A few things in life

I was at my parents making Thai curry and realized we were out of coconut milk. I went around the corner to to a tiny grocery stand which have been in existence since I was very little.

I asked in Chinese, "do you sell coconut milk in a can?" The man looked at me as if I were from outer planet and replied with disgust in Taiwanese, "can you speak Taiwanese?" Heck of course I speak the language, not super great but comprehensible. All I had in mind was that my curry was sitting on the stove and I was in desperate need of this very ingredient, which the traditional taste relied mainly on. You know how some words can slip off the word bank when you need it the most. I stood there and thought about it for two seconds, only failed to remember how to say it in Taiwanese. I looked on the shelves to ignore his question, "it comes in a can, you know, coconut milk," I said again. The mid-day sun was scorching me badly that I was starting to lose patience in looking and decided to head home. "No, I don't think you have it." I talked to myself. "No", he said those words in Chinese. Apparently he heard my self-talk. "But you don't speak Taiwanese?" He raised his voice. I was irritated. It sounded like he was interrogating me like this:
1. How sad that you don't speak Taiwanese living in Taiwan, or.
2. Taiwanese should be used more predominantly than Chinese in Taiwan. And, this woman does not speak it? That is just not right. She has to speak Taiwanese.

I felt being disciminated upon at that very moment. In smaller towns of Taiwan where people claim the real Taiwanese identity, discrimination like this does happen. But I've only seen it on TV or heard about it. To be confronted like this was novelty to me. And it happened in my very home town.

I waved to the store impatiently and said, "no, I don't" in Chinese and then as I walked away, I made a face that he couldn't see and continued with my self-talk "non, je ne parle pas and it is none of your business!" I wasn't even PMSing but was not a happy camper either.

Enough about this. I went home and made myself some English fruit tea. Immediately I felt much better. English tea does wonders to me.

Karaoke

The last time I went to a karaoke was perhaps when I studied for my Ph.D. in Colorado a decade ago. From time to time, the bored Taiwanese students would ask me to join them and we would car-pooled out to Denver for a night out. We had our moments with karaoke.

My friend Jane is a very good singer and she performed at restaurants when she was still in college. She had asked me to go with her to a Karaoke but it hadn't happened until a couple of days ago when I was really bummed and in a bad mood. At the lunch with Eric and Jane, I proposed to have a "singing our hearts out night" and Jane gladly agreed to go.

We were taken to this huge room with only the three of us! The snacks were not impressive but we loved how we could be our own DJs with the innnovative digital song request system. Jane dedicated an English song to me at the end and she sang so beautifully. Her specialty is Taiwanese songs and I think she is one of the best singers that I have ever heard. Even the very reserved Eric tagged along and he did pretty well too. As for me, I tried some Taiwanese songs with Jane's help. She thought I was good, but I had problem with some of the Taiwanese lyrics. Well, having a compliment from a pro was something!

These two photos were taken with my Nokia N-70 phone camera. Jane didn't mind my spontaneous photo shooting but Eric was not thrilled with it. He blocked my camera with his microphone.

Another summer outing

I am in my summer slumber here so am not motivated to do a lot other than vegetating in the air-conditioned room. Ooh, the electricity bills will be scary to look at later. Here are some photos I took on a day trip to southern Taiwan. As there is an increasing southeast Asian population here from immigration (and mostly through marriage), we found that there was actually a place called "Vietmese village" in a little town in Tainan. We bought some dried pho, a can of coffee that was super sweet from the little shop. I tried to practice some of my Vietmese with the store clerks but all of them spoke Taiwanese to me.

And here is my voice greeting to you all for a great summer ahead!

What's in store for me?

I was so far away from home for a long time and after a while home started calling me. I tried to deny it but when every vacation was made for homecoming, and when I was always the missing piece in a family puzzle, I thought of returning. I am so glad that I did. Now I can see my folks whenever I can and spend time with them. I don't have any regrets anymore in not seeing how fast my niece and nephew are growing up.

