eurasian fantasy

turkey! i'm going to turkey for a week. shirley a.k.a. tootie from virginia beach (and fordham) is marrying kemal from turkey. i'm in the wedding, mike is meeting me in istanbul, and it's guaranteed to be a real head spinner after this short month becoming an alien resident of taiwan. i will soon make your blogheads spin by mixing in the hagia sophia, the blue mosque, and the sea of marmara... BARIS*

sunday drive

sundays are shu-shu's day off. and so, the family announced that they would be taking me for a drive. finally, we'd have automotive access to some of the roads and villages that had been cut off since the typhoon. we started by taking the direct road to maolin-- a drive that had taken 40 circuitous minutes last week, and that normally takes only about 15.

shu-shu's big pickup turned down a dirt lane lined with beheaded palm trees. the sight of the beat up riverbed was pretty extreme, and more so for the liangs who had known it pre-typhoon. gray silt spread far and wide where torrential flooding had torn open the river's path, and half-buried tree trunks scattered about, marked up with orange spray paint. just a little further down the road, the foot of the mountains and the road to maolin. turns out that twisted yellow bridge that i'd seen the other day was the connection between maolin and gaoshu. industrious drivers had come through with a makeshift road all the way up to the mountain-top village by laying large temporary pipes across the river, covering them with dirt, and driving over the earth repeatedly. or by just blazing a trail through and around the heaps of rubble.

the red carpet (aka freshly slaughtered pig) was laid out for our arrival, and we met up with the same lovely aboriginal taiwanese ("ywenzumi") family that we'd seen last week, all of whom had helped to raise the liang kids. how could we say no to piping hot boiled pig chunks? jun claims to only like grilled meat, not boiled, so i was on my own. the soy-garlic dipping sauce was amazing, as was the scene of dividing up and parceling out shares in clear pink bags.

the village of guangfu was our next stop. the combination of light drizzling rain, dense betelnut palm groves, and buzzing heat made it feel straight out of indiana jones. we visited each of guangfu's three giant stone lions (who are rumored by the people of maolin to have made a live appearance during typhoon morakot!). apparently, in the beginning there was only one. it was damaged in the last terrible typhoon 50 years ago. the people, however, were safe, and they attributed their good fortune to the stone lion. so they built a second one, and that one was vandalized by a jealous neighboring village. then came a third-- and nothing happened to it. now, all three have now been located and are now positioned about the village, protecting the people of guang fu. this one was my favorite-- the mossy, reclaimed-by-the-jungle lion.

sky high sandimen was next. sandimen is a community well-known for its promotion of aboriginal taiwanese culture, and the indigenous people's cultural park. while we didn't visit that particular park, we did visit a local artist's self-constructed restaurant high up on the mountaintop and the dragonfly bead art studio, where glass beads are crafted in the tradition of the paiwan tribe. we also ate some more delectable ywenzumi pork-- cooked on a stone slab over fire, with chunks of onion and garlic. true to his word, jun ate up.



our last stop was the big city, pingtung. we had hua-gua, or hot pot. a big metal bowl with a yin-yang like divider filled with 2 kinds of broth, one spicy and one not. a blazing hot fire beneath. a refrigerated wall unit stocked with all types of uncooked foods-- meats, mushrooms, tofu, sea creatures, dumplings, herbs, quail eggs, pumpkin, taro, noodles, duck blood cakes, and so on. you take what you like, dump it in the broth, mix up an individual dipping sauce, and then dip in to the hot pot. shu-shu probably wasn't joking when he said that he'd like to book a hotel room next door and stay for a vacation... easy hua gua access. my favorite thing about hua gua is the precious freedom to pick and choose. that and the soft-serve ice cream*

photos: bridge swept away; worst parking spot ever; silty riverbed; disassembled pig; maolin digging in; guangfu lion #2; glass bead studio; pingtung hua gua; sandimen valley

field trips

village life has been shockingly hectic, leaving me time only to live out new stories without ever writing the old ones down. i've got some retroactive storytelling to do. first: fatbat mike's grand tour of kaohsiung last saturday. he would probably want you to know that he's a much better tour guide than we know! fatbat claimed that pingtung john and i were among his most mellow tourists ever, and therefore sampled only a small fraction of the activities that he would normally program. by "mellow" i think he meant that we were more likely to walk slowly and laugh loudly than to motivate in any way towards the next destination... sound familiar anyone?!

