Hsinchu, Taiwan

I'm realizing because of the scope of my travels I'll need to change the way I live and not just treat this as vacation. Budget, exercise and what I consume need to be put into control if I want to keep my body and my bank account healthy.

This weekend will be clubbbing in Taipei. More then 10% of Taiwan's 23 million people lives in Taipei. The Taiwanese economy has been catapulted over the last decade and one of the results of this transformation is the booming nightlife of Taipei. It seems to be a hip and urban and it'll be interesting to compare and contrast with Tokyo. My business shoes are versitile enough to double as dancing shoes. But of couse, currently they are my only pair of shoes.

Next weekend will be a retreat into the mountains, the week after will be the beach and Taroko Gorge in Hualien and then the next weekend will be Tiachung and Kenting. The island itself takes only 6 hours from tip to tip and I'd like to try to see as much as I can while I am here.

It has been pretty easy to meet other English speakers since if one doesn't fit the majority ethnic make up here then there is an excellent probablilty of English launguage skills. In practice it is like: Look a white dude, let's say what's up. I haven't tried to hard to meet folks, but I am going out tonight with a guy I met on the bus and a couple of his friends. I also met a couple of English teachers and even a couple of Mormons on mission. Being here gives me another perspective on the human instint to build communities with people with common histories.

If any of you had the misfortune of watching television with the remote in my hand, you know that I enjoy werid TV. The combination of a short attention span and my facination with the margins of society makes me flip rapidly though the bizzare images and ideas projected though the air and into the little box. I am going nuts with TV in Taiwan. The exotic nature of the material, the different graphic design elements and the bright, hypnotizing shiny lights keeps me flipping though the 70 or so channels in my room continuously. For hours. Non-stop. Help.