The Travel Adventure Continues!

Hello! It's been over a year since my incredible two months in Taiwan. Among the many things I took away from my trip, my adventures in Taiwan and Hong Kong instilled in me a love for travel. The next way I wanted to challenge myself was to travel solo. Since the summer of 2009 I've spent ten days on my own in Guatemala (except when I met up with my good friend Mary Beth), and will spend virtually 100% of 2011 in Australia, backpacking from city to city. You can read about these adventures, both the past trip to Guatemala and the future trip to Australia, on my new blog: Trusty Fedora. It's the continuation of what the spirit of this blog was; and in a way, the Dan in Taiwan blog served as a prequel (unknown at the time of its being written) for the Trusty Fedora blog and the Indiana Jones spirit of adventure that's guided me in my travels ever since. So, if you liked reading this blog when it was current, swing by the new one and pick right up where you left off on the latest adventure!

Conclusion

Well, my time in Taiwan has (For the most part) flown by. Right now I'm packing up and doing laundry; in the morning we leave to start our long series of plane trips home. We're all looking forward to it, though. This has been an incredible trip, I've gotten to see and do some unforgettable things. I've run with crowds of children who had never seen white people before through the streets of Jaili, I've ridden in a glass box up a mountain, I've fed an ostrich (who took a particular liking to my fingertips), I've danced onstage in a pop group's street performance (the first day, haha), I've been disappointed by a typhoon, I've learned some of a dramatically different language, I've made so many friends here, and I've definitely formed a lasting memory. Thank you, Formosa.
Today was the closing ceremony of our program; mostly speeches and displaying our projects. We've also started saying our goodbyes to the Shu-Te students. It's not too sad yet, but it will be tomorrow. I also received a very touching gesture; in Mandarin class, in the last three class periods we watched an incredible Taiwanese movie called "Cape No. 7." Over the three final classes, the first was myself and two other students, then myself and one other student for the next class session, and the last class was just me, and I stayed later to finish the movie, and told the teacher how much I enjoyed it. Today during closing ceremonies, she approached me with a package: inside was the "Cape No. 7" collector's edition DVD set, which plays on DVD players of any region. I didn't know what to say. I can't wait to get back to America and watch it the first chance I get with all my Auburn friends. Not only is it a good film, but it shows a huge amount of Taiwanese culture and was filmed in the south of Formosa, where we are.
Haven't felt well these past few days; had a fever and have been lying in bed sucking down water but it hasn't done much. About an hour ago I took what I would describe as a "nuclear" shower; I turned the hot water on so high it was scalding and I was having difficulty breathing, all to help my body "sweat out" the fever. I took an Advil too, and I feel okay currently.
Had a brush with death the other night, trying to finish the last of my work for this trip. We moved out of the dorms about a week ago but for the remainder of the trip they moved us into the girls' dorm, and I have a room on the ground floor. Well, two nights ago I was sitting at my desk, typing on my computer, and playing with (what I thought was) a shoelace under the desk with my toes. I'd drag it over and then return my feet to their original positions, and it'd be right back where it was. So I'd drag it back over, and there it'd be again. This went on for about 10 times before I figured I should look and see what it was. Take a look for yourself in the video below:



The crazy part? I came back inside and looked up the species of snake... Multi-banded Krait, the 8th most venomous snake in the world, according to Wikipedia. Needless to say my heart jumped into my throat and I was very rattled for a few hours. I'm very fortunate to have not been bitten, if I had you likely would not be reading this right now.
I'm happy to be going back home to America, but I'm sure I'll experience reverse culture shock. After my rather difficult episode of adjusting to the culture here a few weeks ago, I've very much accepted this routine and culture as normal. I don't think I could handle another two weeks on this trip, but I feel like I've adjusted to my life here in the Taiwanese culture. I think getting back into the routine of my life in America is going to have its challenges. For the most part, I'm going to miss the beauty of this island. When we were in the other dorm, my room was on the fourth floor. In the mornings while brushing my teeth before class I would walk out on the balcony and overlook the city, lush forest, and mountains which surround the school. I'm going to miss the mornings here the most, I think. I also think, as ready as I am for a Cousin's chopped beef brisket sandwich (cue stomach rumbling), there will definitely be days where I miss certain foods from this island, especially all their exotic fruits that you simply never experience in America.
So, while I can't wait to plop down in my seat on that 747 tomorrow morning and begin my 13-hour flight back to San Francisco, I know that this country has made a real impact on me. I can't wait to see more of this planet and I look forward to my next opportunity to return to Taiwan. Jai jin, Formosa! Xie xie!

