Once again, Neatorama welcomes guest blogger Joel Haas, North Carolina sculptor and author, as he posts his adventures in Taiwan.
Culture shock happens when you pick up the live wire of daily life in another country, particularly another continent. It can be the big thing such as finding yourself a racial minority and oddity in the street, or small things such as wondering what all those fires in front of every business and home mean--it's not the least bit cold. Why do people stuff their sales receipts in special clear plastic boxes on the sidewalks--and, speaking of sidewalks, why is the sidewalk a different height and design in front of each business or home? and speaking of home and business, what is it like to have the family living room open out into the street and double as a place of business where every body who wants to, say, have your dad fix their scooter, can bring it right up to the family couch and television? Does everybody have their family shrine right over the TV and DVD player?
Before we get into the genuinely amusing, strange stuff (from an American perspective) about Taiwan, let me get several things off my chest:
Don't they all look alike? I mean, really how can you tell those people apart?
This is the one comment that pushes my button. Really. Stand around on any street here for five minutes and you'll see Taiwanese don't look any more alike than Caucasians. Even without the admixture of the American Armed Forces stirring the genetic pot for decades, the advent of modern hair coloring means the average school girl with blond hair here is no more likely to be a real blond than an American one. There has been a disquieting fad for wearing enormous blue contacts in their eyes.
a shot of this promotional poster is as well as I can do since I couldn't take photos of the elevator operators in Shin Kong Department Store
Don't they eat dogs and other odd stuff like snakes?
No. They don't eat dogs. Most dogs I've seen here are as pampered as ones in America. On the way to a concert today, I saw no less than three dogs in, so help me God, knitted sweaters. In this heat, that may cook them, but not by design.
What people eat is always an interesting question. Food often is a major definition of culture. My culture in North Carolina is only a generation or two removed from widespread consumption of chitlin's, possum, squirrel, and fat back. Frog legs are considered a delicacy in French restaurants, so let's not get carried away with what other people think is down home cookin'. There is a place in Taipei called Snake Alley that sells snake meat. It's mostly a tourist attraction now. The average Taiwanese eats no more snake than the average American eats rattlesnake or alligator meat.
Don't you get tired of eating rice?
No. Mainly because they don't serve a lot of rice here. Look back through all my food photos, in my travel letters and my extra photos on Flickr; don't see any rice do you? Rice is served like a roll might be served to you in the States. I have been served rice three times in the more than two weeks I have been here. Each time it was simply in a small bowl to the side, a bowl no bigger than a coffee cup at home. The average Taiwanese's reaction to a serving of Kung Pow chicken from an AMERICAN Chinese restaurant would be about the same as an American's if served field peas, collards, carrots and fried pork chops glopped together on a bed of twelve slices of bread.
WITH THOSE ITEMS OFF MY CHEST, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT SOME STUFF THAT AIN'T LIKE IT IS AT HOME.
7-11s run this country. It's not a democracy nor a dictatorship. It is "quick-stop-ocracy."
There are competing chains, Circle K, Family Store, Happy Store, etc. but they're all the same as a 7-11 which remains the dominant brand. You can do anything at a 7-11; pay your bills, taxes, traffic tickets; buy French wine, pickled duck eggs, Love Milk, and videos.
Every receipt comes with a lottery ticket. Now wouldn't that just get all the Baptists' panties in a twist back home in the South!
It seems tax evasion was a problem for the government in a country where credit cards are not widely accepted and small business transacts most business. The government hit upon the idea of a sales lottery rather than a sales tax. Every sales receipt has a lottery number printed on its back. Once a month, the government publishes several newspaper pages of winning numbers. You can win anywhere between $5 and about $200 if you have a lucky sales receipt.
The government's theory was everybody would demand a sales receipt if they had a chance of winning a lottery. You play anytime you make a purchase; no matter how small a purchase. The result is, as the island has become more prosperous, most people don't want to bother with combing through thousands of lucky numbers in a newspaper once a month to maybe win $5. Charities stepped in. Along many streets you see clear plastic canisters promoting various charitable causes soliciting your sales receipts. Retired volunteers go over the numbers on receipts collected. It gives non profits a source of funding and gives old people a steady way to contribute without hard physical labor. The Yngge Ceramics Museum I visited last Saturday collected sales receipts instead of charging admission. If you were without a sales receipt (unlikely in this country) you could run across the street to 7-11 and buy a piece of candy for pennies and come back with a sales receipt.
Amazingly, you can never have too many convenience stores. I have a photo of a place a few blocks from the Taipei Artists' Village where I am staying of two 7-11 stores separated by only one block. I have often seen several competing brand stores in one block together.
