One Year

Even if it may not seem so, I landed in Taiwan exactly a year ago, in a cloudy and humid April afternoon, after a long trip from Europe; with some vague images about this place in my head, but, in reality, with a whole world to discover. How many changes and how many new things I have experienced in one year; positive, most of them. I have met a large bunch of people; with some I have some kind of friendship, not with all, of course; some have already left the island, while others have just arrived; a very reduced number of people have gotten very close, some one much much more. New roads.

Right now, I am looking ahead to the second year. A lot of work to finish, and more to start. With doubts, certainties, knowing what is coming, gettig ready. Excited and not missing too much the land that I left behind —that does not mean that I do not miss them—, and wondering if I should look even beyond that. Maybe it is too early yet.

A year is made of many scenes, little details, big ideas, sad moments, exciting instants, unforgettable memories. I cannot cover it in a few lines. So, I must keep on walking. To be continued...

Little bottles

This is a very usual image in the streets of Taiwan

two, three, four little plastic bottles filled with water and hanging from the bottom of a more or less large shop awning, trying to keep it in a vertical position. Not all the shops have them in this way — because some have a metallic structure attached to the wall to do just that—, but you can find enough of them to appreciate the popular solutions very quickly. Sometimes, depending on how strong is the wind or on how fast you walk, you'd better pay attention to avoid hitting your head against them.

Relax

I finished the three nights of observations that I had scheduled for this weekend on the early morning today. Luckily, I could finally do more than I imagined in a moment of almost despair during the first night. When I check the data more thoroughly, I will see if there is anything particularly interesting there.

Right now, I must go back to a normal schedule. I only slept a few hours again today, because I wanted to attend a talk at noon. So, I will be sleepy for a little bit longer. In any case, I realized, when I was going back home this morning, that the word of the day is relax, even if I have to do some work, of course.

Why?, well, as I was walking back home this morning, as on Friday morning, it was almost five and the sky was getting light. It was that very quiet moment, in the twilight, just before it is too bright. There were people already exercising around campus. The funniest ones, three old men that were doing something that resembled gymnastics, accompanied by choral music (buddhist?, religious?), very calm, which at that time seemed to engulf everything in it. In fact, it was that way on Friday, because yesterday they were chatting before starting, I guess. Very relaxed already.

No IYA

This year is, as I guess you have seen advertised in many places, the International Year of Astronomy. For that reason, professors and students of Shida held several activities to promote Astronomy in Taichung this weekend: some talks, observations with telescopes, etc. They have been working at it during months and they asked me if I wanted to give a talk to high-school teachers, similar to the one I gave here last year. Yes, of course, I said.

The problem was that, first, my observations were scheduled for this weekend and, later, my talk in Tsing Hua was also delayed to last Friday. Everything at the same time!. At first, recklessly, I thought that I could manage to do it all, provided that I could get some sleep in the buses; but they convinced me not to do it, because I would end up very tired, and the audience was changed to primary school teachers, for whom English can be an additional major problem. In short, I stayed in Taipei, maybe well rested, but I feel bad for them. I hope that they had better weather down there than we had here, because it has been cloudy and/or raining the whole weekend.

Talk at NTHU

Last Friday was a very tiring day. I spent the early morning hours, until five in the morning, doing some remote observations —not the ones that I had planned to do; a little disaster in fact, because I did not check a basic thing, but once the dates were set there was not any other solution—; sleep four hours and get up to take the bus to go to Hsinchu, to Tsing Hua University to give a talk in the afternoon. After that, go back to Taipei, because I had another night of observations. I slept a lot yesterday.

But I am not complaining. The talk was fine, even if I have done better ones. I had a very nice coffe after the talk with some of the people there, the day was beautiful, and I could see a little bit of nature out of the cities. Very impressive, the white flowers in some of the trees of the forests I saw from the bus, which, from the distance, seemed to alternate between dark green and whitish green colors; it looked as if there was snow on the hills. Thanks to that, because the buildings along the way are not really pretty.

The best of all is that I have almost done all the urgent things I had. Now, I will be able to go back to a normal life again.

St Jordi

St Jordi's Day (St George's Day) in the distance always feel very strange. To me, it is one of the more magical days in Catalonia, with roses and books, Spring in full bloom and, usually, accompanied with good weather (or that is how I always remember it). When you are away, you cannot see the flower and book stalls, people on the streets, with roses in their hands, couples meeting, the smell of the air, the particular light of that day, all that. Far away, it is not a special day for people around you, but it is still for you. And I always did something on this day if I could.


Today, after days of rain and clouds, we had a very sunny day, a blue sky with white clouds, and warm, as it should be. Perfect to remind me what day it was, even on the far end of Asia.

And yes, I could find a red rose, small but very pretty, to give to a beautiful girl.

Post-docs

There is a new activity since last week to increase the interaction between post-docs at the ASIAA: postdoc tea every Wednesday. To drink something, eat some cookies and talk about something. I went there last week; not this one, it was raining and I was busy. And, after all, seeing what I have to do there, maybe it is best to save it for another moment.

