Peculiarities of everyday life

She saw seashells at the seashore...

Enough time has passed now for some observations to be realised as more peculiar than others. By this I mean things that are part of one's everyday life here and might not pay attention to in the long run. So far I've noticed 3 that I need to mention.
Firstly, it's very clean here, yet there aren't any trash cans visible anywhere!? It has actually become quite a chore to get rid of our trash, and so we've been doing what we've gathered the locals do: take the trash back home! It's really rather amusing except when you're strolling around a night market desperately wanting to go through the various items on sale in a particular stall but your hands are already full with the wrappings & cups of your previous snack! Also, I've yet to see any of the street cleaners that Beijing was full of. (Literally, there was a sweeper in almost every street corner practically cleaning the dust from the streets.) So I guess you really got to admire the overall determination of the people to NOT to throw garbage everywhere. And I'm also wondering what would happen if there were garbage bins available? Would the bins be overflowing because there wouldn't be anyone to empty them or what? Sounds kinda unrealistic. Yet, I guess we'll never know...

This has nothing to do with the text. It's just peculiar :)

Moreover, while we're on the subject of trash, another peculiarity is of course the oh so delightfully annoying sound of a garbage truck. You'll hear the tune daily, actually several times a day, and it is so very catchy that you'll hear it or at least hum it long after the truck has vanished. So what makes the tune peculiar? I believe I am not exaggerating when I say that almost every Westerner would mistake the tune for an approaching ice cream truck. It is a strange feeling when you hear a happy little tune coming your way only to realise that it's time to take out the trash!

Actually none of the pics have anything to do with the text! But this I had to take because it was so comical!! :) Seriously, a flamboyant neon sign that says "Good taste"!! :) Classic! And yes, I realise it's probably a restaurant, don't be such a downer! :)

Another fine tune can be found in the local buses. While I'm used to hearing a plain "ping" when pressing the stop button in a bus, the Taiwanese have implemented a more noticeable tune. This one is fairly similar to the trash truck at least in an earworm-kinda way. We figured that because the bus keeps making all sorts of beeps while signaling a turn and sometimes just out of the blue, that the actual stop signal has to be very clear and "visible" to everyone. Hence, a longer and catchier tune.

So, what we got so far: trash and tunes! :) Gosh, I really need to start paying attention to other things as well... The next post will have some more substance, I promise. ;)

Typhoon Dujuan info + update

It's Monday night, the 28th of September and the typhoon Dujuan is roaming through Taiwan. With the max wind speed of 51m/s and gusts reaching even 63m/s, it is rather windy outside. In the anticipation of the typhoon it's been raining now for two days, though the rain is very peculiar in that I wouldn't call it rain at all but rather mist from a spray bottle or something like that, because it doesn't actually drench you. The wind has been increasing steadily as the typhoon draws nearer. The afternoon visit to 7/11 (our nearest convenient store) proved that the newly bought umbrella is totally useless in this wind, hence, I'm in the market for a new umbrella now...
Apparently the typhoon made land contact today at around 18pm in the eastern parts, so we'll be expecting it to pass us during the night / early morning. Luckily my morning class was cancelled. :) So far I've no clear idea of the conditions outside, but I heard that a lot of trees have already fallen, as well as, an account of one girl who witnessed a broken brick wall near the city centre. However, the dorm seems safe enough especially since we're on the second floor so the fear of flooding is rather low. But we'll be staying safe and I'll post some more news after the "storm" has passed.

Here's some links for more news:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/27/weather/typhoon-dujuan/
http://www.cwb.gov.tw/V7e/prevent/typhoon/ty.htm

*********************
Let's do some updating.
Yes, yes we're still alive & well! The night passed quite calmly actually, meaning that I slept like a log. All school and work were cancelled in almost all of Taiwan for Tuesday, which meant a free day for us! The afternoon stroll around the campus and in the nearby park (in the 18 peak mountain) brought us back to reality, however. The streets were covered in leaves and branches, there were some fallen trees here & there and apparently in the other campus some buildings had taken hits to the windows. Therefore we concluded that the "free" day wasn't so much for the fear of the typhoon but for the clearance of the debris afterwards. Quite clever actually.
So, all in all, we survived our first ever typhoon and here's some lame aftermath pics. Next time let's write about something a little bit more positive, shall we.

The Boai campus after Dujuan, our dormitory sign has suffered a major loss.

Lessons learned from the first week

The first week has provided with several "could've, would've, should've" -situations that I figured what better way to reminisce about them than put them here for all to enjoy! :)

Firstly, no matter what you pack, it's still going to be too hot. And since walking around nude is not an option you're just going to have sweat it out, quite literally. (And as there's quite a lot of walking included, better have good shoes while you're at it.) People keep saying that Taiwan is the rainiest place but this past week has been nothing but clear skies with over 32'C every day. (I'm pretty sure I just jinxed the weather by the way...oh well, hope not too badly. Luckily, someone told me to get an umbrella straight away.)

Secondly, if noodles weren't you're best friends before, trust me, they will be. It's only been a week and I've already eaten more noodles than in a good six months back at home. Noodles are everywhere. And since you're really not sure what you're eating most of the time, you take solace in the fact that you recognize at least noodles. Still, with this rate I can't wait to see how I feel after a month...

Thirdly, Taiwan is definitely not the cheapest place in Asia. Don't get me wrong it is cheaper than back home, but not as much as you'd expect. Some things are ridiculously cheap, like that 4e train ride and basic foods, but for instance, shampoos, lotions and whatnots, are as costly if not more so. Also, one has to pay attention while getting different lotions, since, most of them are whitening! Imagine the feeling of a white foreigner who buys a sun tan lotion for the specific purpose of sun bathing only to discover that it's whitening them simultaneously! :) (btw, this was not a true story, at least not yet...)