Expect some retrospective posts once I get the chance in a week or so.

Winding Down

Hello, everyone! Things here at Shu-Te are winding down; we're working on our final models for studio, we had our last group travel day today, and in a few days the campus will officially be on summer vacation and us guys will be moved out of our dorms and into the girls' dorm for the last few days of the trip. Only 10 days left! It's too soon to write my retrospective post here but for the time being I'll say it's been a great trip.
Last night I finally got to eat at the amazing fried dough restaurant in the city everyone keeps talking about. I had a plate of fried dumplings, and two plates of "pizza," basically super-thick flat, round pieces of dough that are fried and then seasoned. It was all delicious, probably one of the top 5 meals of the trip, and it was completely worth the 2 years it likely took off my life, haha. Gave me intense dreams last night, though: I dreamt I was in my kitchen in Crowley, Texas knife-fighting a clone of myself. The fight lasted around 3 hours (in dream time), and was mentally exhausting. At one point my clone pinned me to the kitchen floor and I started kicking him, and woke up in my bunk flat on my back with both my legs straight up in the air!
Today's trip was a bit of a surprise; I didn't remember Tin Man officially telling us we were going, so I was unprepared for a day out when Nathan woke me up this morning. I'm glad we went, though; it's most likely our last day of group travel and it was a lot of fun. We visited an old retired factory that now houses shops and an ostrich farm, I got to hand-feed one of them popcorn but it seemed to enjoy the taste of my fingertips just as much. OUCH!


Nice ostrich...

We got off and on the bus a lot but saw a pretty good assortment of places. In one market there was a man who played the most random and ridiculous objects... It started off fairly normal at first; playing a saw with a bow, but quickly turned into quite the display of "musical resourcefulness," haha. He played the saw, a toothpaste tube, a piece of newspaper, a large syringe, and a guitar made out of a pot. He was also selling his CDs and I almost bought one as a gag gift for Zack, it was "Tim and Eric"-ish enough that he might have enjoyed it. The other "attractions" weren't always the most exciting, but where they lacked the local souvenir stands picked up the slack. I finished my souvenir shopping! Finally found a couple of things for my dad that I think suit him very well; up until now I've found little things but nothing really on target. The bus ride was very nice today, as well; I sat and listened to Iron & Wine and the new Dave Matthews album (AMAZING, by the way) while we drove through the beautiful countryside, full of forests. The road wound along next to several mountains, lush with vegetation and always in the background of the day's photos. The smog was also somewhere else today (thankfully) and we walked under blue skies and white clouds, an uncommon opportunity.
Pushing hard in studio this last week; models are due friday and our group has had major problems communicating and being on the same page, and has therefore fallen somewhat behind. We'll get it done though, my being busy will make the time pass quickly and I'll be homebound before I know it. I've definitely developed a soft spot for Formosa, and I'd like to come back someday (on MY terms and schedule), but right now I'm ready for America again.

Thankful.

I've decided to take a moment and write an off-topic post tonight on a current world issue. As you've probably seen in the news recently, Tehran has erupted into violence and chaos over the past few days due to the fallout of the Iranian election. While looking over all the developments of the day, I came across the video of a young woman, Neda, believed to be 16, who was shot in the chest in the midst of the violence and dies on tape. I've posted a YouTube link below, but be warned: THIS IS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC CONTENT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4woyuJsdvkw

I'm not even going to delve into my position on Iran or the politics of the current situation in this post, but I wanted to voice how grateful I am to live in and be a citizen of the United States of America. I'm grateful for many reasons (many of which have come to the forefront of my mind this summer, while traveling in Taiwan), but I think my favorite reason (at least tonight, after watching a teenage girl bleed to death), is that I get to choose my representatives, my senators, and my President, and I know that at the end of the day the results won't be met with bloodshed and any transfer of power will be handled peacefully. There is a lot wrong with American, of course, but it truly is the greatest country on Earth, and I say that shameless in my bias.
Some of my friends don't vote; they think they play such a small part that there's no point. Perhaps people who think that way should watch Neda die and then see how they feel. Right now, the people of Iran are crying out for their votes to count, and there are people here in America too apathetic to simply vote for a President on the basis of "nothing will change." The hypocrisy of it is almost laughable: they take for granted so much the fact that their vote counts for something that they choose not to cast it. I guarantee you if one year the American people were forced to throw rocks in the streets at armed police in riot gear to have their voices heard, voter turnout in the next election would be off the charts. My generation is apathetic because we've never had to fight for what we love and believe in, and I think that will and must change. But that's a subject I won't touch upon here.
Simply put, sometimes it takes others' losses to appreciate what you have been granted by birth. I'm thankful I can step into a voting booth, cast my ballot, and watch the results come in with a pizza and beer and feel happy either way, and don't have to dodge bullets in city streets to have my voice (a mere whisper in the roar of the multitudes) ring out.

