Taipei Personality

Nee hao,

I'm currently beginning the next chapter of my abroad story. My month in Phnom Penh came to an end yesterday, as I rushed to catch my 11:25 a.m. departing flight (lesson learned: don't wait until the last minute to print your tickets/pack everything). After a very brief lay-over in Hong Kong (about 9 hours shorter than the one I had the first time), I took off for my new home: Taipei. I arrived at the airport around 6:45 p.m. last night, and finally made it to my hostel at about 8.

Though my layover in Hong Kong and the following flight were both brief, they still gave me some time to reflect. Here I was at the Hong Kong Int'l Airport, the same place I had been exactly one month ago as I awaited my flight to Phnom Penh (see "Nee Hao!"). One month. It's still hard to believe that's all it's been. The teaching experience gained; the friendships developed; the ethnic food consumed--all in just a mere 30 days. Since that first layover in Hong Kong, confidence in my teaching abilities has sky-rocketed. Instructing the girls at IU demonstrated to me that I can be an effective teacher while also making class FUN (must have been a crazy concept to one of our LanguageCorps instructors, a.k.a. "Sgt. Buzzkill", who put me to sleep both times he taught). And that ridiculous language I couldn't understand a month ago??... Well, not much has changed there---it's still pretty much impossible to understand what people are saying to me. BUT I definitely see myself making progress and beginning to master some aspects of it---well at least enough to order coffee in Chinese at the airport yesterday..hey-o! ("wo yao mai ka fe"—Thank you Davy and your incredibly fast paced crash course). 

Then reflection time was over. I had finally made it here to Taipei--the place I will be calling home for at least the next 364 days. Though I plan on traveling some when I get the opportunity (i.e. vacation time and, more importantly, money), the next year will be nothing like the first month--where I bounced in between Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, and Saigon. I'm here in Taiwan for the long haul.

And it was at this point, as I walked out of the Taipei airport, that I began to feel shock for the first time. Now "culture shock" is defined as the difficulty people have adjusting to a culture that is markedly different from their own (or at least that's what Wikipedia says it is...but I was trained well during college to never totally trust that site…so therefore I'm not going to fully buy that definition). Because you see, my first impressions of Taipei were that it actually seems quite like back home in many aspects---the tall buildings, the multitude of actual cars (not just motos and tuk-tuks anymore), even the freeway we took (yes, a FREEWAY…I thought I was going to have a heart-attack being in a motor vehicle traveling at faster than 15 m.p.h for the first time in over a month) all reminded me of back home in the good ole Bay Area.

So really the shock for me was not adjusting to a place different from the one I'm originally from, but settling into a place so different from the one I was just in. Somehow in the month I was in Cambodia, that strange little country became normal to me. The constant hassling by tuk-tuk drivers, massage parlor workers, and even pimps ("you want lady?") became expected; the 1 and a half hour wait for meals was ordinary; and the generally slower pace of life I'd adjusted to.

I thought perhaps that my weekend getaway in Saigon would be a great introduction to the craziness I would encounter in Taiwan. And in some aspects, it served that purpose--the motorbike madness in Vietnam made Phnom Penh look like a small town in the Midwest, and the assertiveness of vendors in the market (actually grabbing my arm with vice grips several times) made those in Phnom Penh seem, dare I say, timid.

But in so many ways, Taipei is like Saigon on crack (whoever said NYC is the city that never sleeps?). The sea of buildings and cars reminds me that I'm in an entirely new place. And the rapid pace of everyone walking in the streets shows me I'm definitely not in laid-back Phnom Penh anymore; instead this city seems to be run predominantly by Type-A personalities (hahaha...get it?)

And so long story short, last night was the night of shock. After getting very little sleep the night before (lesson reinforced: don't wait until the last minute to print your tickets/pack everything), flying all day, and then being put unexpectedly in this very ghetto hostel (who actually thought I'd be missing Rick's house?), I was very overwhelmed.

But after some rest, I woke up this morning to an exhilarating realization---this is exactly what I asked for. The craziness of Taipei life. Even the feelings of loneliness remind me that I decided to come here, instead of opting to follow other friends to places like China and Thailand, because I wanted my own place to explore. So now I’ve got what I wanted. I’m in Taiwan now—time to rock and roll.

A Riel Awesome Time

It would be hard, er impossible, for to describe everything that’s happened and all I’ve done here the past 2 and half weeks. But I suppose I’ll try anyways. It feels like from the moment we all arrived, we were thrown on to one of the most amazing and exhilarating roller coaster rides of our lives. For me, the the flight over to Phnom Penh was like the ascent to the top of the ride—with all the anticipation in the world surrounding my every thought. What would the country be like? Would I be able to adjust? How would I get along with the other people in my program?

Then all of a sudden, the ride begins the descent. Hands go up, eyes widen, adrenaline pumps. No more time for thinking and worrying; just living. And it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it has been the best living of my life. I never could have imagined how much fun it would be to sing karaoke in Rick’s bar, have a pool party in the pouring rain at Siem Reap, or play beach volleyball and ultimate frisbee in Sihanoukville.  

Sunset in Sihanoukville. Pretty impressive, right?

As a group, we explored the temples at Ta Prohm, Bayon, Angkor Wat, and Beng Melea (which literally looked like something straight out of the The Jungle Book).  We stared in amazement at the ancient wonders and shot the hell out of our cameras, basically to the point where you could almost hear them begging for a break (over 500 photos taken since being here if you’re keeping track at home). We all woke up at the butt crack of dawn to watch the sunrise-that-never-was in front of Angkor Wat. And we all sat on the sandy beaches in Sihanoukville and stared in utter amazement at the jaw-dropping beauty of the sunset.

And then our two weeks of bonding ended. On Friday we said a sad farewell to our Thailand comrades (and Adrian mistakenly said farewell to his bag…whoops). Our roller coaster ride had finally begun to slow down. And after our relaxing weekend getaway in Sihanoukville, we bid adieu to our Vietnam peeps. By now it seemed the roller coaster had come to a complete stop. After two weeks of non-stop action, it felt like time had come to a standstill. The rest of us left here in Cambodia somberly exited the roller coaster car, in disbelief that such an exciting period of our lives had concluded. It felt like we had gone from riding the Tower of Terror to hopping on a merry-go-round. It was at this point that I experienced an emotion I had yet to feel during my stint in Cambodia: sad. I’m not saying I haven’t missed my family and friends at times, but I certainly hadn’t felt nearly as bummed as I was Sunday night when I came to terms with the fact that a very exciting chapter of my life had come to a close. And while feeling sad is never a good thing in itself, this sadness—and all the reminiscing and missing friends that accompanied it—was mere proof of how meaningful the past few weeks had been to me. From our time together, we now have memories that will stay with us for years and years to come—some good, some bad, some weird, and some hysterical. Like who could forget when Erika’s purse was stolen? Or when the little Khmer boy assaulted me with his book? Or skinny-dipping at midnight? Or when Todd…well, did Todd’s thing? Or when Trea got buck wild on the dance floor on our last night? Or when Kamron did the world’s wackiest version of the YMCA during class? Or when Will PEED on me to save from the evil sea urchin? 

Furthermore, this same sadness that led me to think of all these priceless and treasured memories was also good because it revealed to me that I’m ready to move on. I mean if 2 weeks in Cambodia yielded so much joy, I can’t even begin to imagine what’s in store for me in Taiwan. 

The roller coaster ride was amazing. But I know I’m now ready to move on to another ride at a different amusement park—one named Taipei; jam-packed with 6.5 million people. So get ready Taiwan—you’ve got quite the act to follow. And thanks again Cambodia--It's been fun. It's been Riel.