Happy Canada Day!

Nee hao! (Hi)

Being that Canada Day has just passed, I think it’s quite a fitting time to reflect on what I miss about Canada, what I don’t miss, what I love about Kaohsiung, and what I could do without.

First and foremost is anonymity. While there are over 1000 foreigners in Kaohsiung, we disappear quite easily and seem like very few amongst the 2.5 million Chinese. Every time I do something stupid, I feel like I’m going to be recognized as the dumb white girl. For example, tripping up the scooter ramp, subsequently falling over the other way when trying to stand up, and then pulling my scooter on top me for the grand finale. You don’t forget a scene like that, especially if the person doing it is easily recognizable. Even when doing something completely normal, like drinking coffee, I feel like I’m on display. Sitting outside at Starbucks is the worst. It’s at a major intersection, so I have everyone inside looking at me through the glass wall and then an entire traffic jam of scooter drivers gawking at me. I’m not Chinese. I know I’m not Chinese, they know I’m not Chinese, you know I’m not Chinese, everyone can CLEARLY see I’m not Chinese, so I don’t know why it needs to be pointed out so much.

A very close second is clean air. I’m not quite sure what the smell is here, but it sure ain’t good. It’s actually a plethora of smells; sometimes like garbage rot, sometimes like porto-potty, but most of the time it’s of questionable origin and that definitely makes it worse. It’s also quite unsettling to go out wearing a white shirt and come home wearing a brown one.

Quite obviously I miss English speaking adults. Aside from the teachers I work with and the other foreigners I see on nights out, it seems that very few adults here have even a basic understanding of English. This, of course, was expected and is more than understandable. It’s something we never have to think about at home because everyone can speak our language, but it’s now a daily part of my life. It’s beyond frustrating when you really need or want something, but you have absolutely no means of communicating that.

As for the things I love about Kaohsiung, there are plenty. The people are beyond nice. I’ve found that the Chinese are so friendly that they’re almost looking for ways to help you all the time. I was grocery shopping a little while ago, and as could be expected my scooter got boxed in by a couple of cars. Next thing I know these 2 Chinese guys have picked up my scooter and are carrying it out of the parking lot for me. As much as I love Canada, I don’t think anyone would be doing such a thing in downtown Toronto.

Me and Kaohsiung driving have a love-hate relationship. No need to stop for red lights…I love it, but I hate it. It’s great when I’m the one running them, but it generally puts me in a bad mood when I’m stopped a green because the ass holes going the other direction have decided that red lights and laws don’t apply to them. Mostly the driving is really fun. I sort of feel like I’m living in a video game…yah, I’m not gonna lie. Driving here is way too fun.

The nightlife puts us Canadians to shame. The Taiwanese party like rockstars, but I guess it’s easy to do that when the whole concept of liquor laws is completely foreign. It’s quite common to leave the bar and be greeted at the exit with a Kaohsiung sunrise, which is quite different from London where it’s quite common to leave your house for the bar and be greeted by the sunset. I can’t say I’m sad to have the nights of leaving for Jim Bob’s at 8pm behind me.

Last but not least is teaching. It’s proven to be very frustrating at times, but all in all I’m really enjoying it. The kids work so hard and they’re so unbelievably smart, especially the young ones. I was a nervous wreck before starting, but I’ve already fallen into it and I’m having a lot of fun. While I’ve enjoyed all of my jobs in the past few years, this is completely different in that I feel a real attachment to my work…. probably because it’s a lot easier to build a relationship with an 8 year-old than it is with an Excel spreadsheet. And I have responsibility that extends beyond an ability to work the photocopier.

There are many more things I miss from home, like my friends and family, and much more that I love about Kaohsiung, but as you all know I’m a little long winded when it comes time to write….so I’ll just end it here. As I’ve said a million times I miss you all a ton and all of the emails and phone calls have been very, very much appreciated. To end off I’ll post a couple pictures of my kids, because they’re too cute not to.
Hway bao-ch lian-shee de! (keep in touch…but who knows, my kids could be playing tricks on me and it could mean something grossly inappropriate)