I was delighted to learn of the American elections last week! There IS hope. As an American living in Asia, I have to admit, it is often easy to forget some of the political issues back home. But the election results brought undeniable joy for me. The politics here are quite different. Taiwan is probably unique in it's complex identity to the rest of the world. As a foreigner, I've tried not to form too many political opinions. One opinion which I cannot escape though, is that I do not wish to see Taiwan become so "Westernized" that they take on the social characteristics of America. The "traditional values" here are genuine traditional values.... unlike the same label some of America uses to oppress people and thoughts different from their own. This blog
is not the place to discuss too much on political viewpoint, though, so let it suffice to say that here in Taiwan, people are very kind to one another and respectful. Here, someone could turn his garage into an exotic bird sanctuary, walk down the street barefoot and in his underwear, carry all his worldly belongings strapped to the back of his scooter, or sit silently at the edge of the lake for hours contemplating the desire of Gods.... and he would be treated with all the respect and kindne
ss offered to any other human being. Perhaps in the eyes of the ancient Gods, money is a temporary thing. Ghost money burns daily here. A symbol. And while Taiwan was probably never the "Garden of Eden" entirely, I can see that somewhere in this country, someone has tasted the forbidden apple, and innocence is being traded for the upscale high-rise super mall, and the culture of the lesser gods is being emulated.
These photos are from a temple near where I live.... I visited it on Sunday when I was practicing driving my scooter. Ah, my scooter. I am not sure I mentioned that earlier. It has been a few weeks or perhaps a month now that I have had a scooter. I try to drive it every day, but so far haven't taken it too far from ho
me... it would be fairly difficult to describe the driving and traffic situation here in Taiwan. The independence I feel at owning the tran
sportation here is huge. But I can't help but remember the words of my grandma back in the my teen years... reminding me wear clean underwear and socks without holes each time I went off on a risky adventure.... and when I'm driving down the roads here where traffic laws are made to be broken and bumper cars come to mind as vehicles park in the middle of the street, cars drive on whichever side of the road that is empty at the moment, and four lane highways have 6 vehicles, Grandma's words seem a lot more weighty than back in the old days when I would joke at her worry as I kissed her goodbye.
I was delighted to learn of the American elections last week! There IS hope. As an American living in Asia, I have to admit, it is often easy to forget some of the political issues back home. But the election results brought undeniable joy for me. The politics here are quite different. Taiwan is probably unique in it's complex identity to the rest of the world. As a foreigner, I've tried not to form too many political opinions. One opinion which I cannot escape though, is that I do not wish to see Taiwan become so "Westernized" that they take on the social characteristics of America. The "traditional values" here are genuine traditional values.... unlike the same label some of America uses to oppress people and thoughts different from their own. This blog
is not the place to discuss too much on political viewpoint, though, so let it suffice to say that here in Taiwan, people are very kind to one another and respectful. Here, someone could turn his garage into an exotic bird sanctuary, walk down the street barefoot and in his underwear, carry all his worldly belongings strapped to the back of his scooter, or sit silently at the edge of the lake for hours contemplating the desire of Gods.... and he would be treated with all the respect and kindne
ss offered to any other human being. Perhaps in the eyes of the ancient Gods, money is a temporary thing. Ghost money burns daily here. A symbol. And while Taiwan was probably never the "Garden of Eden" entirely, I can see that somewhere in this country, someone has tasted the forbidden apple, and innocence is being traded for the upscale high-rise super mall, and the culture of the lesser gods is being emulated. 
These photos are from a temple near where I live.... I visited it on Sunday when I was practicing driving my scooter. Ah, my scooter. I am not sure I mentioned that earlier. It has been a few weeks or perhaps a month now that I have had a scooter. I try to drive it every day, but so far haven't taken it too far from ho
me... it would be fairly difficult to describe the driving and traffic situation here in Taiwan. The independence I feel at owning the transportation here is huge. But I can't help but remember the words of my grandma back in the my teen years... reminding me wear clean underwear and socks without holes each time I went off on a risky adventure.... and when I'm driving down the roads here where traffic laws are made to be broken and bumper cars come to mind as vehicles park in the middle of the street, cars drive on whichever side of the road that is empty at the moment, and four lane highways have 6 vehicles, Grandma's words seem a lot more weighty than back in the old days when I would joke at her worry as I kissed her goodbye.
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