Before arriving in Taiwan, my skewed, naive perception of Asia had me terrified at the thought of visiting this country... especially on business... especially by myself. But it turns out I was especially misinformed. Or perhaps more accurately, especially misunderstanding what is simply another way to live life.
I leave for the U.S. in two days and although my family, friends, and normal way of life are greatly missed, I'm experiencing a bit of nostalgia for this place. I've fallen in love with something here. Whether it's Taiwan itself I've fallen for, or just the experience of experiencing a different way of life, there's no telling. I don't care which it is. All I know is I'm changed because of seeing what I've seen here and I will forever crave eye-openers like this in the future.
I still haven't bought a camera, so while packing my bags for home, I've been racking my brain for some permanent storage space for the things I've seen, heard, tasted, and smelled (although the stinky tofu is the first thing to go if I must forget something). So to preserve my memory, here are the top ten reasons I will miss Taipei (in no particular order):
1. I will miss the mannerisms of the Taiwanese people: the way they smile and nod their head at you to say hello. The way women carry themselves with such dignity, every one of them old & young, rich & poor. The way they use their chopsticks like it's a form of art, while I fumble around with and drop my food frequently. If you watch it closely, it's beautiful.
2. I'll miss "Ice" dessert, which is made by filling a bowl half-way with shredded ice and then adding 4 or 5 sweet things such as red bean, green tea, sweet tofu, jelly, fruit, and other things that look funny, have no english name, but taste good. Then you mix it all up and eat it like soup. The flavor is light and sweet.
3. I'll miss the night market. Streets lined with vendors: food vendors, clothing vendors, electronics, shoes, bags, jewelry, statues, pets vendors. All prices negotiable.
4. I will miss how superstitious everyone is. How the jewelry they wear isn't chosen by what will go best as an accessory to their outfit, but by how it will influence their destiny. A pink crystal will improve your love life. Black will protect you from evil and those wishing to wrong you. Purple will draw you toward caring, happy people. If you accept ownership of a crystal, that crystal will possess your energy and will do harm to the destiny of anyone else who touches it. If someone does touch your crystal, you must wash their energy off of it in order to balance your destiny again.
5. I will miss the fact that every once in a while, right behind a skyscraper in the bustling city, you can find a quiet, ancient looking market place where farmers park their carts to sell berries and vegetables for next to nothing. And right next to the farmer, you'll find a high-fashion shoe shop with a pull-down gate for a door and flatboard planks set on top of packed dirt for a floor. Rows and rows of clothing, jewelry, and food vendors. It's as if in ten footsteps you can travel back in time from the hi-tech city to a hidden treasure of yore.
6. I'll miss the taste of fruits and vegetables packing huge amounts of fabulous flavor because they haven't been imported or injected with pesticides. It would be very easy to be a vegetarian here.
7. I will miss the garbage man who stops at each block once per day, blaring his off-key version of "Fur Elise" and watching as everyone on the block comes running down the stairs to the corner to dump their trash in the cartoon-painted truck. The garbage man is accompanied by a smaller, chicken crate looking truck for recyclables.
8. I will miss the MRT. Perhaps because it's the first time I've traveled by subway. Or maybe because this particular subway is so incredibly efficient and clean. It fascinates me that someone had to plan a system that could move such a large population around the city with very little waiting in line and next to no litter in sight.
9. MTV Taiwan will be missed dearly! Incredibly cheesy music videos are taken so seriously by the Taiwanese people. Sappy sap sap. MTV plus all the other "little" things like orchids for garnishment on your dinner plate, scooters lining the streets, crystal cell phone tassels..
10. But I think most of all I will miss the wide-eyed, child-in-a-candy-store part of me that has been brought out during my stay here. The thrill of every one of my senses experiencing entirely new sensations, the complete fascination with watching the life of (and living, to the best of my foreign ability) a different culture has permanently changed me. This feeling I will miss the most and will look for continuously throughout my life, even though the place I call "home" will always house my family, the Oprah Winfrey show, and fish that have been decapitated before landing on my dinner plate.
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