Last Thursday was a holiday in Korea (and most of Asia, in fact) and I had Wednesday thru Sunday off. I hadn't really had a vacation since March and I hadn't done any travel at all in Asia, so I decided I would go to Taiwan to visit my friend Joe. He used to work at ATG and you may remember that he visited me in Korea last August (and was there when I first met Vivi!).
First of all, a little geography/history. I went to Taiwan, not Thailand. Thailand is where Bangkok is, as in hookers, drugs, and transvestites. Taiwan is a totally different place. It is an island off the coast of China (Taipei is the capital city) and was a part of China for many, many years. In the half century leading up to WWII, it was occupied by Japan; after the war, it was returned to China. However, when the communists took over China in the late 40s, the non-communists (the "Nationalists") fled to Taiwan and planned to regroup before trying to reclaim China. Fifty-five years later, they are still planning. So technically Taiwan is part of China but they have their own government, own currency, etc.
There was a slight possibility that Vivi was going to accompany me on this trip but she had a ton of schoolwork to do so she decided not to go. It would have been nice but when you add to that the fact that her dad doesn't know about me, a trip outside the country was a bit too dangerous.
Anyway, my arrival into Taipei was not so smooth. I had read that with a US passport you could enter Taiwan on a tourist visa for up to 14 days. Not a problem, as I only intended to be there for five. However, apparently I overlooked the fine print because your passport has to be valid for at least six months. Mine expires in January. Which meant that I needed to get a visa. Fortunately, you can do this right at the airport; unfortunately, it costs $150. Ouch.
Joe picked me up (he has a car) and we drove to his place. It was pouring rain and we got lost (he doesn't usually drive) and so we didn't do much that first day. We went with his wife (Jenny, who is Taiwanese) to a dim sum restaurant and called it a day.
It was still pouring rain on Thursday (the rain was from the typhoon that eventually hit Korea) and it was a holiday in Taiwan. We went to the National Palace Museum, which is where all the "good" Chinese history stuff is. See, when the communists took over and the Nationalists headed to Taiwan, they took all the old Chinese historical stuff with them. If you go to a history museum in mainland China, you won't really see anything over 60 years old; it's all communist propaganda now. But the OLD stuff is all in Taiwan. So it was really interesting and I learned quite a bit.
Many people are disappointed to hear that that night, we ordered pizza and hung out in Joe's apartment, rather than going to a bar or restaurant or a "night market". See, Joe has a videotape of the Patriots' Super Bowl victory and I really wanted to watch it, so we stayed in and watched that. It was totally worth it.
Friday finally the rain cleared (by this point the typhoon was hammering Korea) and we went hiking. We climbed up to the tallest peak in northern Taiwan (though we drove up most of it!) and then walked around another trail where you could walk right up to water buffaloes. Pretty crazy. We opted not to wear any sunscreen and both got pretty serious sunburns. Oh well, I needed some color. I was hoping to go out and do some heavy drinking that night but Joe doesn't drink much and Jenny doesn't drink at all, so we went to a bar (where all the waitresses were dressed like cowgirls) but only stayed for two beers.
Saturday we visited some temples and then hung around the university district. Being in Taipei was a lot like my initial experience in Seoul: everything was very strange to me and, since I couldn't read the signs, I had no idea what anything was. These days, being in Korea is (disturbingly) comfortable for me, but in Taipei I would have been totally lost if Joe weren't with me. His Chinese is excellent and so it was very useful to have a tour guide.
That night after dinner we were hanging out in his apartment and I noticed that a lizard (about 4-5 inches long) had made its way into the apartment. The two of us trying to corner this frightened little guy must have been a hilarious sight. I think we were more scared than it was. We finally got it into a box and dumped it outside. This, fortunately, is a problem I have never had to deal with in Korea (and I hope I'm not jinxing myself!).
All in all, I had a very fun time and though we didn't have any crazy adventures, it was still nice to see another part of Asia and to see my friends. Taipei is MUCH smaller than Seoul (2 million people compared to Seoul's 10 million) and we avoided really crowded places (markets, popular night spots, public transportation) so maybe I didn't get the true feel of the city. We didn't do anything like eat chicken head or drink snake blood (both of which you can do if that's your thing), but I learned a lot about the history of Taiwan and FINALLY got to spend a day outside of a major city and get some fresh air, so that was a definite benefit right there.
And yes, of course, there are pictures!
Aside from that, this month my classes are much smaller and the weather is much cooler, plus I really love my new apartment so things are going well. I started taking Korean language classes again and even though it's a bit of a "refresher" for me, I think my teacher is great and I will probably stick with it for a few more months.