God Bless America, and God Bless the people of Iran.

Typhoon Incoming

This is tropical storm Linfa. Above and to the right is Taiwan.

IMPORTANT WEATHER INFORMATION:

Right now, Tropical Storm Linfa (likely to soon be a full-blown typhoon) is headed straight for Taiwan. We've cancelled our weekend trip to the Hacca village and instead have a restful weekend off. Everything should be okay, this will be my first experience in a hurricane, or typhoon, whatever, and you know I'll take lots of pictures and video as warranted. We expect crazy amounts of rain for the next three or four days.



Don't worry, Mom and Dad, we'll be safe. No news is good news. Keep checking back here for more video and photos of the storm as it unfolds. Maybe I'll have a story at the end of this to put all the stories my Mobile friends tell to shame!

Culture Shock

These past few days have been pretty brutal for me. I got slammed out of the blue with culture shock. I think it's taken this long to hit for two main reasons: 1.) All major travel is finished, which means no more weekend or 4 or 5 day respites from being at Shu-Te, and 2.) I'm always mentally drained after class everyday from trying to speak my mind to 5 Chinese-speaking people, and until now I've been able to go to my room in the evenings after class and collapse into my bunk for a 2-hour nap to recharge my batteries. Unfortunately, that's now impossible because Tin Man scheduled us a new class, Mandarin, from 6PM to 7PM, Monday through Thursday for the rest of the trip. So no more recharging naps.
It's not that the class is a bad idea. At the beginning of the trip I was one of the students who voted for it. But it took a long time to get going, and we're now beginning it 5 weeks into an 8 week trip, and compensating for the lack of time by having it 4 days a week. Those two points alone are deal-breakers for me (and a lot of us), but what really makes it hard to accept is that it's in the evening. If it was in the early afternoon, perhaps I could accept it, but the fact that it's so late means that for 7 extra hours every day I have to keep my brain in gear. So it's hard.
And it's not that I don't like the people here, I do. They're so nice, and really that's sort of part of the problem. They're always happy and cheerful and exuberant, which means we Americans have to meet them at that same level every day. At this point in the trip we've started to privately refer to Taiwan as "Treasure Island," "Candy Gumdrop Land," and Shu-Te as "Daffy Duck University," etc., not trying to put them down or make light of them but because everyone is just so happy every waking second. I appreciate they're effort and energy, but if I'm going to relate to you at all and build a real friendship and relationship, I need to know you have emotions other than joy in your repertoire.
They're also helpful to a fault. This trip I have had people lift food into my mouth, try to give me a fork when I was perfectly happy and effective with chopsticks, and tell me over Skype it was time to go to bed. It's become borderline patronization. I am a 21-year-old adult male who has almost earned a Bachelors degree from a distinguished American university. Just because you speak Mandarin and I speak English and we have to simplify our thoughts when we converse back and forth is no reason to grab my hand when I'm trying to eat and lift it into my mouth for me. Seriously.
Of course, none of this I could ever express. They would be extraordinarily offended, and with reason, we're guests in their school and country; they're going out of their ways for us. Which is why my alone time in my dorm room is so important every day. I am 1 of probably literally 11 white people for likely 100 square miles, and the stares I get when I go anywhere confirm this. All I have to even try to relate to my own way of life is 2 hours a day on a 2.5 foot by 6 foot bamboo mat where I can lay, close my eyes, and listen to my iPod shuffle. Thanks to that Mandarin class (an excellent idea, but executed in an awful way), I don't even have that anymore, and I'm panicking.
Yesterday I was so desperate to experience a little bit more of something "American" and not live in Broken-English-Land for just a short amount of time that I emailed my dad and asked him for some money to spend on iTunes. He came through immediately, thank goodness, and I downloaded all these great American movies so now I have something to watch when it gets especially rough. I got "Casablanca," "Searching for Bobby Fisher," "Dirty Dancing," and "WALL-E" so far. Dad, you're a life-saver, for a short time last night it was like a little slice of Draper Movie Nights from growing up, and that was enough.
It's hard for me to understand how I feel. Do I want to go home? Yes. I miss immensely my friends (all those great long conversations on life with Zack that go until we see the sun coming up), my family, familiar American food (the simple pleasure of a Burger King whopper), sitting toilets (seriously, do not EVER take yours for granted), and being able to say something to someone and not have them look puzzled for the first 5 ways I phrase it. But at the same time, I don't want to go home yet. I'm not a quitter at anything, never have been. I signed up for 8 weeks and 8 weeks is what I'm going to do. And I refuse to be miserable. This is still a very fun trip, it's too great an opportunity not to have fun, and I am going to squeeze every ounce milliliter of enjoyment out of this trip. But that doesn't mean that at some point I'm not allowed to feel completely isolated from my way of life and very much alone. I choose to feel that now.
