My thoughts about living in Taipei

I know this update is supposed to be about other 'things' I have seen in Taipei (as mentioned in the last post), but right now that feels like such a 'chore' so I am just going to ramble on about what living in Taipei is like...just my thoughts!

Taipei is certainly a city that grows on you.

That is the conclusion reached after chatting to my fellow 'overseas chinese' classmates. And it almost certainly mirrors the sentiments felt by my own Dad when we were living here about 18 years ago.

Why? Well upon first impressions, Taipei certainly doesn't have the charm of other big asian cities such as the more familiar Hong Kong or Singapore. I remember when I went to Hong Kong 2 years ago for the first time in many years, I thought it was just an amazing city. Somewhere I belong. Somewhere I can live and just fit in even though I don't speak Cantonese.

I was expecting the same feeling...or sensation to happen when I arrived in Taipei. No. It was somewhere familiar yet foreign at the same time! I was rather conflicted. In fact, to be totally honest with myself, I didn't like it when I first got here. The heat, the pollution, the traffic, just how the city is organised (or not) really frustrated me! I just wanted to desperately like it because well, I am stuck here for 3 months+!

But now that I have been here for almost a month, I can say that it is a city that grows on you. You will not like this place immediately like you may with the fancier and more glamorous cities like Hong Kong, but somehow you do find this city 'charming' in other ways. Having said that, I can't see Taipei reaching the 'top holiday destinations' any time soon, but as a place to live in Asia...I think you get a good deal here!

I am trying to 'word' how Taipei grows on you, but I am struggling. I think maybe you just learn to love its faults as well as the good that is in this city. Maybe it's just the little things you discover in the city as time passes...Something that can't be found in guidebooks on a fly-in holiday visit...Maybe by the end of these 3 months I will be able to articulate what exactly makes Taipei an attractive asian city...

But so far I can say...I am loving it!

Mandarin Training Center Experience so far…

Having completed my oral/reading and writing test during registration day, on Orientation day (2^nd September) I found out they placed me in Intermediate Reading & Writing. That was OK until I picked up the text book and read it. I was not happy at all! I flipped to the last page and I could read it perfectly OK. The vocab in the text book wasn’t particularly hard or anything I haven’t heard of before. I was a bit puzzled as to why they placed me in this class, but there was nothing I could do until I turned up to my first class.

So I recapped my whole testing experience in my head. The examiner gave me something to read from the ‘Intermediate’ text book and I had no problems reading it. Why didn’t she then decide to give me something harder to read to really test me is beyond my understanding!! They gave me a written test to which the comprehension and sentence construction was also pretty easy for me…the only part I did struggle with was the 200 word essay they wanted me to write at the end where I forgot how to write maybe only 2 or 3 words. (OK, and maybe my sentence construction or flow wasn’t the best, but I’m so out of ‘writing’ practice…English or Chinese!) Not many people actually sat a written test at the time of my testing, most people went into a computer room to I suppose, do a comprehension test? It must have been something I said during the interview/oral testing process!

When I turned up to my first class I told my teacher I think they placed me in a class that’s too easy for my standard. And I didn’t come to Taiwan to do ‘easy’ for 3 months! She recommended I sit through some of the more advanced classes to see if it suited me or read their text books. I did exactly that after class. I went supposedly ‘2’ levels up to read through the Newspaper Reading (1) & (2) text book and thought the standard and its purpose probably suited me better than ‘writing’! (I now regret saying I wanted to learn how to write...should have just said I wanted to improve my reading speed or something like that!) My aim was to try to transfer into Newspaper Reading (1).

I spent the next 2 school days rocking up to uni at 8am to try and transfer into the Newspaper Reading (1) class. I didn’t care what time it started I just wanted to sit through 2 hours of their class to see if I was suitable. Who knew that it was so hard to just sit in a class here because people don’t move!!! (And teachers don’t let you listen in unless there’s space, fair enough because the rooms are small) I did meet 2 people that wanted to transfer from their ‘intensive’ newspaper reading class to a ‘regular’ class but even they had difficulty because nobody was moving out of their class! I then decided to sit through ‘Business Communications’ as it is supposedly a harder level than Intermediate Reading and Writing. The content in that class was really boring, and was full of foreigners that didn’t quite speak Chinese as fluently as people in my current class that I just decided to return to my class. I figured what I get out of a language is less about the classes I take but more what I put into it myself in the spare time. Plus, my writing really can do with a lot of improvement so its not like I won’t be learning anything in the class they placed me into. It's just that, I really wanted to learn some Classical Chinese that I used to learn during my highschool Chinese school days which I never paid attention to! Now I'm just stuck learning about practical things like MBA, Credit Cards, Convenience Stores, The Internet...

