My Taiwan Adventure

Greetings and Salutations All,

Another beautiful smoggy day in Taiwan. It was over 25 above today and I must say I could get used to this weather if it didn't get warmer in the summer time. Problem is that this is just the beginning of the heat. What a challenge that will be for me... living and working in the hot and muggy summer days here.

Yesterday I found a better hotel in Tainan. It took me an hour of hiking the streets, asking "how much" and "can I see it" before I accepted a room at a rate of $600 ($25 Cdn.) While I'm pretty sure it was a 'love' hotel (because there was a complimentary condom on the dresser) but at least it was a hotel where I got most of a full nights sleep and didn't feel like things were crawling on me! Things were reasonably sanitary for the pretty bargain basement price. I talked them down from $770 by asking for a smaller room. I spent most of the morning sleeping in because I went to bed at 8pm was up at midnight, watched tv until 4 am then went back to bed... I think my body is doing weird things because of the stress, lack of sleep the night before and unfamiliar foods.

I was sooo puffy the day I tried unknown Chinese foods at the night market that I went on an all liquid diet yesterday. It is pretty easy to do here - they have a great number of juice stands on the streets where you can pick from a huge variety of fruits and some vegetables and get a blended shake for anything from 10-50 NT. With $2 Cdn being top price, it beats booster juice! Especially because all the fruit is fresh instead of frozen. The only problem is the amount of sugar they add to everything here. I'm going to learn to say - no sugar really soon.
I had 1/4 of a watermelon chopped up in front of me, blended, strained and poured into a glass - a very refreshing and economical way to stay hydrated and allow my body to regain some kind of gastronomic balance.
A lot of the food here is deep fried, which will be risky if I don't want to gain weight in the long run. However, it is not a concern right now as I'm walking miles and miles everyday (no exageration here) and I'm burning a lot of energy that way. All the same, I'm making an effort to be gentle with my body/stomach as there is a lot of different stress in my world right now and I don't need to add an upset stomach to the list.

I've noticed over a couple of days in Tainan that I was having a hard time taking deep breaths and that the breathing I'm doing is really shallow. Additionally, there has been one day where I came up with what they call "Taiwan cough." Basically, just your lungs rejecting the air and getting a dry hacking cough. It is a little concerning finding your lungs working noticably harder for the air. It kind of feels like somebody is pressing against the muscles in your chest. I bought one of the masks they use here on the street, but lost it on the first day I had it. I'll get used to having one more accessory soon.

I've travelled to Kaoshing, Taiwan's second biggest city, today. The express train was really pleasant to be on and the seats are much nicer than the slow train. If I do go to Taipei for the new year I might spring for the extra cash and take the express. From tip to tip on the island it can either take 3.5 hours or 6.5 depending on the train you take - fast or slow. Kaoshing has around 2 million people and I think they all drive their scooters at the same time!

I wandered the streets today for a couple of hours, with suitcase in hand on the way to find a "livable" hotel. I eventually got a Japanese style room - which has no chairs and a bed on the floor in a hotel for $800. I could have bargained, but the other choices were either roachville or $1100. This was a reasonable middle ground for me, however, I killed two roaches & two mosquitos in the hotel room already. Note to self, don't move the stationary pad if it looks like it was part of the furniture. Needless to say, the stationary pad was used as a make-shift bug squisher and I won't pick it up again. Apparently these are the small european roaches... the big ones are reportedly a couple of inches long and can fly too. Not nice! Anyway, I'll be searching out another hotel tomorrow... not going to pay $800/night to live in a room where I wonder if the roaches will be ON me tonight. The local hostel is cheap $300/night - I just couldn't walk another step with that suitcase without knowing where I was going... and too stubborn to go to the hostel in a cab with the fear that I might find out it was worse than what I've already seen.

I've met up with Adrian, here in Kaoshing, who is a friend of a friend of my sisters. He's been really nice and hospitable. We went to the night market here and I got to drink coconut juice fresh from the shell. It's been great to have somebody who actually knows what things are to help me decipher my way through the various food stalls. He's offered to play 'tour guide' for part of the week so I can get my bearings and decide if Kaoshing is the place for me. The air and the size of the city make it somewhat questionable... but as I've learned, everything for me right now is somewhat questionable. I'll just have to wait for guidance from above on this.

I miss terrifically clean streets. There seems to be an abnormally large stray pet population here and that comes along with excrement on the streets. Not a pleasant thing to always have to be aware of. I guess it could be another part of the reason why asians leave their shoes off at the door. At least, it is part of MY reasons for taking my shoes off at the door. While, I don't fool myself by thinking Canada's outdoors is sanitary, it certainly has a leg up on this world.

I can't wait to start teaching the little kids, because I suspect it will make a big difference in the way I feel about the Taiwan world. ((HUGS))
Be Well All,
Until I write again, I'm thinking of you.
Love, T. Destiny

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