Sales receipts donation box on Zhong Shan North Rd. Just outside a bridal photography shop.
Even Gucci and Louis Vuitton have money to burn on Zhong Shan North Road
Walking up Zhong Shan Road, I saw Gucci and Louis Vuitton placate beings with money. Nothing unusual about that you say, Vuitton and Gucci market to people with money. I do not mean that to sound like it is written. They were givng away money. Everybody offers money to the gods and ancestors. Once a month, at least.
At the beginning of the lunar month, offerings are made to ghosts, gods, ancestors, and assorted spirits. Taiwanese give more money to gods than the Baptists. And they do it direct-- with a system of delivery FedEx and Western Union would envy. They burn it.
In the West, when we say "give money to God" we don't think God actually needs money; we believe God wants us to behave in a moral manner so we give money to what we believe is a good cause God would endorse. In the East, religion and ethics are less intertwined. (Confucius, a mortal who devised a system of ethics for which he is honored and revered, but is no more a "God" than we would worship at the Jefferson memorial because Jefferson devised our system of government.)
Here, ethical guidance aside, gods need money to build their mansion of many rooms--demons evidently don't work for free. To gain favor, mortals burn "spirit money" which goes directly to a god or an ancestor. In temples, offering are made as well--the price tags often left prominently attached.
(You would think a god would know how much you'd paid or even that you'd gotten it on sale but left the original price tag on.)
A table covered with flowers, burning sticks of incense, candy, or even elaborate meals are set out in front of a house or building while the spirit money is burned. I have seen a few people pray at these tables, but the majority of people are just casually throwing stacks of spirit money into the fire while discussing the latest soap opera or who has got the better baseball team, no solemnity or reverence to the practice at all.
Actually, you can send quite a bit postage free and guaranteed delivery to gods and spirits. There is a good business in making elaborate Mercedes, sailboats, houses, etc. that are burned at temples to be sent to ancestors or gods one is trying to bribe for favor. (No word on whether you have to burn gas for the Mercedes as well.)
My initial cultural ignorance was so vast that the first time I arrived in Taiwan in 2004 in the city of Kaohsiung, it was 87 degrees F but my wife and I supposed we should expect cold nights as everybody had these large oildrum looking cans outside their homes for burning stuff. We assumed they would gather around them for warmth like street people in the States. It was the lunar month change.
By the way, you don't have to wait for a new month to send money to heaven. If your ancestors run a little short before the next new moon, you can go to a temple and use one of the large, elaborate furnaces there.
At most stores, you can buy stacks of spirit money to burn. Buy gold leaf covered money to send to gods and silver leaf covered bills to send to ancestors. Evidently, the gods and ancestors are easily fooled, since only the top most bills in any stack of spirit money you buy actually have the designs and leaves of metal on them.
Below, some spirit money burners for sale. Others are simply red painted cans with holes cut in them.
A shop for all your spiritual needs near Long Shan Temple. The bales of yellow colored spirit money are stacked to the left behind the scooter. You can buy small offerings, candies, etc. to use at home or next door in the temple. Small money burning cans are visible at the bottom of the counter in the middle. I love the "no smoking" sign in a shop selling and burning incense.
Lovely Rita, the Meter Maid...
As I mentioned earlier, you can pay your parking tickets at the 7-11. Actually, you can pay them at all sorts of places; government offices, banks, etc. A parking ticket is not only no big deal here, it's expected.
True story. Back in April of 2005, a Taiwanese friend took me and another visiting American artist out to the National Palace Museum (the old one) and found a nice parking place just a block or two away. We spent three hours in the museum before returning to his car with six or seven parking tickets stacked under the windshield wiper. We were horrified and apologetic that we'd cost our friend so much money, 'why, we'd have paid for a stay in a parking garage!' we told him, he'd owe a fortune, we'd help pay, blah, blah, blah.... Relax, he said, it's just parking tickets. Exactly, we said and started our rounds of apologetic hysteria again... Puzzled, he finally tried to quiet us by saying, well, okay, if you insist and it'll make you happy, I'll pay the parking tickets right now.
He pulled over and went into a 7-11. "It came to NT$ 60," he said when he came back out. (About US$ 2).
