Serving the planet...

My last week in Taiwan just started...I am suspecting the Asians to have tinkered with time as the last couple of weeks went so fast! Lots of things happened between my last update and now, which I will try to describe in this update. Yet, I will first give you an impression of how my daily life here looks like. After all I am not on holiday, meaning that I’ve build up some kind of 'normal' life here...

At about 07:00 in the morning I say goodbye to my bed (made by the ‘solid as a rock’ company), eat some cereals and jump on my scooter towards Taipei Language Institute where I have my Chinese classes. Between jumping on my scooter and arriving at TLI my adrenaline levels rise about 50%. Not only because of the traffic in which every driver seems to have the impression that the indicator is there for decoration, but also because of the annoying dogs in my street that think that I am a ball or a frisbee in which you can bite. I tried kicking them, but that didn’t really work as I almost lost my flip-flops...so now I just try to accelerate up to about 70 km/h so that it would take a cheetah like dog to bite me. After the whole ‘lose the dogs maneuver’ there are plenty of other interesting things happening on the road. For instance, the other day I saw this guy closing his eyes and tilting his head sideways while waiting for the traffic light to go green. Quite an innovative way to get rid of your sleep deficiency I thought...30 sec power napping each time you have to wait for a red light! By the way...last week there was a typhoon (a small one)...driving a scooter through a typhoon in Taipei is not so nice!

From 0830-1030 I have Chinese class which is interesting because it’s one on one so there are no opportunities to hide if I don’t know an answer. Probably good though. After class I always visit this lovely lady selling bapao and wonder how the Dutch ever got to f*ck up the concept so badly by creating this microwave stuff. Still munching away my bapao I return to uni, have lunch with friends or my language exchange, and head to the library. With my membership card of last year I put on my best Prodent smile and sneak my way in, in order to work on my thesis. I really worked hard the last couple of weeks, up to the point that I read almost 50 articles now. Only a few more and I can start writing my literature review (jeuj!!). One thing about the library that is actually quite an improvement from the library in Maastricht is the signal for everybody to finish what they’re doing because the library is closing. In Maastricht this is done by a lady with a limbo accent telling you that the library will close in 20 mins which she repeats a few times (with a tone like: move your ass...WE WANNA GO HOME you lazy students!!!). Here they play Bach, Vivaldi or Feng Shui...hahaha.

Anyway...I am describing a library, so it’s probably time to change the topic. Besides camping in the library I also did some fun stuff. For example, I went to see Kung Fu panda in IMAX with some friends, visited night markets searching for choudoufu and had a foot massage at Shilin market. During the massage I was afraid that some of my toes would not survive and that the masseur would accidentally pull them of (hardest massage ever!). I also had dinner with a Taiwanese friend at her parent’s place. Really nice, amongst others because I found that my nose is 3,5 cm long and theirs is only 1,5cm :). This weekend I scootered to Pinglin with Simone which is home to some of Taiwan’s tea fields providing some spectacular views, and on Sunday visited the beach where I tried some surfing.

On Saturday I will fly to Tokyo where I plan to stay for 4 days. I’ll meet up with a Japanese friend of mine and will try to act like a true Japanese tourist, making lots of pictures. Sounds cool...very much looking forward to it! Then Wednesday the 30th I will fly on to Beijing, which will be the last stop before coming back to the Netherlands. I realize that by all this ‘flying around the world stuff’ I am not really serving the planet. But don’t worry; I am planning to plant a bonsaitree on my balcony once I come ‘home’ in Maastricht :). Plus, I’ll be working for Heineken of course...which is exactly what I will be doing between my arrival on Beijing Airport and departure for NL. Just the other day I found out what exactly I’ll be doing in the Holland Heineken House: pulling beers behind the HHH’s main bar. Kind of what this guy is doing: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=wDXWDghQZP0 . If I will ever get such a smug expression on my face though...I encourage all of you to kick my ass hard enough until my feet touch the ground again!

Actually, I was quite surprised when I found out that they made me a bartender. I always thought Heineken hired me because of my Chinese and would therefore give me a position like ‘info desk’ or something similar. I guess I am just a lucky bastard :D. And...quickly adapting to the new circumstances, I already asked my language exchange for some Chinese pickup lines. She produced the Chinese equivalents of ‘you are very fashionable’ and ‘your hair looks like a waterfall.’ Muhahaha...we’ll see if it works :P

The guy sitting next to me (yes, I am sitting in the library again) is eating his own fingers at the moment ...munch munch...the sound is like a beaver gnawing at a tree. Owww...his pen is going down as well now. Maybe I should give him ‘the eye’ and point at the no-eating sign? Probably best to go home...it’s been a long day already...

Next update will be from Tokyo or Beijing!

Gaitian zaijian,

Mike (aka MaiKe)