingly it was pretty empty and we had the town to ourselves.

All of the street lights were in the shape of tea kettles!

Some woman was selling these treats on the side of the road. I still have no idea what it was, but she somehow convinced us all to buy one and try them. It was an impressive sale as she spoke no English and we collectively spoke very little Chinese. It looked like a big wet booger, and didn't taste much better.

At one of the shops they had this old grandma version of the Asian farmer hat. Could be a good style for me.

We also went into the tea museum, and I learned everything there is to know about tea: how it is grown, picked, processed, the correct way to serve and drink it, and I even learned where tea originally came from...
My favorite sign of the day...

Fashion Police

In a land full of bedazzled cell phones, metallic leggings, and fake eye lashes, it is not often I am shocked by the outfits I see on the streets. The fashion is Taiwan is a special thing, and often my Taiwanese co-teachers look more like they are ready to hit the clubs than teach young children. Basically if it is pink, animal print, metallic, or has rhinestones or fake fur they love it here. The most common outfit is as follows: SUPER short skirt, shorts, or t-shirt parading as a dress matched with leggings and boots. The boots come in many forms, from fake uggs lined with fake fur to motorcycle boots. The shoes also often have crazy heels, which I find pretty impressive especially when driving a scooter. On the other extreme is the outfit that looks meant for a 10 year old: frilly and pink with pictures of Hello Kitty or a teddy bear. Often the clothes are covered in broken English. Sometimes the sentences don't make sense, sometimes the words are out of order, and sometimes it is just a jumble of random letters arranged across the fabric. Really I have seen almost everything here, even stone washed jeans.

The guys also have a distinct look, and it is definitely more feminine than what is popular back home. A lot of the guys have a similar haircut, where most of the hair is directed forward with a bang in front and spike in the back. Here is a good example:

http://music.yule.tom.com/uimg/2007/12/20/caiyingzhe/1198113069809_48175.jpg

Yet today somehow, I was shocked. If Elvis had an asian sister, I saw her on the bus in Taoyuan. This woman walked on the bus decked out in a bright red pants suits matched with bright red stilettos. She also had a frilly red skirt to go over top of the pants. The skirt was lined with silver studs, and the pant legs and jacket sleeves were lined with silver sequins. She had giant shades, and looked like she meant business.

Over Chinese New Years I bought myself a pair of boots, but I think that is about as much as I will adapt to the fashion here. As I am larger than the average asian, shopping is also difficult. The boots I bought were over 50% off because they were the only pair left in the style...and in a size that almost no one in this country will fit in!

Shirt I saw at the night market. Example of the funny English. I also got Rosie a shirt that said "Raw Like Sushi", and one for Judy that I couldn't decipher.

Health Insurance!

I got my ARC (Taiwanese ID) the week before Chinese New Year, and was told that as soon as they submitted some forms I would have health insurance. Today when I went to get paid after my class (because I get paid in cash everyday...AMAZING!), they took out 400NT, about $13US to cover my health insurance for February AND March. Meaning I am now insured, and should be getting my insurance card any day. Once I get that, I can go to any doctor and pay only 150NT ($5US) for the entire visit. If i need a prescription I just shell out another 150NT, and it's mine! I plan on hitting up the dentist and the eye doctor promptly when I get my card.

As a side note, something I hear repeatedly in Taiwan is that drinking cold beverages is bad for you. Women claim if you don't drink cold water you won't get cramps, and at restaurants you have to specifically ask for ice in your drink. So maybe if I avoid cold drinks I won't have to use my insurance too much.

Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the lunar new year is lantern festival. There are festivals all over the Taiwan mostly consisting of a large collection of handmade lanterns on display. There are however a few more elaborate festivals, ranging from one in Tainan where they shoot fireworks directly at you (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auiIxZgGh_s&feature=related) to the one I went to north of Taipei where they set lanterns off into the sky. The festival was in a town called Pingxi in the mountains, and it was supposed to be about 2 hours by train from where I live. After two legs of train travel we boarded the train in Rueifang ready to head for Pingxi. This is where we first encountered the mob of people we were about to spend the rest of the day with. The train platform was packed, and when the train pulled in there was a full on stampede to board. This was one of those moments I was thankful to be tall and able to breath over the crowd.

