i'm in hualien, on the east coast of taiwan, where big marble mountains meet the ocean and you can walk along the gravel beach picking up the occasional piece of jade. nearby is taroko gorge, taiwan's top scenic destination. yesterday i took a bus tour through the gorge with a few taiwanese, a danish family and 3 moscovites in taiwan for a trade fair. no time to describe taroko right now, so: it was really pretty.
the TV says there's a typhoon coming and i'm still not clear on how this will affect me. watching the weather report at my hotel, a nice mom 'n' pop establishment where the father settles down in front of the TV with a american 50's-style pipe each evening, i was told i should probably head to tainan or kaohsiung or somewhere to avoid the storm brewing in the east. i hope to make it to through the mountains to the middle of the island today.
i didn't check my email for a couple of days, and in going through the messages from my family, my tiny network of friends living in asia, and the american consulate in hong kong, the same topic comes up: SARS. did you hear about the beijing officials getting sacked? when are you leaving the country? what to do? i'm still not sure, but the current plan is to leave near the end of may.
last night it rained down hard, and i walked from awning to awning while locals gawked at me, looking for somewhere to eat until i found a pizza hut. they had a marvelous buffet and i gorged myself on corn- and shrimp-topped pizza. i picked up the taiwanese paper and strained to understan the articles. i think taiwan is upset they're not a member of the WHO. but SARS isn't as big a deal here -- they seem to be keeping a lid on it, even offering a cash reward for reporting on a feverish-looking neighbor, and people are surprised when i tell them about the school and work shutdowns in hong kong.
nina simone died today...
Posted by cce at April 22, 2003 12:30 PM | TrackBackoooooooo:-)
Nice journal Entry
do not underestimate Typhoon they are annoying devils:-(
Keep up the good WORK!!!