This weekend was special for multiple reasons, none of which were lost on us in the busy days that we were faced with. Busy in the "always on" sense but not necessarily always "doing". Makey sensey? Tough to explain the energy that it takes to be the centre of attention due to your language and skin colour (and eye colour, hair colour, height, clothes, arm hair, type of shoes, the fact that you wear a t-shirt when everyone else is wearing down filled jackets...) in certain events. this weekend we traveled to a southern County (Province) of Taiwan with our friend and co-worker and his wife. They were going back to vote in the election (it now being over is probably the most special event of the weekend....no more firecrackers during class, no more loudspeakers, no more traveling karaoke vans with horrid sounds permeating our house, classrooms and minds...noise, everywhere, always. Over!) and asked if we would like to tag along to hang out for the weekend and also to see a new part of Taiwan, meet his family and experience an election from a more personal side. His cousin was running for office and he had to make the 5 hour trip south to vote...had to.
A curious democratic conundrum was faced by us this weekend as a result of this familial connection. Sitting around his house, chatting (in Taiwanese, Chinese, English, Paiwanese - their tribe - and of course there had to be one person who spoke japanese...and, of all things, a guy who could speak spanish!) we started "getting into politics". In time the truth came out that:
"In Taiwan, those with the biggest families get elected"
Now, this is not the case for the entirety of Taiwan, but this was a small community, with few families (many people of few extended families) so if your family numbered more than your competitor, you got elected. No matter your politics. No matter your platform. More cousins, nephews, uncles, grandmothers....cousins wife's mother.....you get elected. So, it perplexes one to consider that you may in fact vote for abhorrent values just because somebody is in your bloodline. In the bigger centres this is not the case as the family structure is different, the populaiton too large and the importance of local politics much more impressed on the social culture. so, this is probably not the norm for Taiwan, but certainly there are places run by bloodline voting. Almost like a race to produce more kids to keep your family in power, perhaps?
Anywho, we had a blast. We met many people, got to speak a whole whack of Chinese and visited as few nifty places.
The trip:
Awsome. There are two main roads in the East of Taiwan. Highway 9 cuts through the rift valley and gives you spectacular mountian views, and Highway 11 that hugs the coast and gives you spectacular oceanic views. We went south along Hwy 11 and returned on Hwy 9...the full circuit. 5 hours direct, but we made it into a 8 hour trip south along the coastal highway (Hwy 11) as there is much to see and do, many pictures to take and, quite honestly, if we had extended it to a 12 hour trip the scenery and beauty would have kept us glued to the coast line and the villages we passed....so, well worth every moment. Fishing villages, mostly, and a few splotches of houses that seem to have no real affiliation to any village or town.
Other than the basic beautiful scenery, we stopped at a cultural centre that promotes both the nature of the East coast but also the cultures and traditions. Very basic, but a ncie stop and some interesting things to see. Most interesting was the wedding pole that we all took a turn on. Long story, but the short version is that during a Noble wedding, the groom would swing the bride to signify their union. Later we stopped at a geologic miracle - water that flows uphill! God wills it to defy gravity, addign further proof of her existence, and takes those bungled molecules up a steep gradient.
Or, as some more skeptical people may presume, it is a very well constructed illusion. Occam....bring your razor here for a minute please.....
Illusion. But an awsome one. It took us a while to actually figure out what was going on, but even still we would look at it and think 'wow, that is really cool!'
Back onthe road. South. Lunch. Back on the road. South.
Cross the mountains from the East to the West (instantly the air quality went from awsome to eww...) and into PingTung County. We were there...almost. This part of Taiwan is the hub of fruit growing, so we saw fields upon fields of bananas, pineapple, watermelons, wax apples, pomelo, papaya, etc. Endless fields of fruit. We live in rice land, this area was fruitland. West, west, west....arrived.
Pictures here.