Last but not least, knowing Chinese is totally not necessary. Sure it would make things easier but personally I've been truly amazed with the quality of English language skills here, as well as, the overall helpfulness of the people. Even if the person you ask something doesn't understand you properly, they will find someone who does. I've heard this more than once now: an exchange student arrives late at night and stands stranded somewhere when a random passer-by stops, picks them up and takes them to their required destination and then continues on their way. I mean where else does something like that happen? Nowhere. So, you can easily get by with plain old sign language (even though the signs for numbers are rather different and therefore useful to know).

But most importantly, be active in meeting people! Living in a dorm helps, since your roommates will most likely be exchange students, thus providing great opportunities to bond. Mostly the internationals tend to meet each others but in the welcoming parties there are Taiwanese as well, and they are usually eager to meet with internationals too. In this technological age joining a facebook group is super easy and can provide crucial information/ help with everyday dilemmas, as well as, be a great platform for organizing meetings & trips. After all, we're here making, hopefully, lifelong connections and friendships.

Let the adventure begin!

View from the NCTU main campus

Hello there!
My 5-month exchange at the National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan has begun, hence, the blog. The point of this writing is to record some of my experiences here in Taiwan for the benefit of future exchange students, as well as, to inform you, my dear reader, about the exciting happenings during my stay here.

At the North gate of NCTU main campus

So here we go...

NCTU is located in Hsinchu, the windy city, as it is also known, which is in the Northwestern part of Taiwan  with a population of around 430 000 people. I got accepted to NCTU to study at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology. Almost a week has passed. I arrived on Tuesday night (8.9.) with a surprisingly light suitcase. Arriving was easy: plane landed on time in Taipei, clear signs and a little help from the airport staff led me to a shuttle bus, which took me straight to the High Speed Rail station. I had expected to take a speedy train of some sort that would take me to Hsinchu in an hour or so, but instead I ended up in what the locals would call pricey but super fast transportation that crossed the near 80km in 11 minutes for the lowly price of 140 NT$ (=4e) !!! To me that was more than okay. Then from the Hsinchu HSR station a taxi was the best choice as it was dark and I had luggage with me. I had a printed note in Chinese with me (provided by my uni organized buddy) that I just handed to the taxi driver and off we went!

Above the Gulf of Finland

Arriving at the front gates of the Bo-ai campus some 15 min later was such a relief and finding the right dorm was easy enough. I decided to apply for a dorm accommodation and got a place in dorm 3 at the Bo-ai campus, which worked out great, since my department is located right next door from the dorm.

The front gate at Boai campus

They willingly sell the bedding at the Dorm 3 office, so it was easy to get them there even though they were quite pricey. The dorm room itself is fine enough: four beds with a desks, shelves and a closets attached to each, providing a place for four individuals in one tiny room. So, there's little room for personal space here! :) So far it's worked out fine. There were four of us at the beginning of the week but already two have moved to the main campus. The main campus, Guang-fu (also Kuang-fu at times, don't know which or why) is newer, bigger and basically more convenient. It has everything when compared to the tiny Bo-ai: several dining halls, all the sports centers and swimming pools, multiple shops, and overall most of the teaching happens there. Lucky for me, my department (the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Bioengineering) is at the Bo-ai campus right next to our dorm. Hence, I've no need to be moving out, especially as the rent for the whole semester was 5650 NT$ (166e) ! :) The main campus is a bit more expensive but not too drastically. However, as there's a free shuttle bus going between the two campuses, I feel there's no need to move. Also, Boai is closer to the city center. The dorm lacks a kitchen so a fridge is nowhere to be found, but luckily there are these water machines that provide cold, warm and hot water, so drinkable water is always around.

Here's some pics from Dorm 3:

The next few days passed exploring the surrounding areas, trying to find places to eat, and finding shops where one could find some basic necessities for the dorm room. Here having four roommates comes extremely handy, since being lost together is much more fun! ;) Yet, you get familiar pretty fast with the good places to shop in. Although plenty is still left to be discovered! So far we've managed to keep ourselves quite busy with walking around the campuses & city and hanging around with other international students.

The East gate at city center

Thursday was the registration into the uni -day. Super exciting. Everybody seemed more or less confused about almost everything. :) A lot of emails had been sent about what to bring to the registration and boy they weren't kidding. :) If it said "have 2 copies of your passport" you better have it or off you went to the fourth floor of the library trying to find a computer for printing only to realise that there was a separate room right at the right back corner for copying and printing. So, after the confusing morning and afternoon nothing seemed clearer than it had originally. :) Yet, somehow everything falls into place and suddenly you've successfully registered into the uni and all is left is to go eat lunch.

The final excitement of the week was the medical check-up on Saturday morning. No one quite knew what to expect. All that we knew was that they were going to do a long list of exams including blood and urine tests, an x-ray and some general health inspections. Oh, and that the check-up would take place at 8.00-11.30. some of us decided not to be present at precisely 8 o'clock and upon arrival and completion of the whole thing we realised that we could have showed up much later. These examinations illustrated perfectly the plain organizational skills of the Asians. There were several medical personnel in each check-up point and you moved like cattle from one point to the next, at times giving blood or saying "aa" while someone counted your teeth, until after 30 minutes or so you had completed over 7 different medical check-ups and had an A4 paper full of markings of completed tests ready to be handed in. Once again you were left feeling utterly dumbfounded about what had just happened, yet, ecstatic that you'd survived one more bureaucratic necessity. Now I guess we'll just wait and see if those examinations and tests ever mount to anything.