Under the Taiwan sky

in two days, i'm going to the south for clear skies and warm weather.

i got lost today in taipei. and beneath the cloudy, rainy wet blanket, i was kind of afraid!
the voices of people were foreign, the sounds of sirens and speakers proclaiming political jargon were foreign, the food i ordered looked like the photo that describes it: faded, bland, average, like every other photo of rice, meat and boiled cabbage.

BUT ...

when i walk into a store and they say "ni hao", i reply with "ni hao", which means hello. i say "yi" meaning one, while pointing to something i want to eat. they ask if i need a bag. i say, "bu" (no). then i say something that sounds like "sheh shay" which means thank you. i have been clinging to these words since i arrived. it makes me more approachable, i think. i also get what i need. but i don't know the words for "i'm lost".

i've never been more estranged from a culture, within a climate of people who reach out to understand me and find out who i am and where i came from. maybe it's the language. the food? the fact that i get stares on the street? i'm a foreigner but every city feels the same, only with different people and laws. even the little guy on the "walk" signal at the stop light is different. he's a little green guy that starts out walking when the light turns green then runs faster the more the seconds count down to cross the street. the scooters and cabs wait for no one. here, you are second to traffic. you are stalked until you order food, but you are appreciated by everyone, almost.

let taiwan be an example of kindness. i could have asked someone for directions, or found a way to do it, not knowing the language. i could have gone into a hotel and asked for a map, like i did when i first got here and was lost, not being able to find the hostel. today was different. i was alone and a bit afraid, but at some point, i have to learn a sense of direction. i saw a 7-11, which means nothing in terms of a landmark, because there is one on every corner. but i saw a school that i recognized and was able to find my way back from there.

going south is an even scarier prospect since even less people speak the language there. maybe i can get lost and be back in time to catch my flight.