Taichung, Taiwan - September 14, 2003
Today I got up and took a train to a different town. I had been looking at this city of Taichung quite awhile ago in the past. Actually when I started these web journals back in September of 2000.. I was immediately beforehand trying to decide if I should return to Korea again or if I should come here to Taichung, Taiwan. Well, here I am in Taichung.
First impressions is thats its hot here, but its hot everywhere. The foreigners are extremely friendly however. I was basically chased down by two different ones on two different occassions. Both of them seemed over eager to speak in English and to welcome a familiar looking non-Chinese face. I talked to both for awhile and they both told me where to look around and such. They both approached me first, as if I'd have been left to myself, I would have just walked on not being use to that. I'm more use to Seoul where I see foreigners all the time, many of which I never see again, so I wouldn't really see any need to approach them, as I'd probably never see them again anyhow. I have a feeling that a foreigner in Taichung is usually living and working there, so if you see one, its best to say hello as you'll be seeing them all the time from then on.
Taichung itself was a pretty dull and boring small city. Of course it was daytime, but I didn't find much of interest. It had a somewhat urban feel, but not really the cool stuff about urban areas. It has more the ugliness of the urban feeling lacking the cool stuff of it. It made me think that if I were to ever live in Taiwan, then I'd much prefer a coastal city or the capital, but nothing imbetween. Taichung was an interior city, the third largest in Taiwan, and not much more can be said about it then that. However, in a guidebook, they praise the city for having the best weather, as while its still hot like everywhere else, apparently it has alot less rainy days, which apparently the rest of the country has many many hot humid and rainy days. For me, I was just thinking it would be better to be on a beach town with a few more rainy days added in.
The other interesting thing about Taiwan that I haven't mentioned yet, but should is that they have mopeds, motorbikes, scooters, and everything else here. They are about as popular as cars, and you are just as likely to see either one around, probably about 50/50. I was thinking it would be really cool to live in Taiwan and ride a motorbike around. Well, maybe someday..
The other thing about being in Taichung is that apparently its an industrial town. It was also Sunday, which is the day that all of the immigrant labor has their one day off for their workweek. This meant there were Filipinos (and probably Indonesians and Vietnamese) everywhere. It was kind of cool to see another nationality around rather than just the status quo of either Taiwanese or Koreans (as usual)..
Also, just in general, I have to once again comment on how nice it is to be in Taiwan and be around relaxed people once again. People here are just nice and kind and most importantly relaxed. Koreans in general are pretty worked-up and kind of hyper in general. They are both good-hearted on the insides, but on the outsides, the Taiwanese are quite calm and laid-back which was kind of needed after the general intensity of living with Koreans on a day-to-day basis up there.
Next Journal Entry in Taiwan:
September 15, 2003
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