Tin Man said today that our group is very obedient, but we aren't always happily obedient. This made me angry with him. I am allowed to feel however I want to feel. I have followed and will follow his instructions to the letter this entire trip, and for the most part I've done my best to do so. My missteps have been minor so far, relegated to staying at 7-11 past 11PM, but beyond that where he leads I will follow. But to imply that I am required to enjoy having my every action dictated to for 8 weeks? That is overreaching. Will I go to this Mandarin class? Yes. Will I not leave the university unless there are at least 3 Americans and 1 Taiwanese student? Yes. Do I have to enjoy these requirements? No. One of my pet peeves is when someone tells me how I'm supposed to think. "Oh, Dan, don't see it like that, that's not how I meant it," or "Draper, you should enjoy everything I tell you to do." NO! I am who I am because I feel and experience the exact way which I do; no one else can exactly the way that I do and I can't the exact ways others do. And when you say or imply that I should change myself or see something a different way because I just should, then I get very angry, because it devalues me as a person. Of course, I could never express this to Tin Man, at least not like this. And I have few people around me that I relate to enough to express this to, so I'm expressing it here. Maybe he reads this. If so, he's welcome to come to me (he's said many a time, in every class I've had with him, that if we have something going on in our lives, and there's no one else to talk to, we can talk to him), and I feel 100% confident that I can express how I feel cooly, collectedly, confidently, and completely. Another thing I know, is that I am allowed to express myself here, and I have not said anything personally against Tin Man, so there's nothing to penalize me for.
And for the record, I have nothing but utmost respect for Tin Man. He makes me mad sometimes for sure, and he pushes us pretty hard, but he cares a LOT about us both as future designers and people. He's said we can come to him about anything we need to, and I've remarked on this blog before about the subtle meaning of respect and honor that his actions of buying dinner have been. Of all the industrial design professors at Auburn he is one of my favorites and one of the best; and the fact that he was voted (again) this past year the #1 design professor in the nation confirms this. So don't let my ranting above mislead you about how I feel about the man: he's brutally honest, he can push you to your limit (and past it), he's got wit like a razor and a face of stone when he wants them, but above all it's because HE CARES. There is a reason he and Rich Britnell teach the fourth-year studios at Auburn; no two teachers in the program have pushed me as hard or given me as much interview-worthy material in my portfolios as these two. They are the final gauntlet we students must run before we stand on our own in this field; it is because of their pushing and prodding that I will be the designer I will be and I will remember their teaching my entire life. But that doesn't mean they don't drive me crazy some days, and it doesn't mean that they can't make me angry.
This post has been very therapeutic. I'm going to enjoy my remaining time here on this beautiful island, but I will be aware of the number of days remaining. When I need to I will still be able to find time to retreat to my havens of American media. I'm a very prideful person, a flaw I'm constantly correcting little-by-little. Most of the time I'm trying to do everything for everyone, and I'm stretched so thin that I feel like I'm smothered. When I left for this trip I told myself that I was never going to feel so far out of my element that I felt "culture shock," I was going to be like all my other jet-setting friends and just adapt and love it and have ridiculous amounts of fun every waking moment. Another reason I wanted to brush off any problems adjusting is because when I told one of my friends I was going to spend two months in Taiwan back when I first signed up for this trip, they laughed in my face. I wanted to prove to myself and to them that I was tough enough for cultural adjustment to not be an issue, which simply isn't the case. It's time I admitted to myself that it's okay to feel like I'm on a different planet, it's okay to feel like it's hard to get through sometimes. It's okay to not be as much like Indiana Jones as I'd like to be. All that being said, seeing the world and getting out of your element is still an amazing thing, and I'm still very thirsty for more. I want to go to Europe next; see London and Paris, bike through Sicily, run with the bulls in Pamplona, etc. At the end of this trip, I'm going to have an incredible 8-week-long trip of a lifetime to tell people about, and I'm going to be eagerly looking forward to the next one. And if you do read this Tin Man, before you email me to tell me to see you in your office, know that I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity.
Whew. All in all, this trip is teaching me a great deal... not all of it in the classroom or on a tour bus.