Having gone through this MTC experience, my conclusion is that they don’t do a very good job of really testing your abilities, especially for Overseas Chinese as most of us didn’t study Chinese at university, but probably speak it at home, have studied Chinese in some capacity in the past and is more or less fluent but just need brushing up (like myself!) Or maybe I just got the short straw of the stick…maybe some other Overseas Chinese students got placed into something exactly that they wanted?! I don’t know, but having spoken to others in my class, it seems like a lot of Overseas Chinese were placed in ‘Beginners Chinese’ even though they could just sleep through class and pass. I get the feeling they really try to satisfy foreign (non-Chinese) students though, probably as a good marketing exercise, and they rely on their local reputation as a Chinese language school for local Taiwanese. If there’s a survey I can do at the end of this course, I will definitely mention something about their entrance testing system, or providing information about available courses to study!!

Apologies for spending so much time complaining about the testing system and my class schedule, but I just needed to get it out there so I don’t keep repeating this story to all my friends (some have probably heard it for the 3^rd time now!)

Well I decided to stay in my class for a few reasons, and I guess the biggest reason is because I liked my class mix. If I am going to hang around Taipei for 3 months and see these people everyday, I should really get along with the students in my class! When I glanced across my class of eight, I was happy to see that most of us looked over the age of 24! And I just found out on Friday that I am not the eldest one in my class!! In fact, 2 are older than me and above 30!! (Not that I could tell at all, I still can’t guess fellow Asian ages) We also come kinda from around the world – 2 from the US, 2 from Australia (myself included), 2 from Indonesia, 1 from Thailand and 1 from Sweden. At first I thought we were all Overseas-Chinese, but again I only found out on Friday that the Thai girl is not Chinese, but I am so impressed she speaks Chinese fluently! There are 2 guys in my class (the other aussie and the swede), and despite being in the minority, their responses to our teachers questions usually results in laughter by the rest of the class. Enjoyment & entertainment factors are definitely important when you are in a small classroom situation. Btw, I LOVE small classes, they are so much more effective than large classes!

Plus I quite liked this teacher as she speaks Mandarin with that perfect accent I wish to attain and her teaching method is quite good. She also makes us not only read and write but speak in class, so we all get turns to express thoughts more coherently and eloquently in Chinese. (as most of us probably only speak basic Chinese required at home or to get around Taipei).

And as easy as I thought this reading and writing class would be, its not. There are dictation tests here where you probably have to go through over 200 Chinese characters in ‘1 Chapter’ to be able to sit the test. Even for someone that supposedly thinks this level is too easy (me!), it still takes me a good 3 hours to practise writing all the words and sentences once, and you need to go through it at least 2 or 3 times more before you are ready for a dictation test. (I think the dictation test we had on Friday shocked my fellow classmates as most were not prepared for something that intense. I have the pressure of having said ‘I’m too good for the class’ to actually top every single test now. Should have kept my mouth shut on Day 1!) In addition to regular dictation tests, there’s an essay to hand in each week of about 500 words. I know 500 words doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you are out of Chinese writing practise it’s not easy! Again, our class was a bit taken aback with our teachers’ expectation, as some classmates didn’t hand in an essay of that length or in a proper 3-4 paragraph structure. And I must admit, I didn’t write my essay in its proper structure, my writing was more like this blog. Free flowing prose?!

There are ‘supplementary’ hours to take at the MTC too in which I will review later once I actually attend one of those classes. I’m looking forward to weekly Chinese Poetry lessons and watching Chinese films =D.