Parking tickets are really just parking bills, he explained. Rather than put up meters and run a punitive system as we do in the States, they just post signs saying how much parking costs per half hour or so along a particular stretch of road. A meter maid comes by every half hour recording your license tag and leaves another computer bar coded ticket (or bill) on your window. You have thirty days to pay or you do pay a penalty. But you can take a stack of them into a 7-11 or a government office anytime, have the bills scanned and pay what you owe. It takes pressure off meter maids, no maintenance for meters, and signs are cheaper to post and can vary the amounts charged by time and day. The same system works for motor scooters.
Meter maid working her route along Tian Jian Street. Below, a meter guy for scooters on his bicycle in front of the Taipei Artists Village. Note how well equipped he is with umbrella, satchel, water and so forth.
No Tanning lines, please!
Tanning beds never made it here. Darker skin is considered unattractive. Freckles are thought ugly. Umbrellas are sold with UV ratings!
It is hot most of the year, most people carry an umbrella against the sun, not rain. You'll even see some people wearing gloves while riding bicycles or scooters to keep their hands from tanning. And since people are constantly losing umbrellas, they are a favorite items for street vendors to sell. You can buy a large one for about $US 3.
The Sidewalks of Taiwan
If you're a city planner or inspector for a modern American city, please just skip the next section. it will only give you heartburn.
In Taiwan, each person is responsible for the sidewalk outside their business or home. You can do it to please yourself. Anything goes.
(Remember the two giant colorful feet painted outside the foot massage business I placed at the top of a previous newsletter?) A sidewalk can be an area of artistic and/or personal expression for the owner; it can serve a useful purpose such as being designed to integrate with the business. Since Taiwan receives twice the world wide average yearly rainfall, flooding is a problem; sidewalks are often built steeply sloping away from the front of the building. It is not at all uncommon to step up or down one, two, or even three steps as one walks along since one owner may have built his section much higher than his neighbor.
That's not your only hazard.
Motor scooters and bicycles are allowed on the sidewalks, too. If you're hit, it's probably your fault for not paying attention. As a practical matter, it probably helps if you're running an outdoor/sidewalk eatery and there are too many steps for a scooter or bike to go up; it keeps scooters from zipping through and among your customers and tables. Parking spaces are often clearly marked for scooters on the sidewalks (as you can barely make out in one of the photos above.)
To an American sculptor, the use of green marble is amazing--such veneers are VERY expensive at home. Taiwan is the second largest exporter of marble in the world after Italy. Marble, especially around the east coast city of Hualian is cheap, so is widely used. No store at home could afford such a marble sidewalk in front of their shop even it it were allowed. Note the sloping sides. Taken on my trip to the small town of Yngge.
From a marble sidewalk to marbles in the sidewalk. A photo taken a block down the street from the one above.
BELOW, closing up a sidewalk eatery after lunch in Taipei. Note the steps to the upper right.
There is a program in Taipei now to paint all the electrical system switch boxes for beautification. Artists use oil paints to paint standard landscapes. Nearly all have bright blue backgrounds.
BELOW, a Taipei motorcycle dealer has embedded spark plugs in the sidewalk outside his store
Typical view of sidewalk variation
HAAS, WHAT WILL YOU WRITE ABOUT NEXT!!??
The truth is I am faaar behind in catching up everything I have notes and photos for. I spent a day in the ceramics city of Yngge. You can, at least, see some of the photos from that trip on my Flickr album HERE.
I want to write about the bridal industry--it's not just the different customs which are to be expected--wedding photos here would shock Americans; I have not yet written up anything about the wonderful SoHu Paper Museum and the remarkable people behind it; I have not even gotten any good photos yet to go with the story about the dancers/drummers/monks/meditators/physical fitness buffs/acting company living in the mountains--U Theatre, whose performance I attended yesterday at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Plaza (the plaza is an article in itself); I have not yet written up the visit to Long Shan Temple, even though I used some of the photos in the article about the National Palace Museum. Not to mention the scantily clad girls in glass booths on the edge of town (they're not what you think--they're selling betel nuts to taxi drivers and working men); the lucky money cats and crystals in all the stores--no matter how sophisticated; the Taiwanese obsession with brassieres; and my own misadventures learning and speaking Chinese; my return trip to the 228 Memorial Peace Park; and the unique Grass Mountain Vistas program being developed at one of Chiang Kai Shek's former mountain villas.
At the risk of overwhelming myself even further, I always invite your comments and any suggestions as to what else I could write about.
In closing, I leave you with the two unique restroom signs I encountered at the SoHu Paper Museum Friday. They are made in cut paper.
Joel Haas is a sculptor from Raleigh, North Carolina. You can see his works at his website or at Neighborhood Sculpture Walk, and read stories at his blog. More updates from Taiwan will be coming soon!