fatbat did great, and made us both extremely happy by giving us our first view of the sea. specifically, the taiwan strait to the island's west. kaohsiung is the 2nd largest city in taiwan and one of the top 6 largest ports in the world. and so our view largely consisted of massive container ships and port paraphernelia. my happiness increased even further when we boarded a ferry headed for chi jing island, about 10 minutes from kaohsiung.



chi jing is especially popular for its fresh seafood and beach. we beelined for the beach, and were shocked by the sight of heaps and piles of driftwood as far as the eye could see. driftwood covering the sand, driftwood washing up in the waves, driftwood knocking against driftwood... and one of those huge container ship stuck in the sand immediately offshore. we climbed the wood, walked the beach, tried to board the marooned ship (no dice), and ate whole grilled squid on a stick, quail eggs, and bean curd & red bean shaved ice. enthusiastic members of the clean plate club!

one outstanding sunset and several hours later, we made it to kaohsiung's "dream mall." comparable to the twin cities' dreamy mall of america. while they did not have fancy silver shoes in my size, they did have a bob ross store. with salesgirls who continuously demonstrate bob ross technique on their own easels. fatbat mike is clearly highly impressed with their skills-- or maybe it's just the overwhelming quantity of quality bob ross merchandise. "just like so..."

needless to say, i loved every bit of the kaohsiung tour and hope that fatbat will not hold the mellow pace and endless questions against us.

monday night, my taiwanese sisters and brother introduced me to their crew of pingtung-based b-boys. i loved not only their moves but also their music-- budos band in pingtung city! who knew??? at 1 in the morning, we drove down to the island's southernmost tip and one of the most popular vacation getaways in taiwan, kenting. it was beautiful. we fit 9 people into 2 hotel rooms, swam in the ocean, did headstands on the beach, and rocked the bumping night market. and i got to see peter & andi, an american couple teaching in the area.

on thursday, my new friend amy took me to her fruit factory. amy is taiwanese and speaks fantastic english thanks to 10 years in denver. she also runs the family fruit distribution business. farmers drive their trucks into the warehouse and drop off their fruit. workers sort the fruit by grade, then package it and ship it around the island (and beyond). currently available are papayas, bananas, guavas, pears limes, lemons, and a few straggler mangoes and pineapples. as one might guess, amy's farmers (and therefore business) were seriously impacted by typhoon morakot. while the government will offer assistance to farmers, distributors will not receive any financial aid. the fruit factory will stay open in part by sending trucks on fruit recon missions to the less-damaged north.

photos: quail egg girl; kaohsiung to chi jing ferry; disaster beach; kenting national park; fruit factory booty (huge bag of mangoes not pictured)

"it"

last night, i wrote to my family: "i agreed to do something with my taiwanese parents tomorrow morning at 7 am and i have no idea what it is. it involves walking, carrying something heavy, and the maolin mountain area.... i don't think we're helping out... adam, this might be what you mean by "language barrier!" what to do when no one's around to translate? and pantomiming only gets you so far? and they can't understand your efforts to pronounce words from the little dictionary? you just say "yes. yes, 7:00 am. okay. i'll do it." and then you find out in the morning what "it" is."

so i was up and ready at 7 this morning. brother jun told me the plan: we were going to hike into a mountain area to deliver provisions. i was told to be careful with my bag, as it contained several pounds of fresh bean sprouts. loving it already-- taiwanese-style volunteer work! just drive to the trouble with a bag full of produce and hike on in. we piled into shu-shu's big rugged truck and hit the road, taking the long way to avoid impassable roads and bridges. our first sight of the troubled area was this:










twisted metal, a torn up riverbed, and a line of soldiers marching in formation as far as the eye could see. the road was closed, but shu-shu told the guards that we were carrying in food-- so they let us pass. we crept along behind the soldiers, trying not to look at the big chunks of missing road. we came to the maolin scenic area first: the tourist bureau had collapsed into the riverbed and soldiers were digging massive piles of dirt out of homes and businesses. we parked the car and joined the lines of soldiers filing up the river. at a certain point, the road was completely destroyed. we moved on, along with solders and other small groups of civilian helpers who looked like they'd been at it for hours (it couldn't have even been 9 am yet). we hiked past broken bamboo forests, a ruined village, and up into the mountains, to maolin village.

