LIVING IN TAIWAN - WORKING IN TAIWAN: AN EXPATRIATES STORY
A patchwork of lights shimmered along the night sky's horizon. I looked out over the wing of the China Airlines 747 down at the Taiwan's approaching radiance. I was excited, and I tried to discern signs of what lay ahead of me. I had twenty minutes left on my one-way ticket to Taiwan and $2000 dollars in my pocket. Surely the mystical East would deliver the excitement I felt lacking in my American life. With a couple of entry level jobs, a dozen or so short stories, one brief novel and a lot of food service experience behind me, I didn't feel like I was risking very much by launching this journey; but you couldn't tell the women in my family that. Somehow my mother, sister and aunt saw it as a foolish gamble, another in a series of dodges away from the inevitable: the normalcy of responsibility and the consistency of a career.
Maybe they were right, but some of us have to travel; we need to remain in motion, drawing on the energy of other cultures and other lives to help expand our own. I didn't really know any of this yet. I was 26 years old and I was on the run from boredom.
As I looked out the window of the 747 that evening, notions of ancient temples framed by flying buttresses and protected by statues of gilded lions were still safely intact. I was hoping for a seamless incorporation of past and present. A Paris of the East.
After landing, the girls at the tourist desk in the main terminal of the airport were friendly and helpful. They booked me a room in downtown Taipei and sent me on my way, pointing out the place to buy my bus ticket into the city.
Taichung Arrival
The next day I took a two-hour bus ride south to the city of Taichung. Someone on the bus who had a smattering of English told me we were riding on a "wild chicken bus." This came as a surprise to me since the inside of the bus was plush--the seats were comfortable and a number of televisions were positioned for easy viewing and the air was well-chilled. In short, this was the nicest bus ride I had ever taken.
It turns out that the name does not refer to the quality of the ride, instead a "wild chicken" company is an illegal, unlicensed operation. Since the government owned bus line, which is less comfortable, is the only one permitted, all others are "wild chickens" by default. But they are necessary. The government buses are usually full and the system is near capacity.
I was soon to learn that there are many degrees of illegal in Taiwan. In fact much of the economy operates outside the strict parameters set by the government. Restaurants, dance clubs, bars, KTV's--private room rental services where people go to sing karoake-- and cable TV stations among others all operate outside the law.
This atmosphere does not so much give the feeling of pervasive criminality; instead the effect is of an unfettered capitalism. The best and worst characteristics of this ambitious, hard-working population is allowed to run riot and the collisions are both metaphorical and real, creating bursts of progress that are also often accompanied by pain. A general disregard for traffic laws such as speed limits and red lights is a product of this frame of mind, and the resulting collisions are very real. During my stay in Taiwan I saw a number of gruesome accidents and I very nearly had a few myself. I soon learned to drive aggressively to protect myself from being run off the road, while never taking a green light as a signal of free passage. Especially at night I gave every intersection a good look, regardless the color of the light.
A friend of a friend was living in Taiwan, and he was the one who had suggested I bypass the large, congested city of Taipei for Taichung--a city whose name simply means central Taiwan. Taipei on the other hand means Northern Taiwan. Taichung is still a city of one million, but the pace of life is slower and more parochial than its international cousin to the north. You can still drive around the streets of Taichung for hours without seeing a foreigner. He was also kind enough to pick me up when I arrived.
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