My Taiwan Adventure

Notes from the abyss of the bathroom. Electrical interferrence from unpowered appliances. It is cutting through my early morning fog and I realize that is MY phone. Muttering a half-happy curse I fumble with clothes, half-heartedly wrapping a sarrong around me as I stagger, trip and stumble to get the appliance. It is an English friend and I am pleased to have caught the call. My voice mail is still in Chinese.

My new phone SIM card arrived yesterday and once again I am equipped to enter Taiwan's digital age. It is a necessary evil here to have a cellular phone. Even my 8 year old students boast the technology. Part of me feels the creep of age as I think about one of my early high-school jobs assembling circuit boards for suitcase-sized "mobile" phones. I'm certain I never stopped to imagine a phone that could play music, take pictures and send text messages.

Technology outpaces our growth as people sometimes. Vaguely worded text message don't really help the world, do they? Is it SO important to have your phone connected twenty four hours a day? Is there any time for peace and quiet in the world? I am at war with myself on this issue. I'm tickled by the newer games and better ring tones of my electric toy. However, I think it was a blessing that I didn't have a phone for a period of time.

Voice mail, pagers, cell-phones, laptops, text messaging... it all starts to feel overwhelming. The level of technological savy being demanded from consumers is astounding. I remember when I was proud to be able to connect AND program my VCR. My friends would look at me in awe and ask for help. Oh yes, I am old enough to remember vinyl, eight-traks, Pong, Vic 20's and pre-remote control days.

I remember longingly the haven of the cell-phone free spa visits in Calgary. Does the same thing exist in Taipei? It must. My mission for pampering in October will be to find one.

The typhoon I mentioned is scheduled to make landfall on Sunday. And it looks like it's going to broadside the island - yipee. Why do they always hit on weekends?

I'm slightly delerious today and teaching in a feverish fog. It seems to have either improved my technique or just made me less impatient. I hope the students are getting something from the lesson. At least I'm less annoyed with them today, it's a vast improvement over Wednesday.

Wish me luck,

T. Destiny

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