All this post-doc stuff is very curious. I am not really used to it, because in my stay in the US, I only interacted inside our group, where we ended up being quite a number of people, but it was something different. Here, there are many post-docs in the institute. Most of them are either Taiwanese or Japanese, and then there are some exotic specimens like me: two or three indians, a canadian girl, and that's it.

Understandably, foreigners are prone to do more things together, because it is normal that Taiwanese post-docs have their own life here and/or other personal goals: they are the ones who will stay in the long run. The way in which everybody reacts to other internal or external issues is also different. People come and go, it is difficult to establish deeper friendships, often relationships are very superficial. I do not generally worry too much about it, but sometimes I can feel tired and disappointed: too much effort for apparently so little. That is the way life is, I guess, and it is ok. Besides, I am also used to look outside these circles for other people, something that my Barcelona experience imprinted in me.

Anyway, you can see why I did not go there today.

Desk

I used, for the first time today, the desk that I have been assigned at the IAA to be able to spend some more time here every week.

It was a request/requirement from the director —you should spend at least one day a week here—, and what can you say?. That meeting with the director was a couple of months ago, but due to the dire space problems they have, before they can move to the new building, they did not find a desk for me until last week. My idea is to come here on Tuesdays, which is also the day that we have, usually every other week, the Star Formation group meeting. Today, I also had a meeting with a french visitor about modelling of the chemistry and it was very convenient to have a desk where I could leave my laptop and my bag. That's one advantage.

My desk's office is full of PhD students, but I am next to the window, in direct view to the Taipei 101. It is another step in my process of integration in the institute's affairs. In any case, it remains to be seen if I will come every week or not, because I feel very comfortable in my other office... and one must fight for his independence.

Spring Is Here

Some day in February, and later on, I started seeing this symbol, black over a red background, in many places: on offices' doors, on corridor walls, on some doors on the street, even in taxis.

What is so special about it?. Not much until you realize that it is the same character that means Spring in Chinese (chūn) turned upside-down. I got an explanation the other day —and I really hope I remember it. The inverted character is similar to, or means, dao, which has the same sound as to arrive and, thus, these symbols hanging on the walls mean that Spring is already here. Simple and nice, isn't it?

Back on stage

They could have been there before that —I do not think so—, but it was not until last Monday or Tuesday, when I walked by on my way back home, that I could hear again the strong croaking of frogs around the flower market located near my apartment. Maybe it is because of Spring that they feel like doing it again, but it took them a long time to do it; it had been months since the last time I heard them. One day or two before that, I could also see one of the very small but very noisy frogs that are in campus —they are reckless, because I was this close to stepping on it— but I only began hearing them again these last few days.

Typos

Those who write, be it books, articles, blogs or any other thing that people can read, are used to go over their writings several times, trying to catch any typos that could be in the text, which are always not so good-looking. Yes, there are spellcheckers and all that, but there is always one more to find.

In Taiwan, it is very common to find typos in all kinds of texts written in English, even in more serious documents (and I do not want to talk about my name). On one hand, I guess it is a problem of the alphabet and of using a foreign language. On the other hand, it seems that sometimes they want to go too fast. How to explain then, not going into grammar questions, that the text on this plastic cup creates a new word?

envivonmental?. It is good for a smile, though.

Of course, I am also guilty of that :P.

"Set Them Free"

A Jordi's post in the SeNSe SeNSo blog (warning: in Catalan) today made me embark on a time travel, to a time not so distant —with the IRA and unionists, and the British army, playing their macabre game in Ulster; apartheid in South Africa—, that apparently and for the time being, as things have changed, has been happily left behind, with all the difficulties, wrongs and rights in the world.

And following with music, I could not avoid connecting this song,

Biko (by Peter Gabriel), to this other one,

Silver & Gold (by U2), probably one of the first reasons for the beginning of a great friendship 20 years ago, at least (Ok, Edge... play the blues!!).

As many others, these are songs that still move me (yes, my eyes fill with tears and my nose starts running). I hope it happens for a long time still.

Tremors

In life, you can find yourself in some situations where your legs shake. In others, emotions can be so intense that you might think that the earth is rocking. I experienced one last Friday in which it was really shaking. A few minutes after 8:30pm, suddenly, a couple of strong shakes; another earthquake. It was shorter than others I have felt here, but with apparently more intense oscillations. And, for the first time, with some reaction from the locals. Not that much, mind you. Later I found out that it had been of a 5.5 magnitude. I guess that we can notice it better in our tall and narrow building, but I think it was the first one I registered since last year.

Reading again

I was going over my e-mail last Sunday when, for some reason I cannot remember, I started reading again, for a good while, messages from my family of the weeks before and after coming to Taiwan. It was not planned, I just found myself doing it; but it was interesting. To remember funny or good sentences of one or the other; or when they told me about the latest deed of the little one or how she was beginning to do her own things; insightful exchanges between my brothers; flat-out rants over any subject that inevitably made laugh, etc. I spent a long while laughing and smiling.

I also realized, reading what I had written, how much things change from the beginning and comparing to months later. There is a lot of uncertainty during the first days, everything is new, the personal mood is very variable. Little things sink you, others lift you up. A few months later, all is much more stable and you begin forgetting those feelings, and think that they never happened. The new reading of those messages helps me to see, as if I needed that, how well I feel right now.