Also see Joel's previous posts:
A Trip to Taipei’s Shilin Night Market
Red Bean Filled Hockey Pucks and Mind Control
Yam Wielding Grannies, Plastic Bugs, and Cilantro Ice Cream
''No. Mainly because they don’t serve a lot of rice here. Look back through all my food photos, in my travel letters and my extra photos on Flickr; don’t see any rice do you? ''
seriously, what the hell were you thinking? anyway i feel awful now because it really was a fascinating article. And despite what i thought when i began reading, i think i will look for the absence of rice on flikr ;)
you can get it in london in a few japanese shops but it's super expensive
It's a shame, it's an interesting article, but you come off like an ass.
I was an exchange student in the US back in 1992-1993. Part of the program was giving speaches in schools about my country, culture, etc (I am from Brazil).
It was amazing to see how much knowledge students from 11th grade and above lack about other cultures. I had a senior ask me if in Brazil we rode vines to school, if there were alligators in the streets, if I was a cannibal. About cannibals, I once was asked if there were too many cannibals around here. I answered: "no, I ate the last one before coming here!"
I had adults too ask me the dumbest questions, which really show ignorance - and I am talking about people who were in positions were they should be more knowledgeable about foreign cultures. For instance, a teacher in high school asked me if Brazil was that tiny little country near Australia, whose capital is - are you ready? - Argentina!
Since then, I never overestimated what people know about other cultures, thus I belive the article was very well written. I believe the author's intention was to leverage knowledge, because most people ARE ignorant about other cultures.
And besides, who gives a crap, it's food. It tastes good.
And yes, the tone of the article is a bit off-putting and assumes a lot of bigotry that may or may not be present.
Way too long to read, and the assumptions are off-putting. I gave up after the first couple of paragraphs.
As someone who has traveled extensively and lived overseas, I'll chip in on two other topics. First, eating dog is not unheard of in mainland China, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were restaurants in Taiwan that will serve it up. It is a "delicacy", and known to "increase your strength" (euphemism alert). The Chinese specifically raise the chow breed (no joke) for eating, like discriminating North Carolinians raise Berkshire hogs.
Second, rice is indeed a overwhelmingly common staple in Asia, more widely eaten than Bojangles on a Sunday in Raleigh. The Japanese words for breakfast, lunch and dinner are derived from the word for rice.
There are dumb people out there, for sure, but did you assume anyone you talked to was ignorant and start conversations by saying you weren't a cannibal? I would hope not, because it's a pretty terrible way to make friends.
I won't speak for everyone who got annoyed here, but starting off the post by pointing out the falsity of an attitude held by only very very stupid and ignorant people really annoyed me.
Of course I don't generalize my opinion that ppl are ignorant. Obviously I met many more interesting and incredibly intelligent folks that I did ignorant ones.
And yes... stating a conversation by saying I wasn't Hannibal Lechter would be a terrible way to make friends, but if I by chance were talking to one of those who believed in that, it surely would ease things up! ;)
What I meant to point out is that we cannot generalize that everyone is as knowledgeable as some in this discussion who took offense in the tone of the article.
Those goofy asians! what will they do next? It's like another world here! It's crazy.
Some thoughts:
-As pointed out, your opening attacked your readers, which isn't the strongest way to capture interest (some commenters even said they stopped reading right there). I felt it could have been moved to a different section, and more importantly, presented in a way that didn't assume everyone reading was ignorant.
-The descriptions go on for too long at points, almost getting repetitive. Details are great, but concise readability is also important in blogging.
-By the end of the piece, the "what ever shall i write about next" part, actually felt mildly irritating instead of exciting. It slightly came off as "I'm so very well-traveled, cosmopolitan, and culturally aware- let me share my amazingness with you ordinary, ignorant folk." I'm sure that wasn't your intention, but the structure of the post, with the antagonistic intro and overall tone, set up your closing in this unfortunate manner.
In general, there was just this intangible feel to it that didn't win me over. Most Neatorama posts feel like a comfortable conversation between the blogger and the audience: it's a "Yeah, isn't this neat/cool/ extraordinary? I knew you'd find it fascinating too!" Your writing style created a distance instead between yourself and the reader, like you were talking 'at' me, not with me.
That being said, there was some great content to the post that I found super interesting. I just thought I'd offer some humble constructive criticism on structure & style, especially since it seems you have more posts planned. (And the upcoming topics do sound fascinating). Thanks for bloggin'.
