Last night in Hualien

sorry to disgust you, if i did, with my last blog/post thingy.
but nature is nature.

i find myself watching some old michelle pfiffer and al pacino movie... it's the only thing in engrish here, but i did get some spongebob in taiwanese which is funny...

now i'm on the computer, hanging out (and not talking to) a canadian, and somewhat having a conversation in french with a couple dudes from paris (yeah, i speak some french, so all other americans will rise in reputation). oh screw the french. just after that comment, i think i should add that i'm drinking out of the toilet mug i bought from the modern toilet i ate at in taipei.


but the taiwanese people.. i can't get over how completely helpful and kind and patient and honest and sincere they are.
everyone i have met, and i mean everyone, has treated me so kindly, been open.. for example, when i arrived at my hostel here in hualien, i walked over to the information center from the train station. i asked the woman at the desk if she could point me in the direction of the hostel i'm staying (i had the name and phone number written). she immediately called the hostel, said some things in taiwanese and hung up the phone. i thought she was going to draw me a map, but she said, "they will be here shortly". within ten minutes, this 22 yr. old named judy, who works at the hostel, pulls up in a scooter, and i hop on the back. she asks me if it's ok if she stops to get food. she hasn't eaten since lunch and it's 6pm. i say of course we can! i was surprised i was even getting a ride!

so we pull up to this stand and i can smell something so sweet and so familiar. i see a poster with a photo of something that looks like a light brown puffy tub of chewing tabacco. but they are being cooked in something that looks like a muffin tin, out in the open. i finally realize that what i'm smelling is an ice cream cone.

she buys three; one for me and two for her. they can be filled with anything from sweet potatoes to jam to chocolate, and she gets me something that tastes like sweet potatoes. it's warm on the outside and hot on the inside. i don't care for it much, but i take a few bites and tell her it's good because she paid for it and i don't want to offend her. i loathe sweet potatoes by the way.

we scoot "home" and i am so amazed at the hospitality here. i spend the next two days walking around town, shopping, eating goose and noodles and yes, mcdonalds. tonight, the woman who owns and runs the hostel, whom is very young and independent and swift, asks me if i need anything from the store. she is taking a fellow occupant out to see the night market. i am still amazed! no one has ever done that for me, and i have been around the block a few times.

right as she goes out and puts her helmet on, she notices it's raining, asks if she can go later to buy me food or anything. i say no thank you and we have a conversation about how she got to be where she is, and i learn she also has two hostels in taipei. i decide, i'm staying with this woman. so i booked my last night in taipei, where i fly out in about 6 days. i love it here, i love the people, i like how clean it is, i love how no one steals, how people smile, how they are confident on their scooters that take up the sidewalks. i like their tame and somewhat modest demeanor, how the country is, in one section, modern and bustling while just two hours away, there is tranquility, hot springs, giant gorges, mountains....

this will not be the last time i visit taiwan in my lifetime, hopefully.