I Remember You

When I walk from Shida to the campus of Taida, I must cross Roosevelt Rd, a wide avenue. I usually take one of the two underpasses that are between Keelung Rd and the main gate of Taida. There is also an elevated pass and some pedestrian crossings, but it is not really worth it to wait.

The first underpass is usually deserted —even if there were some girls sitting on the steps today—, barely decorated and recently painted again.

The other one, near the Gongguan night market is different. In fact, it has six exits from three arms that meet in the middle of the street, with fake decorative columns, posters about Taida or some map of the nearby streets. It is usually fairly crowded and with people selling different things: old books, flowers, necklaces or combs, etc. Many times, there is also an old man selling, well, I do not know what he is selling, but he has apparently been there for many years.

This afternoon when I walked down this pass, I heard a familiar music, though. I immediately recognized the accords of the Skid Row song, I Remember You. A young guy with looks half-way of punk and sleaze style and with his arms full of tattoos, was singing it. He had the guitar case open at his feet with some old records and similar things in it. His was, obviously, a personal cover of the song—it is not easy to sing it— but I did not mind. In a day full of nice songs, I walked back to my office humming the tune of that song I had not heard in such a long time, but I had always liked. And it got me thinking...

Aliens

As I think I mentioned before, Taipei is a very international city and it is not so strange to pass in the street some other weird guys like me: westerners. You can see that in the local people, because they do not waste much time in looking at you (very different from what I experienced in China), and even many little kids are so used to it that they do no seem to notice at all. The ones who do are very very funny, though. At the same time, it is not something that happens at every moment, which means that there is enough time lapse to realize it.

That is the most strange thing to me. Races are, basically, something that has to do with the outer looks, but we are so used to recognizing shapes, or colors, or people similar to the ones where we come from, that it is often amazing how easily I can spot, and how fast, a westerner amid the background of people on the streets. And they are typically the nordic/british type.

Then, something very funny happens (or sad, depending on your point of view), because reactions are usually one of these three ways:

• the guy who probably has been for a short time here and as soon as he discovers you, looks as if he was thinking, "one of my own". He cannot control his eyes, and probably smiles too much. Maybe that makes his day. Surprising.
  
  
• at the other end are the ones who see you and look away really fast, sometimes contorting their necks in a weird way. Or maybe they pretend they do not look at you, but you can tell they are watching.
  
  
• and, finally, the ones that look at you, for as long or as short a time as they do with anybody else, and keep on walking.
  

I think I am usually between a little bit in the second type and mostly on the third, all depending on the labels that I have for the people that seem to be of a particular way (there is a kind of tourist/expatriate that I'd rather not have anything to do with), but I do not have any problem returning the smile or nodding to somebody who is in the first type.

It is curious how sometimes I have caught myself thinking, "hey, another one of these people again", coming from the same kind of weird guy. We get used to almost everything.

Dou hua

I talked about dessert yesterday, but I did not go into details. This is what we had for dessert in the Danshui night market last Saturday, dou hua (豆花).

It is the kind of dessert that I discovered shortly after arriving to Taiwan and I certainly like them. This one is made from a specially soft kind of tofu; its texture and looks remind me of fresh cheese, but softer. In Taiwan, they use to serve it with peanuts, or beans, tapioca, etc, all mixed into a syrup of different possible tastes (ginger or almond?). It can be served warm or with ice (lots of ice). It is, obviously, sweet, but not too much for my taste. And it is more filling than it seems.

The ones in the picture were delicious.

Danshui

We had a wonderful Saturday this weekend, like last week. It seemed as if somebody had really worked hard to get us perfect weather. The Sun was burning and it was very warm, when we arrived to Danshui just before 4pm, but it was not too bad because we are still in April.

We then walked along the market that follows the river, in the direction of its mouth. As we expected, it was very crowded. With all the many shops, the things being sold in them, people performing on the street, it was the very definition of the mix of colors, sounds and smells.



With many different things on offer too. From panda bears, which you can find anywhere in Taipei these days,

to imported foreign machinery.


We then walked on until we reached a short pier, where we sat down for a while enjoyng the nice Sun, the sea breeze and the small waves in this mix of river and ocean.


Waiting for the sunset.


Later, excellent dinner, dessert and a walk along the bike path that follows the river bank, as far as the next MRT station. A true pleasure, to walk in the dark, with the smells, sounds and the better feelings of the night around us.

A really wonderful day.

Wow

And that is all I can say right now.

Renewals

A consequence of approaching the first year since I arrived to Taiwan is that I must renew the Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) before the end of this month. Yes, I have been in this island for more than eleven months already.

So, since I got the required documentation to do the paperwork from the front office, I went to the immigration office on Friday morning, early and ready for any queue, but it was almost empty. I think I waited more for the MRT than for my turn at the desk. In 5 or 10 minutes, and after paying NT1000, all was done. Now, I must wait for a week to get the new card. From what I have seen of it, because they had to explain to me that the re-entry permit is now in the card, it is very modern-looking. Another one.