Miraculously we were able to get seats on the train, but once it was totally filled with people it then sat still for an entire hour. As we were unable to understand the Chinese announcements I was confused, but there was no way I was moving out of my seat. Finally the train left and after a few stops we pulled into Pingxi. Getting off the train I was forced to follow the crowd even though we were going against the exit signs. It was then that I understood why our train had been unable to move and got my first view of the sky lanterns. People were climbing off the platform and walking along the tracks, and they were setting off fireworks from the train station. There were vendor stalls right up against the tracks where people were buying giant paper lanterns. After writing their wishes on the lanterns, they lit paper money to create a kind of hot air balloon, and then let it off into the sky. If the lantern flies away it is good luck, but if the lantern catches on fire or crashes into something I'm pretty sure you are cursed for the year. One of the first lanterns I saw launched directly into a telephone pole and went up into flames. I was concerned that no one seemed concerned over this.

As we walked along the tracks and then continued on the tiny winding streets we saw the usual street food mixed in with stalls selling these lanterns. At the end of the road we came to a big arena with a stage where they would let off hundreds of the lanterns at a time. It was really beautiful to see them all in the sky, but I'm pretty sure Smokey the bear would not have been happy. In addition to the lanterns there were fireworks from all directions, and a lot of the time I could feel the ash falling on my head. After we checked out the festival we bought our own lantern. There were two young girls running the stall who thankfully showed us how to light the lantern, and it flew off without a hitch!

On the way home we decided to take the shuttle bus, thinking it would be faster. Unfortunately I think every single person at the festival had the same idea, and we ended up waiting in line for over 2 hours to catch a bus back to Taipei.

Sign off the train platform. This rule apparently did not apply.

Lantern stuck on the telephone pole in flames

People letting off a lantern on the train tracks

People on the street decorating their lanterns.

Lanterns in the sky

My wishes for the future. They include a job that makes lots of money, a dog, and lots of travel. And of course some time at the beach.

Giving love luck for the year. Since my lantern did not catch on fire, none of these people need to break up. You can thank me later.

Our lantern before the fire

Our lantern blown up and ready to fly. It was actually really hot to hold onto.

Lanterns being released together

Lanterns in the sky

Formosa, a beautiful island

When the Dutch arrived in Taiwan back in the day, they named it Formosa, which means ‘beautiful island’. My first two months in Taiwan were spent exclusively in the North, in the Jhongli and Taipei area never leaving the city. So I questioned this name, and thought all of Taiwan was as populated and urban as my lovely home. That is until Chinese New Year when Mommy came to visit, and we ventured down South. What I saw was a gorgeous country with a rugged and varied landscape. We had a wonderful 10 days of travel and I took a billion pictures, but I’m too lazy to write about that all now. You can check out my pictures on facebook, and I will soon update the blog.

Ever since Chinese New Year the sun has been shining and the weather has been warm (sorry Mom!). Today I did not have to work, so I took a trip to Yangmingshan, the national park north of Taipei. I took the train to Taipei, the subway a few stops north, and then following the advice of my trusty Lonely Planet hopped on a bus towards the park. I was decked out with my running shoes and a backpack full of snacks and water bottles (because I never go hiking without food, even if it is just Mount Nittany), and was ready for a good long hike.

Yesterday I read an article about a hiker in Oregon who got lost alone in the woods, and it made me paranoid about being by myself. But as I have learned so far, the Taiwanese do not love exercise, and they don’t like to sweat, so I was thinking I would get to the park and it would consist of some simple paved roads filled with packs of tourist. When I got off the bus I saw what I have found to be standard wherever you go in Taiwan – several booths setup selling street food, including the necessary stinky tofu. I wandered past this area and about half a kilometer up the road and found a visitor center. Outside there were a few bride and groom couples taking pictures with the nice background. I found a really helpful man in the visitor’s center who spoke English, and gave me a map and directions on how to go about my hike.

