This Saturday (1/18), Carolyn and I decided to drive our scooter down to another part of Taichung City that is rather far from where we live. I wanted to go there because I have an interview for a part-time English job at a school in the area and because Tunghai University is there which supposedly has a very nice campus. The drive down there was nice, although it takes awhile and I am having second thoughts about doing this commute every day if I get this job. We parked at the university and looked around the campus. The buildings are all very nice and seem to be Japanese inspired. In the middle of the campus is a landmark building in Taichung called Luce Chapel. It's a giant Christian Chapel that was designed to look like an upside down boat.
It's a pretty neat building and I bet it looks cool at night when all the spotlights are on it. It was nice walking around Tunghai because it was a lot quieter than the downtown where we live, and it smelled like grass and trees (a smell I only experience here when I go hiking). The smell where we live is predominantly car exhaust/sewage/stinky tofu. I am afraid of what the pollution here is doing to my lungs.
After walking around Tunghai we drove to a promenade with a bunch of shops nearby. It was here that I found the only Yoshinoya I have seen in Taichung City. If you have read my first post you will see that I ate at Yoshinoya my first full day in Taiwan. Yoshinoya is my favorite fast-food Japanese restaurant. The food is good, quick, fresh tasting, and cheap.
We were both getting pretty tired and it was starting to get dark so we decided to head back to our apartment. Since I drove to the university (with Carolyn sitting in the back), we agreed that Carolyn would drive us home. At this point in the day, around 5:30, the streets were starting to get packed. I realize driving here in Taiwan you have to assume that every motorist will make the least safe maneuver possible in every situation. Halfway home we had a prime example of a scooter driver doing something completely stupid. We were waiting at a stoplight with a pack of scooters and cars and the light changed to green. A guy from the other side on his scooter decides to zip out in front of the traffic and make it across before us scooters pulled into the intersection. Unfortunately we couldn't see him because cars were blocking our view and so all the scooters pulled out. We were in the front of the line along with a guy to our right who was also on a scooter. Well as we started into the middle of the intersection this guy zips across at a very fast speed and just plows into the left side of the guy to our right. Their scooters collided within 1 foot of us and it was scary. The guy zipping across making the stupid maneuver must not have had his helmet on all the way because it popped right off him as soon as he hit the other guy. Their scooters were really banged up but they both seemed alive fortunately. We did not stop to help because we were in the middle of the intersection and the people behind us were not stopping. Accidents must be so commonplace here that people just continue driving around without stopping or trying to make the scene safe.
That was the third accident I have personally seen occur here. The first one I saw was when a car making a left turn in an intersection pulled out in front of a scooter coming the opposite way. The guy on the scooter did a faceplant right into the car door. He had a helmet on so he got up and was blindly stumbling around. Luckily he did not die traveling at that speed, but I'm sure he had a concussion and possibly some broken bones. His scooter was smashed up and the car was also severely dented.
The large amount of accidents here makes me think twice about getting a job that requires me to commute by scooter. I would have to travel around during rush hour on a scooter with thousands of maniacs 4 days a week. I suppose I'd rather be broke and alive than dead with some money.
Today however was brighter. The weather was very nice, maybe 75 degrees and sunny with a cool breeze. We ate lunch at the park and then walked to the art museum. The art museum is nice but the exhibits kind of bored me. They were mostly modern art which I just don't find interesting. Afterwards we walked back to People's Park and looked at all the dogs people brought out to play. Later we went to PJ's Cafe which is a cool little cafe/pub with a very friendly owner named PJ. We had been there once before for Thanksgiving dinner. The food is pretty good and not too expensive. We got burritos and they were delicious.
So I want to tell everybody reading this that I am looking for a full time job back in the U.S. If you or anybody you know knows of such a position please please please e-mail me and let me know. The economy is so bad in Taiwan that people aren't signing up for English classes so I only work 12 hours a week average and Carolyn the same. I'm not rushing back without a job because at least I have an income here, and if things pick up here I will stay here for the full year like I planned. But at this point I'm not going to hold out hope that the economy will improve and more people will want to learn English. Please keep your eyes open and be sure to let me know if you see anything. I really appreciate it!
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