So despite my initial complaints about the MTC administration (to be fair, they do have to administer over 1,600 students, the neighbouring university ‘Taida’ only has about 200 people enrolled in a similar Chinese program), I really enjoy going to school now and being a student. It took me a bit of time to adjust during Week 1 as I am so used to being in an office for 8 hours a day but now I’m getting used to 2 hours of classroom time and spending my mornings ‘studying’. I try to make sure I do over 3 hours of Chinese study out of class time per day, which includes reading Chinese books for leisure. And since I had no success transferring into the Newspaper Reading Class, I have bought myself the textbook to read in my spare time (Although I am yet to actually read it, as I have bought so many other fictional books to read!) I have to say the ‘writing’ part is the killer though. So much easier to just sit and read! But I am actually glad to be writing having taken a break for about 10 years =P (Chinese writing that is!)

Next update: What have I been up to in Taiwan?

Taipei Week 1

Note: The entries posted below were written during my first week in Taipei!

29th August

It's been a very hectic few days in Taipei, so hectic that I haven't really been able to absorb all that has been going on. I may have only been here for 6 days now, but it certainly feels like more! Now that I have a moment to relax, here comes my rambling blog...

I arrived here on Sunday (23rd August) from a very comfy stopover in Singapore. I won’t dwell too much on Singapore, but I certainly think that Singapore Airlines is one of the best airlines ever! By the way, if you’re ever going to travel on the A380, make sure you are on the upper deck! The advantage here is that there are less economy class passengers, and on a large plane like that, it makes a difference! Plus for once in my life there was no body next to me on the flight to Singapore! I had a spare seat to dump my reading material! Singapore airport is also fantastic, just wish I didn’t arrive at such an odd time so I could explore the place a bit more!

I had the good fortune of being picked up by my mum’s lovely friends upon my arrival into Taipei. They even waited an hour for me and drove me into Taipei City from Taoyuan airport (it's about a 50 min ride), and took me to a nice 5-star hotel for an afternoon tea buffet!

My first impressions of Taipei were - OMG its so hot n humid here. My dad warned me that when it’s hot in Taipei, it gets worse than Malaysia/Singapore. And even though I knew the weather was hovering around the 30+ degree mark, but even the memory of hot n humid Taipei still did not prepare me for the extent of this humidity. I remember hating the humidity in Singapore 2 years ago, but what I've been experiencing so far feels far worse! My second impression - wow there are blue skies! For the first 3 days here, I experienced clear blue skies, and some beautiful clouds, I liked the welcome I got from this once familiar city.

I realised over the next few days, very clearly that I am not the most relaxed person ever. I don’t know if it’s the after-effects of having worked for the last 6 years in an office environment, or purely just due to my genetic programming, but I found myself feeling tense about everything! I had mobile sim card dramas, so I had trouble sleeping over that; I had the pressure of having to find a place to live within 5 days in a city where I didn’t understand how the rental situation worked, and having to communicate everything in Chinese! I was stressing over my uni registration day only because at the hostel I met an Austrian girl also here to study Chinese (but at the neighbouring uni) and she was busy ‘studying’ for the test. I certainly made no preparations before coming here, just thought I’d get into whatever class the teachers recommended.

The most stressful event of course was trying to find a place to live within the 5 days I gave myself. That was the number one thing I was worrying about even before I left Sydney. And once I got here, the worrying intensified despite my best efforts to 'walk in faith'. My original thought was, if I can’t find a place in 5 days, I’ll just extend my stay at the hostel or find another place to live. But once I got here, I thought to myself, I don’t really want to have to move places as it’s not as easy to just ‘move’ like last years amazing race experience in Japan. Definitely NOT in this climate.

The search on websites was rather fruitless as countless of apartments just looked dodgy, filthy, old...If they were nicely renovated, they were in a dodgy area. One place I saw was definitely aimed at foreigners because they were charging so much, and whilst it was nice n a good size, you had to climb 5 or 6 flights of stairs and the area wasn’t even that close to school. I sometimes got rejections when I called due to the short term nature of my situation. The ones I did have a look at seemed OK at first, but after getting the opinion of a family friend did I realise some of the places I viewed were 'illegal' constructions. (I say 'illegal' because some apartment blocks are 4 or 5 levels high, but people build another level on top in order to rent out more places. This is common practice everywhere in Taipei).