Hong Kong

Right now I'm sitting in my hotel room in Hong Kong. In the morning I'll get up, have breakfast, and fly back to Kaohsiung, but for the moment I'm enjoying just sitting and looking out the window at this cool city.
I love it here. For the first month of the trip, I've been dropped in a different world; new language, new food, new culture. Nothing was familiar, and I loved it, but I definitely needed the respite that Hong Kong has given. It's the perfect mix of Eastern and Western culture here; they speak English for the most part, there's American fast food (I have loaded up on Whoppers while I've been here, and they've all tasted incredible), and there are Americans and English around to run into and converse with. Two months in Taiwan is pushing what I can take, I'm pretty far out of my element and some days it wears me down, but I can see myself living here after college for a time doing design work. Speaking of which...
Today we toured Techtronic Industries, a local design company with international influence. They're responsible for Milwaukee, Ridgid, Ryobi power tools, Dirt Devil, and Hoover; if you've bought a power tool or some sort of around-the-house DIY tool in the past 5 or 6 years, chances are it came out of their offices. The tour was very cool, the VP of design led us around and shared their history and goals with us. Afterwards I asked him about an internship, and I think I'd definitely be interested in one if I could get it.
Yesterday we went to Ocean Park for the day. We rode roller coasters (video on the way soon), and I got to see giant pandas up close for the first time. They're so lazy, it's hilarious. Fun day just hanging out and not worrying about anything.
Two days ago we rode a cable car up a mountain to a giant statue of Buddha. When Tin Man told us about it he said that it just reopened; it had been closed for two years because a car (empty) had fallen off and plunged into the harbor below. I knew immediately I had to do it. The group paid extra for a car with a glass bottom, and while it was a little unnerving to see the ground go by below, the experience was worth the money. The Buddha was pretty cool, we didn't stay long but we got a lot of good pictures.
This hotel we've stayed in is incredible, it's hard to believe it was once a YMCA. Now called the City View, it would be at least a 3-star in the U.S., probably a 4-star, and the price we've paid for it is practically a steal. It's been fun talking to Rambo, our omelet artist at breakfast (I won't call him "chef" because it doesn't do him justice), and Kelvin, the barman in the swanky bar in the lobby.
This trip has also marked the half-way point of this two month excursion into Asia. I've decided to be honest here and say that while, yes, this trip is incredible, and what a memory it will make from beginning to end, it is pushing the extreme edge of my comfort zone. I think if it was one week longer I would be miserable. Make no mistake; while at no point do I hate being here, or feel like I'm freaking out or need to be home, there are days when I very much miss my friends and family, or a familiar American dish, or toilet paper, or being a vegetable in front of a TV set showing a normal American show. It's funny; two months is enough to adjust to the culture, this all feels normal to me now: the food has become common to me, the television commercials I no longer notice, I've even started to follow the Asian news and markets like I would their American equivalents when I was home. But after this Hong Kong trip, I'm going to push hard in studio these next three weeks (all major traveling is done), and then fly back to America, at the end of what will be an incredible two month memory, but still not a day too soon.
I really admire you, Mary Beth, if you read this. I was laying in my bunk last week, thinking about you spending 8 or 9 months in Australia. While I know it's probably not as severe a transition, since they are largely Western, have familiar food, and speak English, I know that I would probably get two months into a trip like the one she is on and freak out.
At the end of my favorite movie, "Three Days of the Condor," Turner (played by Robert Redford) asks the French assassin Joubert (an excellent performance by Max Von Sydow), "What now?" Joubert suggests hiding in Europe. Turner replies, "I was born in the United States, Joubert. I miss it if I'm away too long." "A pity." Turner smiles and says, "I don't think so." I understand what he means now. This is such a beautiful, mesmerizing planet, and I definitely want to see more of it (the planning for the next trip is already underway, but that's a different post for a different day), but I can't imagine a future when I was long-long-term out of the country. As messed up as the United States can be at times (though thank God it's finally getting better), I still love the land I come from.