no electricity, no running water, kind of like a ghost town with some life left in it (dragon head, anyone?!). we headed straight for shu-shu's best friend's house. despite the circumstances, people seemed pretty content-- especially when we unloaded our bags, which turned out to be full of fresh greens, bean sprouts, roasted chicken feet, kaoliang (sorghum liquor from kinmen), betelnut, and onions. people were THRILLED. even for a couple of onions. they gave us taiwan beer and instant noodles (all they'd been eating for the past week), and told hunting stories. shu-shu also took me over to a municipal office to show me his art on exhibit.

on our way out, we passed more soldiers marching in, now carrying boxes of water and most unbelievable: bags chock full of chinese take-out strung over the ends of bamboo poles. all this talk about military helicopters and coordinated efforts-- when all you really need is a bag full of bean sprouts and some motivation to get past the rubble.
photos: taiwanese troops marching into maolin scenic area; bridges to maolin; riverside road through maolin; chilling with shu-shu's friends (and brother jun); incongruous photo of me interacting with shu-shu's art; taiwanese delivery guy; where the sidewalk ends

where the fruits grow

gaoshu is a township, or a cluster of small villages centering on central gaoshu. our house is on the very edge of town. before coming to taiwan, i'd been told that gaoshu was a village surrounded by mountains and rivers. this past week, i'd seen the mountains from a distance and heard a lot about the rivers (threatening to overflow) but my main impression was that this "village" was actually a bustling little outpost full of small trucks, scooters, and lots of shops selling fruit, snacks, tea, and rice cookers. i hadn't really branched out-- the surrounding areas were hit HARD by the typhoon, and many roads out of town lead to damaged roads and bridges.
today, i craved the biker's perspective. shu-shu joined me long enough to escort me past taiwanese president ma ying-jeou's motorcade (making the rounds of disaster sites around pingtung county) and over to the family compound. after having tea and meeting several generations of liangs, shu-shu's cousin offered to show me his farm.




cousin's daughters cindy and judy led me to the family farm on bicycle, and beyond that onto the most beautiful and lush ride imaginable. cindy named everything we saw: betelnut (trees are a skinny type of palm tree; seeds are chewable stimulants that turn your teeth red, give you oral cancer, and erode the soil), rice, papaya, guava, taro, banana, lime, cinnamon... and in the background, palm trees and mountains. the road we took was a paved-over abandoned railroad line, and it was so mellow, just winding through the crops and past tiny little villages consisting of family compounds and miniature temples. any concerns i had about being a country girl for the year faded away...
photos: me, my tiny bike & a field of rice; cindy next to gaoshu temple gate (with judy on bike rack); judy and her chicken; pastoral gaoshu

taipei to pingtung

in the old days, it took months to reach taipei from the south of taiwan. then there was the bus, which took 6-8 hours, and the train, which took 4.5 hours. now, there's the high speed rail, or 台灣高速鐵路 (sounds like french "gauthier" in chinese), which takes under 2 hours and is as smooth a ride as you can imagine. not until we were actually seated did i believe that we were really leaving taipei. the train wasn't nearly as crowded as i expected it to be, and people seemed very casual about heading south. after all that i'd heard and seen through word-of-mouth and t.v. news, i was a little on edge. everything inside the train was completely ordinary (down to the stewardess pushing a cart of hot box lunches and snacks), but the scenery flashing by was surreal. water everywhere-- fields were flooded, roads were submerged, and the rain was still coming down.

my seatmate jean looked at me like i was crazy when i told her i was headed to pingtung, and asked, "have you seen the news lately? do you know what it's like there???" she teaches english at a cram school, or buxiban which is where people of some means can get ahead in various subjects. she bought me grapefruit juice and told me how dry these same flooded fields had been just a week before-- the country had been in a drought. the 2 hours passed quickly, and before i knew it, we were at kaohsiung's zuoying station. fatbat mike and pingtung annie had escorted us down, and they were the most reassuring part of the whole experience. even when mike told me that mr. chung and mr. chung (my principal and co-teacher) were there, i still wondered if i'd make it to gaoshu that day-- i'd heard various reports that the bridges were down and the town had been evacuated! sure enough, mr. chungs appeared and immediately handed me a red envelope. inside were NT$66 (~$33NT = $1US) and a slip of red paper with the characters for "peace." mr. chung the younger also gave me a postcard with a phenomenal boddhisatva that he'd painted. the mr. chungs were so cool and so nice, and they chatted to me the whole drive back to gaoshu. gaoshu was not underwater, the bridges seemed fine, and we had no trouble getting there despite the pouring rain. we headed straight for gaoshu elementary school, where i'll be teaching (and which has been in use as temporary barracks for taiwanese troops who are assisting with disaster relief). the school had beautiful metal sculptures of musical grasshoppers all around, alongside big puddles and lots of fallen branches. we had some noodles and stewed seaweed, and then they took me apartment hunting. #1: the top floor of a family's home, very clean & nice & friendly. #2: a tiny cramped room above an elderly woman's living space. #3: a small empty room above a garage, accessible through a back alley. as mr. chung the younger said, "have you made your choice? there is only one choice." i chose the family. the dad (shu-shu, or uncle) is an incredible artist-- he made the musical grasshoppers at school as well as these butterflies. he's a mechanic in the first place, but he realized 2 or 3 years ago that he could make sculptures from the spare parts... and so he went to town-- talk about hidden talent.

that's mom (she looks like young janet carr!), sister u (19), sister yen (22), brother jun (17), shu-shu, mr. chung (the principal), and mr. chung (the other english teacher). the family is ridiculously cool. and nice. they gave me a phone to use, found me the tiniest bike ever, and they laugh all the time. they also love to eat fruit. this area is big on agriculture, and mainly fruit-- papaya, jackfruit, dragon fruit, pineapples, melons, chinese guava... the list goes on. oh! and they have 3 crocodiles and a 3-legged mountain pig. here's a view from my room(s):

the mountains beyond are where much of the worst morakot damage took place, and they are off limits for now. the scene below is from a rainstorm on tuesday; i was trying to capture the intensity of the rain! can you tell how hard it is coming down??? i've never seen anything like it before. oh, and that's another one of shu-shu's sculptures-- his general themes seem to be dragonflies, butterflies, herculean beetles, and the occasional person. his work is on exhibit in gaoshu's town hall, if you happen to be passing through!

also on tuesday, we drove into pingtung city to apply for my alien resident card (ARC-- necessary to get a phone or bank account). my awesome entourage included mr. chungs and the sibs. mr. chung the principal saw me looking at this taoist temple, and asked if i wanted to go inside. he ended up leading us on a prayer tour, going from altar to altar. we all kind of imitated his motions, with a lot of bowing and clasped hands. mr. chung jr. is very interested in religion, and he explained most of the scenes and rituals to me. at the end, i cast some sort of wooden blocks to find my fortune. i had to ask a burning question and get 3 "yes" answers in a row from the gods. it took about 20 minutes of everyone watching and saying, "yes! yes! oh.... no." but i finally got it. and my future looks bright, although i will face some hurdles early on. right on.

things to do and see in taipei

a week in taipei is not enough. fortunately, we had an unexpected additional weekend to fill with extremely tall buildings, ornate architecture, and curious snacks. i spent my first morning running in da'an park, a block from the howard international house, aka home. at 6:30 a.m., the park was filling up with other joggers, large groups of dance enthusiasts (salsa? shania? who knew.), a couple of t'ai chi and other martial arts crews, and power walkers conscientiously staying to the right. during the week, we took the mrt (taipei's subway) all over the place. interesting observations about the mrt: it is one long continuous car linked by flexible joints, people line up along painted lines to wait (and they don't push!), and there are clear barriers that slide open when the train arrives. also, the bathrooms are clean and not scary.

one of my very favorite excursions was longshan temple, a buddhist temple built during the qing dynasty. it is unbelievably ornate, carved with dragons, gods, goddesses, trees, lions, and so on...we were there on a festival day, so the air was thick with incense and buddhist chanting. it was an amazing feeling to navigate the interior of the temple, feeling nearly invisible alongside devoted worshippers, tourists, and piles of fruit, tea, and orchid blossoms. a completely reverent experience.

during our marooned-by-typhoon weekend, we also hiked over to taipei 101, the tallest completed building in the world. the lower levels consist of super posh stores, vegas-style restaurants, and a well-known food court. outside, there were numerous trees knocked over by the typhoon-- hence the professional tree righter-upper.

chiang kai-shek memorial hall was massive and quite a tribute.

in a heavy rain, john from minneapolis and i climbed chiang's 89 steps (1 for each year of his life) and paid respects to the late president and his everlasting contributions to the entire world.

other things i enjoyed about taipei: the 7/11's with their endless cans of taiwan beer and tea eggs, the massive scooter gangs, and the hercules beetle education center (which we mistook for a pet store).