Anyways, after seeing quite a few places, I finally managed to find one that is clean, safe, newly renovated, a 3 minute walk to the subway station and about a 10-15 minute walk to school. It is probably just a tad small for what I prefer, it’s pretty much just a room with a single bed, desk, wardrobe & ensuite bathroom, but since I’m only here for 3 months, I may as well live like a real student, not like a professional worker with money to spend. I managed to get the first 4 nights rent free, which is pretty good since I was paying about AUD$40 per night at the hostel.

I have to say, the help that I received from people over the last few days has been amazing. One of my mum’s friends whom I haven’t seen in almost 8 or 9 years arrived into Taipei 1 day after me. As soon as she knew that I was here searching for a place, she gave me a call and offered to help me look. She was the one actually giving me advice and suggestions on what is good and bad, and helped me choose the room I’m currently in. (Her husband is an architect so she does have some knowledge of buildings!) When my housing situation was getting a bit dire, my mum’s church friends from the church I used to go to 16 years ago offered to pick me up from my hostel and stay with them for a few nights until I found a more permanent place. The uncle that picked me up from the airport also gave me pillow and blankets to use, and helped me move into my new place. He also read over my rental agreement, which of course was rather important! I may be able to read Chinese, but reading contracts is not my forte! And offered to transfer my rent money each month as I’m running low on cash here! (I will of course pay him back through some fancy overseas money transferring thing my mum is able to do) The hostel managers, who are just a bunch of young people a few years older than me were also extremely friendly and helpful. They also tried to help me locate a place to live with their networks and contacts, and when I was just by myself at the hostel, chatting to them about life in Taipei, why I’m here, just random topics made everything feel OK! (And no doubt my Chinese is improving too as I’m having to think in Chinese rather than English!)

In hindsight, I probably did not need to stress so much as all the help was being offered to me. But I learnt that when things are not entirely in my control, I do tend to lose my cool and tense up! I also learnt to humble myself and just ask for help when I need it. The whole independent single girl thing I had going in Sydney, just does not work quite so well when you’re in a non-English speaking foreign country on your own for the first time!

Now I have the luxury of time to relax and enjoy what Taiwan has to offer me. I am eagerly waiting to start school so I can meet new people and actually keep myself occupied with doing something!!

If anyone has questions about what kinda food to eat, please ask me in about 1 months time as I’ve purely been eating whatever I find on an as-needed basis. Yes there’s PLENTY of food here, so much I have a hard time trying to decide what to eat. I’ve only spent about $25 AUD in my 6 days here, so its pretty cheap (I did have about 3 meals paid by others though)

This is how much you get for NT$99 (AUD$3.70)

I was missing my burgers one evening...and luckily for me there's a 'Mos Cafe' (not sure where its from) just near my place haha

Oh yes, whilst shopping around Taipei Main Station yesterday for household goods, Ariel Lin – a popular actress that just released her first album had an autograph signing session. I waited for 1.5 hours for her to arrive at the venue (not planned of course, I figured since I’m here and I’m not rushed for time I’ll wait for Ariel to appear…along with hundreds of 16 year olds!) and took some pics and videos of her singing on stage! My first celebrity sighting in Taiwan. I did not wait for an autograph thought as I didn’t actually buy her CD. I’m thinking of buying it now though, as they were playing the entire CD whilst fans eagerly awaited for her arrival. It’s not too bad!

Celebrity Spotting: Ariel Lin singing live!

30 Aug

I am beginning to enjoy Taipei life. Having a place to live really makes a huge difference. I realised the weather doesn’t get to me as much as it did when I first arrived, that’s because I’m not running around during the middle of the day looking for a place to live. There’s also a bit of a breeze now, unlike the stifling air I arrived into when I first got here.

The thing that gets to me, particularly over the last few days is of course this loneliness of doing everything on my own! I kinda miss the hostel cuz at least it was full of people coming and going. These last 2 days have felt really long because I’ve barely spoken to anyone except my landlord! I really miss interacting with fellow people!

