Okay, I know I've mentioned this before, the but the MRT was AWESOME! The stations were clean and felt very safe. A bit crowded at times, yes, but what do you expect in a city of 3 million people? The signage was amazing, both in Mandarin and English. And they had great maps at each station, in both languages, so you could see exactly where you were and where you needed to be within about a mile radius. I used those ALL THE TIME. (Although it must be mentioned that there are no set rules for how the Mandarin is translated into English. So a street sign or map could have three or four different spellings for one street on different signs or at different spots. "Ch", "Xi", and "Qi" all seemed to be used interchangeably. This made things a little difficult sometimes!
The thing that impressed me the most was how well-behaved everyone was. I know that sounds weird, but truly, I rarely saw anyone break any of the rules. You aren't allowed to eat or drink in the trains or in the stations - which is probably the main reason why they're so clean. I saw someone take a surreptitious swig of water once, but that was it. On each train car there are dark blue seats for "priority" passengers - those with small children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with disabilities. I never saw anyone sit in those seats, even if the train was really crowded. And people always offered their seats to priority passengers when the car was full - always. And they did it so nicely!
Once I was standing while riding and there was an older gentleman sitting next to me. He moved to a priority seat and motioned for me to sit down. (I think he could tell how tired I was!) A true gentleman! Multiple "xie xie"s all around!
People always queued up nicely and waited quietly and patiently for the trains. No obnoxious teenagers, no yelling into cell phones, no crazies... just normal, patient, nice people! (All on their smart phones constantly, but still.)
Each station was decorated differently, and the newer stations (the lines we rode the most) were really cool and even beautiful. You can tell Taipei has put a lot of money into their public transportation system.
On signs all over the place and on the speakers all the time were polite reminders to treat others with courtesy. Don't eat, no smoking, don't talk on your cell phone loudly (or at all - text if you can!), be patient... things like that. There were lots of funny cartoon signs and ads playing on the trains driving these points home. I totally loved it.
Seriously, I love living in the United States. We're a culture that thrives on independence and individuality. But there is certainly something to be said about the Asian cultures that put so much emphasis on community and courtesy. It was a rude culture shock coming back to the states and finding workers who were NOT happy to serve you! Seriously, when we got off the flight in Chicago the people waiting with wheelchairs for disabled passengers all looked so bedraggled and put out that they actually had to work! You know what I mean. In Taiwan, all of the workers were super polite, greeted me with a friendly nie hao!, bowed at least once, and thanked me profusely. I could get used to that. (And I did.)
Anywho, people mostly kept to themselves, but were still friendly at the same time. I got a lot of smiles because I would catch people looking at me. :)
Oh, and one more reason to love the MRT? Free wi-fi. Most of my FB posts were posted as I waited for a train!
Fashion
Okay, we all know I am no fashionista. But it was fun to compare basic fashions between Taiwan and the US.
The first thing I noticed was that everyone dressed nicely. Not expensive or super trendy (as far as I know - maybe they were all super trendy?), but most everyone was well groomed and had put forth a little effort. You know - these people were shoppers at Target rather than Wal-Mart. :)
Now that I think about it, I never saw a single person wearing tennis shoes or sweat pants or yoga pants or any other slouch gear. The women wore skirts and dresses more often than not. Lots of teenage girls, when not in school uniform, wore shorts with black nylons. I saw lots of sandals and nice shoes, lots of painted nails. Most women wore their hair down, which I thought was crazy given the heat and humidity. But it didn't seem to bother them at all, supporting my theory that they were all born with some heat-resistant-no-need-to-sweat gene. I also noticed that most women didn't wear many accessories. Some earrings here and there, maybe a necklace, but not much more than that. (This is probably why I never found any accessories shops - there's no market!) The men were always just as well-coiffed as the women.
I will say this, though. The Taiwanese have a penchant for mixing strange colors and patterns! Lots of wild patterns mixed together. My favorite was a leopard print blouse with giraffe print pants. And lots of mixing of stripes and polka dots with florals. Just combinations you would not see in the states! By the end of the trip, though, I didn't really notice it as much. I wonder if my matching clothes were boring and conservative? (Probably.)
The women also liked to over-dress a bit. (At least in my opinion!) At big tourist places, like Taipei 101 and the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial I saw several dresses that I thought were just for evening wear. (Sparkles and sequins and fanciness!) But they didn't seem to think anything of it. And they often wore casual shoes (think Keds or sandals) with these dresses. Or they'd wear a totally normal outfit and outrageously fancy heels.
Food
I've talked about food quite a bit in these posts, so I'll keep this brief. Most food was served scalding hot. But delicious. Most people did not have a drink while they ate. Slurping and noisily eating was the norm.
I don't think I ever saw anyone chewing gum. In fact, I don't really remember seeing people eating while walking down the street - except for the night markets. the sidewalks weren't littered with dead chewing gum dots, and food packaging litter didn't seem to be a problem like in other big cities.
People always sat down to eat and took their time - even in convenience stores there were places to sit and eat. There's something to be said about that. Even the little street-side stalls had at least a couple of chairs and a rickety table set up on the side walk for their customers.
Hot tea was offered everywhere. It was free at the temples. I stuck with my cold papaya milk.
I didn't know what I was eating most of the time, but it was all good. Really, REALLY good.
Weather
At times it was as soul-crushingly hot and muggy as only a tropical island can be. But overall, it was really no worse than summers in Indiana. Rained a lot, but this shouldn't have been a surprise given the lush vegetation everywhere.
Prices
Prices for goods, on the whole, were a lot cheaper than in the States. But not for everything. Clothes and shoes and such were pretty much the same price you'd pay here. So were most of the home goods I looked at. I never really got to see a good grocery store, but food at the night markets was pretty cheap.
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So, would I go back? In a heartbeat. There's a ton more of Taiwan that I would love to explore! The people were friendly, the cities easy to navigate, and the food was incredible. It was a great place for a woman to travel on her own, at least during the day. (I would have probably been fine on my own in most places at night, but I had Lance and, really, is it good for any foreigner to wander the streets alone at night in any city of the world? Probably not.)
Should you go? Yes. Yes yes yes. I love traveling; you learn so much and it can change your perspective on so many aspects of life. Taiwan is a great place to be introduced to Asian culture. So if you ever have a chance to go, do it. Email me for advice. And then I can read all about it on your blog.
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