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.

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 to normal

Today was the first Monday after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday week. And you could really tell: all the shops were open; there were many people burning ghost money or making food offerings in front of office buildings or shops at miday; or, more spectacularly, they lighted long firecracker strips just before opening businesses —a way of welcoming the new year and to scare away the evil spirits—; or the traffic was back to the usual levels of craziness.

Campus is still almost completely quiet, though. There are more people around, of course, but classes will begin three weeks from now. Time to enjoy the peace this represents, before all the students invade all the stairs and elevators.

As for me, I took a bus very early in the morning to go to a pub were we knew they were showing the SuperBowl. I watched it in Barcelona two years in a row, waiting until very late at night, but here is the complete opposite. The world turned upside-down. By the way, another very exciting end of the game.

Golden and Red

Next Monday is the Chinese New Year, so tomorrow is New Year's Eve. A big day to welcome the Year of the Ox. Since I arrived to Taiwan two weeks ago, I could see in supermarkets, or in 7-11s, small mountains of things related to the typical food or ornaments of this time of the year. Little by little, I have seen how decorations have been put up everywhere. In shops, in homes, in offices; similar to Christmas in Europe. But here, red and golden colors are overwhelmingly the main colors used. Lucky colors, I think. As an example, some of the things on sale in a shop I visited last Sunday


Moreover, the temples I visited in Changhua, and the one I have seen in Taiwan, were particularly decorated with many lanterns, red naturally; and I could also see some temple doors lined up with LED strings. I was told that there are many celebrations all around the island during these next days and weeks: from lantern festivals, burning of paper ships, fireworks and firecrackers festivals (apparently very dangerous), etc

Talking about pyrotechnics, I have already began hearing some fireworks and firecrackers near my apartment; even if I was told that they were forbidden —maybe only some types—, and it is very different, and quieter, than a few years ago. I will have a chance to see how spectacular it is tomorrow evening. It is out of season for me, but I kind of like hearing the familiar sound of firecrackers blowing up in the night.

Little roofs

This is a country where it can rain a lot, and all of a sudden —as the day before yesterday, when I wondered why I took a shower that morning, because I could have saved it— and where AC units are everywhere, so it is not surprising to see that almost every exterior unit has its own little protection on top of it.


I am not really sure if it is worth it, but it sure creates nice symmetries.

Daylight Savings Time

I think that the time changes across the world are over for now. If it was in Europe two weekends ago, it was in the US and Canada last weekend. There is no time change in Taiwan between winter and summer. That is something for countries located closer to the Poles. Nonetheless, I read somewhere that they tried it for several years long ago, before deciding not to do it again. I do not think they need it at all, assuming there is any use for it even in more northern or southern countries. And I am not against it. In fact, I like it mostly because of aesthetical reasons or because of habit, but it would not be a great loss.

So, right now, we have a 7 hour difference to the Central European Time, 8 hours to the UK, and 13 to the East Coast, but only 11 to Chile, because they changed the time in the opposite direction. These differences can be funny when you want to talk to somebody so far away. I think that it will be more difficult for me now for talking with Skype during the week: the window of opportunity is reduced.

In any case, I have a few applets in my laptop that help me to know what is the time in several parts of the world, because there are times that you'd better know if you don't want to miss a deadline. Chile's case, and also Australia's, is funny. Two weeks ago, Chile had the same time as the US East Coast; they were an hour ahead last week; and they are two ahead from now on. Difficult to remember.

Up

One of the researchers here, from hungarian origins, made me realize a couple of weeks ago. He was talking to some taiwanese about food and said that it was odd, but in Europe, the US, the West, it is not in good manners to hold your plate in your hands and get it close to the mouth. It is the spoon or the fork the one that has to move. It is not so here; it is very common to see people eating with their soup bowl on their hands or, particularly, the rice bowl from which you pick up small lumps of rice to mix them with something else. And I am included in that group.

True, very different ways, but I was not surprised at all.

Masks

They wear them when riding in scooters, which is perfectly understandable with the pollution of the city air and all the smoke from cars and scooters that they might gulp down. They also recommend, or maybe require, to wear them in the MRT if you have the flu —something also very sensible. I have seen people that seemed to be sick wearing them, and also some people seem to wear them all the time. Some are very ugly, others are the same kind you can find at hospitals, others have all kinds of designs, colours and figures.


But I don't know why, I cannot get used to them. Those who wear them all the time, come across as maniacs. And even, if it is a protection measure, specially since the bird flu outbreak, every time I see somebody coughing and wearing those pieces of wooly cloth, I wonder if they are not another source of infection.

Anyway, the weather has not yet been one to get many colds. We still have end of summer temperatures.

Jackets and motorcycles

I saw it just when I started walking around Taipei. If there was a little wind or it was a little bit colder, maybe in the evening, or just because the effects of speed, this is a very common way of wearing a jacket in Taipei when riding a scooter. Backwards!

Men and women wearing jackets, coats, the upper part of tracksuits, even the typical raincoats they use when it rains like that. I read somewhere that the reason is because it has less resistance to air, if you wear them the other way they tend to swell and act like a bag. It is amazing that nobody is selling jackets made this way. Maybe the price difference and the reduced usefulness do not make it attractive enough. Now that temperatures are a tiny little bit lower, I think I am seeing less of them.

I don't know, sometimes I think they do it because it's faster to put on the jacket that way if it's not cold, and do what is really important, run around with the scooters.