I decided to climb Mt. Cising, the highest mountain in the park at 1120 meters, and the highest extinct volcano in Taiwan. The entire path was paved with a stone staircase, but ended up being a super intense hike. It was basically 1.8km up a mountain with over a 500meter vertical gain. There were enough people on the path that I didn't get lonely, but few enough that I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery. When I got to the top I made friends with a nice woman who gave me an orange. If I translated her gestures correctly, she grew it herself.

I then went down the other side of the mountain to an area where there are sulfur fumaroles, which are basically cracks in the rocks that leak sulfur gas. They occur in areas of ex volcanic activity, which is also the reason for all the hot springs in Taiwan. There was a faint smell of rotten egg, but it was really cool to see the streams of gas that seemed to be magically rising from the mountain walls. As I was walking down, a fog descended on the valley giving it an eerie feel. At some points I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of my face, and I could hear people before I could see them. Overall it was a beautiful hike, and I’m sure I will be very sore tomorrow.

Bride and groom taking pictures outside the visitor's center.

Some nice inspiring words for my hike.

So you are telling me if it doesn't spoil the scenery I can build a tomb?

The never ending stairs up the mountain.

One of the peaks on Cising Mountain (seven star mountain). Notice the stairs I had to climb.

Self portrait at the top of Cising

Highest point in the park.

On the way down I walked on this path through a bamboo forest. The sign said that these bamboo shoots live for 60 years. They only bloom once, and when they do it is a sign that it is the end of their lives. It reminded me of walking through a corn field.

Here you can kind of see one of the fumeroles. It was hard to get a good picture, but you can see the gas coming out of the rock.

Taiwanese Michael Jordan

Yesterday I went to a Taiwanese professional basketball game. The game took place in what looked like a big high school gym. Each team was allowed to have one foreign player, so they each had one black guy who scored a good majority of the points. There were actually some pretty tall and buff Taiwanese guys, and it was an exciting game. My roommates friend plays on one of the teams (well actually he plays the bench), so we cheered for them. We were the only ones in the stadium making any noise, and probably because of us, after double overtime our team won! Because Taiwan is so small, instead of having a team for each city, a team is sponsored by a specific company. We watched Taiwan Beer play against some kind of liquor. Another team is sponsored by a cell phone company.

Action shot at the game

Me and my roommate Tiffany

After the game we headed out to one of the few local bars in Jhongli. Taiwan doesn't have a big drinking culture, so the bars are general populated by foreigners, aka English teachers galore.

My roommate Tiffany, Ally (a Taiwanese teacher), Amanda (works in the head office), and me at the River

The bathroom at the bar. Squatting after a few beers is a pretty big challenge.

Another Gloria teacher Brad with the random cat that was hanging out in the bar with us.

'Nobody' is a Korean song that they play over and over and over and over here. Walking through the night market once I counted and heard it 7 times in 5 minutes. There is a little dance for the chorus and everyone knows it. At halftime at the game the team mascot came out and did the nobody dance with some mad skills. Check out the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjP-OJ7Bh4

Chinese New Year Banquet

Last night we had our work banquet for Chinese New Year at a fancy restaurant in Taoyuan City. The dinner was served family style, with plate after plate of mystery food arriving constantly at our table. It was very traditional Chinese food, and most of it was quite delicious. We were able to identify a lot of the treats, including a rice dish with eel on top, sashimi, duck, a seafood stew, a chicken stew (with whole chicken heads floating inside), an entire foot long fish complete with his face, a veggie plate with mushrooms and bamboo, ribs, and shrimp cakes. There were also a few questionable plates that all had a fishy flavor and a strange consistency.

For Chinese New Year it is traditional for parents to give their kids money in a red envelope. So to make the celebration complete they had a raffle of red envelopes, but just like the receipt lottery I had zero luck. After dinner and the raffle, all the Taiwanese teachers ran around snapping pictures. I would say a good 90% of these pictures included a peace sign up against the face in true Asian style. Another thing the Asians love is karaoke. They have these places called KTV here, where you basically rent a private room, bring in your own drinks, and sing until the sun comes up. I have not yet experienced the joy of off pitch Taiwanese love ballads, but at the end of the party someone decided to turn the microphone into a mini-karaoke party, and I got a preview. Overall it was a tasty and entertaining feast!

mmmm.....chicken head

mmmm.....fish head