It is interesting for me to look back at the US from my life here in Taiwan. When I came back my coworkers could tell I hadn’t spoken Chinese for a while but I think I am catching back up now…or I hope I am.
I guess it is slightly disturbing, but in many ways it feels like I never left Taiwan. Still there are some differences I’ve been reminded of.
The first thing I noticed was the damn humid weather (see the below post). The other two things I forgot about when I was in the US were scooters and 7-11. Taiwanese people love taking little moped scooters. There are just swarms of them all over the roads and it can make driving (which I do miss) pretty scary. 7-11 since there are so damn many of them. No joke, you can stand at one 7-11 and usually see another 7-11 or similar convenience store from the one you are at. But the convenience stores are pretty…well…convenient. You pay your utility bills, credit card bills, and your phone bills there. They sell little lunch boxes and give you a place to eat. Not too bad, that is until you remember you are at 7-11.
The other thing I forgot about was that in Taiwan it is perfectly acceptable and for that matter terribly ordinary for cleaning ladies to walk into the men’s bathroom and just start cleaning while people are in there (they never close the restroom). I don’t think I will ever get used to being at a urinal and seeing an old cleaning lady mopping the floor behind me or being in a stall when they are cleaning the one next to you.
The thing I miss from the US is bagels, good ones that are easy to find. They are hard to find here.
Oh yeah, my friends from Oregon aren’t here. That sucks too
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment