i'm further down the east coast now in taitung now. i couldn't figure out the trip west to alishan/taichung (either i missed the morning bus, or there isn't a direct bus at all because of the earthquake, or everyone at the bus station is crazy, or all three) so i'm going west across the island from here to tainan tomorrow morning. the bus leaves at 6:30am and i can't buy a bus ticket in advance for another unknown reason -- i have buy it from the driver himself at 6:30am tomorrow.
the further south i go, the thicker the accents get, and the thicker the mental fog gets that keeps me from understanding what the hell people are saying to me. the fog usually creeps in whenever someone starts talking in depth about a topic, and i realize my mandarin vocabulary and listening comprehension could be a lot better. the studying i've been doing in HK has helped my reading, though: i was able to extract a good-sized chunk of meaning from the front page of the china daily yesterday.
men here have red-stained teeth from chewing on too many betel nuts. it's disgusting. a taxi driver was trying to convince me earlier that there were no buses heading towards tainan tomorrow, that i'd have to take the train and of course he'd be happy to take me to the train station, and the whole time he had this broad, blood-colored smile where the betel nut juice had spread around his lips, making him look like some kind of homicidal clown.
the bus ride down here was really beautiful, driving down the coastal highway through the rain. waves crashed on the rocks behind cows grazing on terraced fields and, uhm, insert some more pretty descriptions of scenery here. i'm too tired to. i have to wake up in time for the 6:30am bus tomorrow.
Posted by cce at April 22, 2003 10:09 PM | TrackBackhow old are you? from reading yr blog, one would think that you are 14, female, and first time out of idaho.
if you cant figure out how to get around taiwan, you should stay there longer, until you do.
leaving asia now will just allow you to come back to the usa with nothing more than wide-eye-syndrom. its a good start, but unless you go well beyond that stage of yr development, you will just keep running away, bringing the same problems to yr new locations.
Amos, why don't you mind your own business. If you had half a brain you'd have seen Chris's homepage and realised that he is no US bumpkin. Get a life and shut up.
Posted by: Sophie at April 23, 2003 07:32 PMhomicidal clowns are scary . . .
Posted by: cathy at April 24, 2003 03:39 AMgiant forks tend to poke people in the eye when provoked. and by people i mean YOU, AMOS. WATCH OUT
Posted by: forkman at April 24, 2003 12:57 PMWhat's up amos? I'm 22, male, and have been living/traveling in Asia since November (in Hong Kong since January). I can get around in Taiwan just fine, thanks, it's just that people who hang around bus/train stations (especially taxi drivers) have a habit of misinforming foreigners, plus the bus service west from Hualien was spotty (only every other day) along the route I wanted to take.
As for my "wide-eyed syndrom" [sic], I'd contend that all cultural sensibilities aside, betel nut chewing is still pretty gross, and that's why it's looked down upon by many Taiwanese -- it's even banned in Taipei.
Perhaps you were referring to a "wide-eyd" melodramatic style I've been using recently in my blog, and I'll admit it's been getting out of hand, but when you're traveling solo through the rain all day long, not speaking English at all, at the end of the day you tend get a little sappy when it comes time to write a new blog entry.
And as for leaving Asia, I'm not planning to leave because of scary Taiwanese taxi drivers (or even SARS), but because I have to return to full-time employment in the US in June.
Posted by: chris at April 24, 2003 08:57 PMGrrr! Grrr!!
Posted by: Sophie at April 25, 2003 03:40 AM