An Old Woman

The last few days have been a whirlwind of events. I flew to Shenzhen, rode a bus into Hong Kong, flew to Taiwan the next morning, and now I'm back in Hong Kong (and set to go to Macau tomorrow).

In Taiwan, on our first day, we met an old woman who held her grandson with one arm while pointing us to our destination . She'd later symbolize Taiwan for me; gentle, independent, fiercely protective, and steeped with history.

Initially, I was impressed by the conscientious nature of the citizens; people who follow marked lines when waiting for the subway, passengers who gently reprimand each other for chewing gum on the train...it's as if I entered a more gentle form of China (one my fear-ridden, distrusting self found somewhat hard to accept). Yet, it was a welcomed relief.

For once, I was sure my questions would be answered politely. In fact, people in Taipei went out of their way to help me. Case in point: on my way to Danshui, a middle-aged woman suddenly stopped me to fix my dress (apparently the bow on my bodice was lob-sided).

As for the island itself, I think diverse is the best adjective I have to describe it. In four days time, I saw beaches, oceans, mountains, cities, and much more. Amongst my favorite are the hot springs in Beitou with Bonny (at which I got a nasty sunburn), the mountians of Yangmingshan National Park (where I got way too close to a geyser), fisherman's wharf at Danshui, fireflies in Eastern Taiwan, and random escapades with Laura (from which I got a 4GB memory card for $20).

However, like all places, Taiwan does have it's flaws: the biggest being the incessant stares we got. I'm going to assume in the future that I got a lot of stares because I'm just that beautiful but I think they've never seen a girl with pink shorts and sunburned shoulders to match.

Overall though the good far outweighed the bad and I feel that Taiwan is truly a romantic place for the future.