So what have I been doing? Now that I am more ‘settled’ I have been buying stuff for this room of mine. Really basic things like cleaning equipment, toiletries, stationery, I don’t know, just things you need to survive on a daily basis. I have made several visits to the variety stores, the first one I discovered was around Shida (the uni I will be attending) on Day 1 when I needed an adaptor. Since then I’ve been to the store 2 more times buying more random stuff! Another great discovery - I accidentally stumbled across what must be the equivalent of the 100 Yen store found in Japan, except everything in this store is $39NT, which is roughly equivalent to $1.20 AUD! It’s fantastic as I’ve bought coat hangers, detergent, hand soap, make up, dust bin and all sort of other stuff. Again I’ve visited that store twice! (That’s what happens when you have time to kill…)

My greatest purchases thus far have been the kettle & a hairdryer. I was trying to find a cheap ‘kambrook’ like kettle here, a plastic one that will just simply boil water. Maybe I went to the wrong department store, I went to the DJ’s equivalent (Sogo) as I don’t know what the Big W equivalent is over here, but I couldn’t find a really simple kettle. So I ended up buying a Japanese Tiger brand fancy kettle that will boil water and keep it hot! I figured I can bring it home?! (Well I will). The hairdryer, well I haven’t bought one ever, so I ended up buying a Phillips hairdryer, something on special on the lower end but something more advanced than what I have at home. I thought it was a good buy until I saw cheaper ones on the other side of the department store. Oh well…I keep telling myself I have money now, I am not really a ‘student’.

I have almost been to all the big shopping centres around here in my one week. Not because I love shopping, but because I don’t know where else to go when it’s so hot! I am truly being an ‘Asian’ in Asia and shopping centres during summer is the way to go! I’ve been eating at the food courts there too, mainly Sogo again because I don’t know any better! I can get a very decent meal for around $4 AUD, something that will probably cost me double or triple back home with the amount of food I get! 7-11 is almost a daily visit, which reminds me of the Japan holiday.

In fact, a lot of Taipei reminds me of Japan, as they have adopted A LOT of Japanese customs here! I think Japan is their model for most things commercial – all the big stores I visited in Japan last year can all be found in Taipei. The previously mentioned 100 Yen shop, Tokyu Hands, FrancFranc (I LOVE that store, but it’s a bit over budget to furnish my simple room for 3 months, if only they had that store back home!), Sogo, Muji etc.

A great PLUS in Taipei – The fantastic MRT system, which I am sure they copied from the Japanese. (Why not, they have a great system) I just love it. Taipei maybe a mess on the roads with even more scooters and cars than my memory serves, but the underground system is just amazing. Why? For one, it is spotless. You won’t find a piece of garbage anywhere in the station. You are not allowed to eat or drink in the station, and people actually abide by those laws (I am thinking there must be hefty fines if not). The trains are spotless too. It is just so clean!! Which I guess shouldn’t be a huge surprise as it is the same in Singapore, Tokyo & Hong Kong. But being Taipei, I just assumed that the Chinese will stuff it up. No, I have to give a big thumbs up to the Taipei City government – shame on NSW Government for doing a crap job! Look to Asia for your transportation model!

Another plus – Taipei is significantly cleaner than memory serves. The roads these days are actually really quite clean. I remember I used to have to dodge either dog shit or garbage when I lived around here. They are big on recycling here now which is fantastic! The funny thing is, I have trouble locating the garbage bins. The only place I am assured of finding them are at the MRT stations.

As my apartment is sandwiched between Shida & Taida, I have access to all the best book shops and food places. I bought books today! They were so cheap! 3 books for $24 AUD!! I bought the Chinese translation of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ just to ease myself into Chinese reading and 2 English books to escape from reality when needed. All the familiar western brands can be found in my area too – Starbucks, KFC, Domino’s, Maccas, just in case I start missing western food!

The one huge minus is the traffic noise! I just happened to find an apartment next to the highway!! On one hand, having traffic noise is pretty good when I’m on my own, so I don’t get deathly silence, but on the other hand…I find it really really hard to sleep. I do hope I get used to it soon! (My Sony ear phones and iPod is good with blocking that noise)

31 August – Recap of my rego day + Others

As I have been so busy recapping all other aspects of Taipei life, I completely forgot about my registration day!

