Quatre juillet à la taiwanaise

When in doubt, revert to French, that's what I always say! Besides, I was inspired: people are busy setting off fireworks as we speak (late is better than never, right?).

Anyway, I'm back for another round of my parallel universe blast-o-grams. Hopefully it will be as good for you as it is for me ;o). These past couple of weeks have been minorly eventful in their own right. Actually, and I swear this is not typical of my life in Taiwan no matter how much you might believe, the most fun stories have involved alcohol.

Story 1- Why bringing beer on hikes is the worst idea ever (future MCAT question, I assure you): A couple of weekends ago Nick, me, and a few other acquaintances here in Taiwan (including a professor of British origin) went on a hike in the hills behind campus. The British professor, being British, suggested that we bring beer to have for lunch on this journey. Me, being a lush, thought it wasn’t a horribly bad idea. A bad idea maybe, but not horribly bad. I sat through enough biology to know that alcohol is a diuretic, or as my biology teacher (also of the British persuasion as a matter of fact) called it back in high school, a “wee.” But it was only going to be one beer, right? Well, that was fine for me, but when it came to Nick, who appeared to already be dehydrated, it wasn’t the best of all ideas, especially since we were busy climbing up what were effectively cliffs using ropes. But with minor injuries—okay fine, no injuries but it sounds more exciting that way—we made our way all the way up and around. It was actually an absolutely beautiful hike, and you could see for miles (or kilometers, your preference) despite the omnipresent Taiwan mist.

Story 2- A friend from Whitman and I have two personal traditions that we hold near and dear to our hearts. Hers: throwing up the day after drinking too much. Mine? Throwing up in capital cities after drinking too much. That’s right, such fortunate cities as London, Paris, Walla Walla (capital of my heart?), and now Taibei have been blessed with my, umm, upheavals. But, in what is quite the twist of fate, I’ve now apparently also joined her club, not throwing up until the morning after. It was a great way to start the 4th. I really don’t think that I had had that much to drink the night before, at least not comparatively, but I blame it on some crazy Korean alcohol and the fact that it was the first time I had really drunk in almost a month. At least I can say I’m in a new club, right?

As for the fourth, Nick and I fêted it up for us Americans by bowing to the whims of the Hollywood hegemony and seeing Shrek 2. We wanted to see Spiderman 2 since his suit is red, white, and blue, but it was all sold out. Then it was off to a Japanese department store to watch the diffusion/cooption/integration of American culture in other ones. Okay, so really we went to eat Korean kim chee. We figured that since it was red and white, it could pass as patriotic? Hey, when you’re abroad for the 4th, as I often am, you’ve gotta make do with whatcha got!

Besides my weird morning this morning I feel as though there is not much else to report, with the distinct exception of my Titillating Taiwanese Tidbits for Tuesday! So here goes nothing:

3- The number of times my glasses have fogged up after exiting an air conditioned building/bus into the sultry Taiwan weather.
NT$250- The cost of a student ticket to the movies here in Taibei (approximately US$7.50). And for comparison:
NT$50- The cost of a cheap lunch here (approximately US$1.50, or 1/5th the cost of a movie...)
5- The number of days it took for the “typhoon” Mindulle to finally hit Taibei.
20-30- The wind speed in MPH of said typhoon by the time it hit Taibei…I’ve seen stronger storms in Colorado. But to be fair…
18- The number of people killed by the same typhoon in Southern Taiwan