I don't interact with Taiwan and I don't think I'll genuinely like it for what it is. But I cherish the moments I share with my family for fear that one day I may leave again. I used to feel guilty about not being closer to them and I think I will be torn unless there is a compelling reason to justify my going away. I am not young anymore and as the days go by, my adventurous spirit dwindles, and I just don't know what to do with that. I wish there is a simple answer out there.

Tsong Tsu Time of the Year

It is Tsong Tsu time (May 5 of the Lunar calender, and 6/19 of 2007)again. Originally associated with the "Poet's Day", Tsong Tsu was first made by kind village dwellers to keep the fish from devouring the body of an ancient patriotic Chinese poet Chui-Yuen, who depressively gave up his life by suicidally jumping into a river. After days and nights of futile search for the body, the village people decided to wrap rice in bamboo leaves to feed the underwater creatures, assuming that food can keep the dead body from being attacked.

Mom made these wonderful Tsong Tsus that were extremely tasty. The ingredients included black mushrooms, chestnuts, lotus nuts, pork and sweet rice. Oh, the fried red onions added so much to the flavor. Here are two photos of the freshly cooked beauties:

And the aroma filled the whole house:


The nude one:

With yummy sweet and hot sauce:
And Finally, Li-chi for dessert!!

I am not sure if Chui-Yuen's body was ever found, but the Tsong Tsu tradition certainly brings some festivity to this hot lunar May day.

You are lucky to be alive in Taiwan

We should all feel very lucky to be alive to this day while living in Taiwan. I seriously mean it for the following reasons:
1. Pedestrians risk being killed every second crossing the street. The right of way never belongs to those who walks. You will get the honking and brutal staring from drivers and motorcycle riders if you take time to do your business of walking. And beware of the holes and unevenly paved roads that might trip you over. The best way is to watch the road as if you are walking on brittle ice.
2. Drivers are always on nerves in dodging the motorcyclists who seek to sneak into every space they can find and who never pay any attention to turn signals from the cars. Traffic rules mean nothing to them because they create their own in sliding through every crack of traffic.
3. Designated lanes for the traffic and people here are a luxury. The moment you walk out of the door, road rages await you. And the police is nowhere to be seen for law enforcement.
4. When it rains really hard in the monsoon season, you are literally walking in streams and rivers. Beach sandals go very well with my work outfits on rainy days. Everyone should have a pair or two of these if you do not want to ruin the shoes. Why waste the money when your nice shoes and clothes can easily be destroyed by hot sweat and tears from the heaven?

Every day is a maneuver and struggle in a place where human lives mean nothing. I used to love my mean friends in the states by inviting them to visit Taiwan. I threatened my American students by suggesting to throw them out to Taiwan when they failed to cherish the respect they had received for granted. It is a society where community well-being is non-existent and craps for others are acceptable as long as everyone gets what he/she wants. Hail to an orderless society! It is too late to draw city plans that should have been done 50 years ago. Regretfully, only strict laws can bring the society to order.

Everyday when I walk into my place safely, I am so thankful to have lived through another day by remaining intact.

Ohmmmm....may the Buhhda grant us some moments of peace.

Hot summer days

I can't even begin to describe how unbearably hot summer in Taiwan is. The humidity is making things worse each year. Soon as May arrives, the heat level escalates and the air permeates with mildew because of the monsoon rain. The moment you move, your skin starts to develop a sticky salty layer that can only be taken off with a quick cold shower. The only way is to stay in an air-conditioned room. Here in Taiwan, you do not see happy people walking about leisurely, but only those with perspiring struggles to survive the heat and humidity.

Before I go out of the house, I have to remember to carefully apply the sunscreen lotion and get my umbrella ready to shield of the blazing sun rays. I used to laugh at those women with umbrellas, but now I realize that these are necessary weapons to protect people from the sunburn kiss. The umbrella carriers range from men to young girls. It is quite a summer scenery here. Just to prove that I am not making things up, here is a picture of a man holding an umbrella. Then when I drive, I put on slip-off sleeves on my arms to fight off the harmful heat.

So summer really isn't a good time to be in Taiwan. It is a steam room with pollution from the flooding motorcycles. I am always looking for summer hide-outs so if you know any that is not too far from here, let me know and I want to check them out.