Well, that happened quite many days ago now, although registration happened over a 3 day period, I’m pretty sure everyone turned up on Day 1. Most students looked like 23 year olds, so I’m definitely part of the ‘older’ group even if I do not look the part! Many more westerners than Asians, if you are oriental looking people automatically assume you are Korean or Japanese. So naturally no one spoke to me whilst we were waiting to get called for our Oral & Written/Reading exams. (And I really wasn’t in the mood to make small chat at the time either). My oral happened in a flash, as the examiner realised I could speak Chinese fluently. She gave me some text to read, which I pretty much had no problems with except for the fact that I was nervous about sitting an ‘oral’ exam for the first time in who knows how long! I actually think that exam was a bit too easy for me. The comprehension test was also on the easy side, I’m pretty sure it was primary school standard…but I really struggled with the written test! The topic wasn’t even hard, they just wanted you to write your views on ‘shopping’ as a leisure activity in 200 words. I knew what I wanted to write, I could probably say it but I really couldn’t write much! I guess that is why I am here, if I could do the test, I wouldn’t even need this ‘career break’!

I find out my class schedule in 2 days time. I am getting bored of ‘settling’ in and just want to get started with classes! I guess I feel like I am still on holidays, and I absolutely hate wasting time on holidays when I could be seeing X, Y, Z!

Mandarin Training Centre Building

Today, I decided to play a bit of tourist, I went to the CKS Memorial Hall. It’s quite a remarkable memorial. In some ways it reminds me of the memorials such as the Lincoln Memorial in DC, but mostly it reminds me of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing in its classical Chinese architecture style. I love it when the Chinese build monuments or buildings, they always have to do it in a grand scale, modern or classical, the thinking hasn’t changed over the centuries. I saw the ‘Changing of the Guards’, along with heaps of older Japanese tourists. And I actually DID take a video or 2 of it. I just happened to arrive on time as they only change at the hour. I gave my camera a bit of a workout for the first time since arriving in Taipei too. I just need to find time now to organise my photos (I should have plenty given I am back to student life, but sitting in my room organising photos seems REALLY boring!)

Whilst going through the exhibition displays in the CKS Memorial, I started to feel a bit sorry for this ‘Republic of China’. I remember learning about it in the history books back in primary school, particularly Sun Yat Sen being the ‘father’ of China (both recognised in China & Taiwan), having overthrown the Manchu empire, but now that I have a better understanding of modern Chinese history do I sort of feel pity for this confusing ‘nation’. Many people probably don’t realise anymore that Taiwan’s other official name is ‘Republic of China’, its where the KMT party decided to temporarily base themselves before fighting back against the Communists ‘People’s Republic of China’. The dream of the old KMT party is of course very far away, and realistically, an impossibility. And that’s where I began to feel a bit sorry for this confusing ‘nation’. Having being so involved with the United Nations at the start, the ROC is relegated to the title of ‘Chinese Taipei’. I love the ideals of the Chinese democracy – and Taiwan is actually one of the most democratic Asian nation, but of course its dwarfed by the PRC China. I guess that’s where my political comments will cease in case I offend anyone.

Well I am here to learn Chinese, so learning more about Chinese history is something I am also passionate about. Modern or Ancient I love it all. Chinese history has never been ‘easy’. It’s always had its complexities. Especially it’s treatment of neighbouring regions. From the Qin, to Han, Tang, Song, all the way to Qing and now modern China, it has never been easy! Actually I stumbled across an interesting book in the Eslite bookstore the other day, don't remember the title, but it was suggesting that the 'Song' dynasty was the most progressive of all the Chinese dynasties. And for those that know a bit about Chinese dynastic history, most would argue China did not make much progress during the Song years, and were constantly being 'bullied' by neighbouring regions! Would have bought it if it wasn't around 300 pages :P Whether I am located in the PRC or ROC, the Chinese spoken is still the same, so I guess I'm pleased that I have decided to take time off from regular life to partake in this Mandarin project of mine :)

There are more photos to come! I just need to get used to my dad's laptop!