Always an Adventure...

Tuesday, October 18: My poor little old scooter had a rough day today! It has been through a lot in the 3+ years I have owned it. Since I bought it from a teacher who was moving back to the U.S. for about US$200, it has driven me through rainy Yilan winters, made it all the way around Taiwan, and carried many guests, including my grandma, not to mention getting me to and from all the various schools I teach at. This semester, I need to drive almost twice as much and started thinking about upgrading a little, after all my little scooter was already 12+ years old when I bought it.  Now 3 years later, I was thinking it was time to switch. But I was still a little hesitant, did I really need a new scooter? Was this a good investment? I’d been to look at some secondhand scooters last week, and still hadn’t reached a decision. Then two very odd things happened today. First, when I went to drive to school this afternoon, I found that my rear tire was almost completely flat. I ended up...

Maybe this post should be entitled "You know you've become a Taiwanese driver when..." I made a couple of observations last night about my driving that may interest or alarm you. Scooters are the vehicle of choice in Taiwan, and as you know, I have my little 125cc "old faithful" that gets me around Yilan. I remember thinking my first year in Taiwan that the main goal when driving here seems to avoid using your breaks if at all possible, which sometimes involves coasting to a stop, or more often, running red lights. There are two main inconveniences when driving a scooter. The first is parking. You know those square puzzles with only one piece missing where you have to shuffle all the pieces around without removing them until you get the correct picture? Yeah, I've always hated those, but that's what parking my scooter reminds me of. Sometimes it takes quite a lot of maneuvering before you can get your scooter into a very small space, and other time...

I was taking the bus in Taipei city last night, just minding my own business. I had earphones in, and finally got a seat about halfway through the trip. There was a teenage girl sitting next to me, and after about 10 minutes she tapped me on the shoulder and showed me her cell phone. On it, there was a message that said something like: "Hi, what is your name? Can I make a friend with you?" I was a little confused at first, so I just looked her. I wasn't sure if this was a message she received and didn't know what it meant, or why she was showing it to me. Finally I asked if she had typed it. She nodded. I tried to chat with her a bit but she didn't really speak English, so I spoke with her in Chinese. I invited her to bible study, gave her a card, and fortunately, it was almost our stop. After I got off, she followed me a little ways, and I said "bye-bye" in a very friendly voice, phone in hand as I was meeting someone and needed to call them. Then she a...

My weekly commute has taken an interesting turn with more travel options opening up all the time. There's a large tunnel that shortens the route from Yilan to Taipei an d it has recently begun to allow buses to go through. Before I usually took the train (223 one way or 402 round trip), later I sometimes took a taxi (250 one way) which only takes about 50 minutes to the train's hour and forty minutes. Now not one, but two competing bus companies will get you there in an hour and a half for about 130NT. And FINALLY, they are allowing sleigh rides through the tunnel! Did I get you there? Ok so Santa didn't really drive me to Taipei, but my thin, beardless, Taiwanese bus driver was dressed in a Santa suit, just for the fun of it I suppose! In any case I'm here in Taipei now until Tuesday! I'm so thankful that I get a long weekend-ish and a chance to celebrate Christmas. I was told we're supposed to wear Christmas colors tomorrow! So it begins.... Oh and speakin...