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. ;)