For one, we serve a lot of rice here - at home. When you eat out, you would generally prefer something that is not rice, hence the rarity of rice on the streets. The small bowl of rice served on the side is actually a Japanese tradition, the Chinese tradition would be a slightly larger bowl for everyone on the table, while the meat and vegetables dishes are shared in the middle.
The observation that Taiwan in run by 7-11s is spot on, but the lottery ticket / sales receipt isn't. People were always enthusiastic about them, since prizes actually range from $5 to about $60000. The problem is, there weren't a lot of numbers to begin with (8 in the old days, I think), and now it's down to 5. So a lot of people pretty much give up sifting through the piles of receipts and just give them to charity.
The subject of burning fake paper money (called gold paper) is a rather complex one, and different locales have different traditions on the matter. I'll just focus on the religion and ethics part, and say that in Taiwan, religion and ethics are very much interwined, especially in the buddist tradion. Confucious just happened to be an interesting exception, rather then the rule.
The sidewalks are another interesting topic. If you would look carefully at the pictures, the sidewalks are divided into two parts, one UNDER the structure, and the other OUTSIDE the structure. The land under the structure belongs to the owner of the building -- he is just required by law to recess the first floor of his building so there is more room for pedestrians to manuver around in Taiwan's tight alleys. The part outside the building is public land, and should be nice and uniform like sidewalks anywhere. However, they are also normally choked full of parked motorcycles...
It is always nice though, to see people really taking the time to enjoy Taiwan in depth, not just skimming through Shilin market and Taipei 101, believing that's everything there is to see.
Don't know if you've been to Alishan (via train), Taroko gorge or Lanyu. These are MUST sees.
The "do they all look alike" thing did catch me off guard. Cmon, give people a little credit. Other than that it was a great post and I want to see more :)
And I can also attest that Pocari Sweat (despite the odd name), is pretty good as fitness hydration products go (certainly tastier than Heed).
Despite being labeled a "white supremist(sic)" by tiny-minded thought police in college, I have a great friend in the guy in the cubicle next to me: My Chinese co-worker is 29 and grew up in Hong Kong, which is relevant to another point in this piece. He's a great guy, highly intelligent to boot, and particularly charming for his candid emphasis of the widespread nature of dog/cat consumption in Greater China (incl. Taiwan). He loves to regale us with such tales. But more importantly, he emphasizes the essentially universal belief in CTM (Chinese Traditional Medicine)-based principles such as that meat is healthier and more delicious if the animal suffered more in life and especially in death. Despite ten years in the US, he still is frankly perplexed at the disconnection by which we don't understand that an animal's pain is not /our/ pain. The Chinese have long thought Europeans quite barbaric for their identification with animals and their worship of the wilds.
I suppose a Chinese street vendor nonchalantly skinning a cat alive while loudly arguing the weight of cabbage can be compared with American rural novelty game such as Alligator, but less so when we grasp that it is no hateful slur to state the reality that the Chinese basically eat anything that moves. It is a simple, unfortunate truth that greater China's predilection for exotic flesh facilitates the release of potentially deadly viruses from one species' "biomass" into another's, and eventually ours (certain notorious marketplaces are where each and every new influenza virus is born, for example). This careless Pandora's-box effect will be much more than a matter of cruelty or cultural novelty when the wrong critter's cage sits atop the wrong critter's cage, and the resulting viral concoction finds its way into us all.
Taichung, Taiwan is one place I would like to go back and see.
BTW, Pocari Sweat is awesome and if the name really scares you that much, you are the type that is best suited to just staying home and eating the safe stuff like Coke and Doritos. Man, I could really go for some CoolPis right now...
The Taiwan name for the drink is no less absurd though, being a direct sylable translation into five Chinese characters bao-kwan-li-shui-de, meaning treasure-minerals-power-water-get.
Please rename article: "Boring middle class American visits 'Exotic' Orient"
'kinell mate!
thanks
...except for the whole year of the Rat thing right? Just because you can string together a few smart sounding words doesn't mean you're intelligent.
I agree with the majority of the Neatorama commentators. It's obvious that the guy didn't mean any harm but the tone of the article is way more suited for someone's personal blog, like a "hey friends check out my blog to keep up with me while i'm out of town" or a bi-monthly e-mail update.
The first part seemed rude and condescending. Has this guy never been to a Chinatown or Little Taiwan before?
I swore i wouldnt reply to any of these but how does you confirming these steroetypes are widely held (in your area- you aint everywhere at once)improve the article?
troll?
I couldve done a lot better with the material given dont you think ?
also Flikr album IS worth a look
:)
But yeah, I gave up after a couple of paragraphs.