Shilin Night Market

On Sunday night, I went to my first night market!  My school director FuHo, along with her husband Victor, and three children, Jessica, Love, and Casper, piled into the car with me, my roommate Abigail, and friend Alice.  I guess they’d read my previous blogs because they commented on how they were trying to obey the seatbelt laws now.  Ha!  Just call me Safety-Patrol Sam.

It was about 8pm when we arrived at the Shilin Night Market.  For me, a Sunday night at 8pm usually means pajamas and movie.  But here in Taipei, the night market is just gearing up.  In fact, Alice told me that it doesn’t get busy until about 11pm.  Uhhhh, that’s past my bedtime.

The aisles/allies of the market are narrow already, but add shops, food carts, tables stacked with cheap clothes, hawkers, and of course crowds of shoppers, and you’ve got a personal-space junky’s worst nightmare.  I’ve gotten better about allowing people into my bubble, but I’m glad we were there during the “off” hours. 

Shilin Night Market

Meandering past the shops and stands, my companions had tons of suggestions for what I should try.  The first delicious item was fried squid.  I didn’t want to mention that I’d had calamari many many times before.... the breading and spices were perfect, so I kept my past eating experiences to myself and kept ‘sampling’ the dish.  Next, we headed over the to tea stand.  Alice and I had talked before about bubble tea.  I guess bubble tea has a couple of code names.  It’s also called BoBa tea, and Alice refers to it as pearl milk tea.  Anyways, I discovered that it’s all the same, and it’s all delish!  Abi and Alice suggested I ask for half sugar, which, for future reference, is definitely the way to go.  Also, I had no idea what the “pearls” were made of.  It’s tapioca!  Barf!  The thought of tapioca pudding makes me want to vomit, but these chewy little gems are mouthwatering.  I’m officially addicted to BoBa now; I think I’ll have one every day. 

New Addiction

I was in 7th heaven over my tea, so I didn’t even freak out when Alice warned me to watch out for pickpockets trying to steal stuff out of my purse.  Well, if you want to steal from me, have fun with my 5-year-old camera and 500NT.  I’m a teacher, for pete’s sake.  

More street food!  FuHo recommended the Taiwan baked potato.  I’m not sure if it is officially the “Taiwan Baked Potato” but I guess it’s a favorite of many night market patrons.  I waited in a long line at the stand, which I took as a good sign, since the stand directly next to us was selling the same thing and had NO customers. 

Waiting / Towering

The man who made my potato was pretty stoked to practice his English with me, or maybe just to show off his mad skills.  So, instead of simply filling my order (a “chicken club” potato), he proceeded to name and add EVERY topping to my potato.  Check this thing out -- a potato topped with pineapple, corn, hard-boiled eggs, tuna salad, ham, smoked chicken, bacon, broccoli, cheese, and spices.  Holy cannoli.  Super gross?  Wrong-o, Mary Lou.  This concoction was haochi!!  Oh, and all this for only 60NT ($2 US).  Take that, Wisconsin State Fair potato!

You can't tell, but it's a potato....

Me likey

This Is How We Do It

Last week, I ate ice cream from a squatter, while seated on a toilet.  Meanwhile, my friends drank from urinals.  

You may be thinking, “Samantha, my god!  What backwards land have you run off to?  We warned you about keeping your wild ways in check while on foreign ground.”  But fear not; it’s all in good fun.

After gathering up the cool kids from our training group, we boarded  the MRT and headed to the cool-kids-of-Taipei hangout, Ximen. 

Ximen

The Modern Toilet

Unfortunately, we arrived too late for the full menu at Modern Toilet, but they were still serving ice cream and drinks.  I guess when you’re eating from a crapper, it doesn’t matter if it’s not a well-balanced meal.  We ordered a sundae that was served in a squatter.  I won’t go into my plight over the squatters right now, but let me just say, I have not yet mastered the technique of proper usage.  As the urinals and toilets began to arrive at the table, which was a glass-covered bathtub, you can be sure that the potty humor was rampant. 

Squatter Sundae, with beans.  Ew.

Megan enjoying some refreshing discharge.

Calvin sippin on some sizzurp

I think maybe the best part was that we Westerners were the only ones in the place that seemed to be blown away by the kitsch.  Everyone else was calmly eating from their respective commodes.  Haha, oh yeah, and look at the sundae when we were finished.  Hope someone packed the scrubbing bubbles..... 

Could this be more disgusting?

After consuming food and drink from outhouses, we decided to hit the town and get our party on.  We had been told that foreigners get free beer at one of the bars near our hotel, starting at 10pm.  We arrived at 10:30, only to find out they were “out” of beer.  What?!?  Toto, we’re not in Wisconsin anymore.  

Dejected and looking for a good time to lift our broken spirits, we rounded the corner to the 7/Eleven.  The place was crawling with foreigners, hanging out on the sidewalk, drinking cheap beer.  It took me back to my underage drinking days (sorry, Dad!), like we were at risk for getting busted by the Po-Po at any moment.  I kept waiting for someone to pass me the bottle of Boone’s Farm.  It wasn’t quite as dark and sweaty as a freshman basement kegger, but they did serve 7/Eleven-brand beer, which I guess is the Milwaukee’s Best of Taiwan.  The Beast.  Chusheng.  (Yeah, I looked it up.) 

Miller time in Taipei is at 7:11.  Get it?  I'm so clever.

Taiwan FYI

Here’s some things I’ve learned about Taiwan in the short time I’ve been here:

1. Shower curtains: who needs ‘em?  I have yet to see a bathroom with a shower curtain.  Basically, the entire bathroom is tiled, so when you shower and end up spraying water all over the place, it doesn’t matter.  The water will just run down the drain in the floor.  The first couple times I showered at my hotel, I attempted to angle the shower head in a direction that would create the least splash.  However, since I was far too tall for the bathtub, I had to kind of crouch down and use my yoga poses to get properly rinsed.  All of my efforts to keep the bathroom floor dry were in vain, so I quickly abandoned the mission.  It’s actually quite freeing now, not caring how many puddles I make.  Also, I don’t have to practice contortions to get clean.
2. Give me back that filet-o-fish!  In Taiwan, McDonald’s has a Shrimp Burger.  No joke.  While I think most Americans would be a bit skeptical to eat shrimp from MickyD’s, here in Taiwan, it’s advertised prominently around town.  I’ve talked to a few people who have eaten the Shrimp Burger, and they lived to tell about it.  At some point, I will order the delicacy and report back.  But for now..... I’ll pass.
3. Safety first.  I thought driving through Chicago was scary.  Now, I know what it is to truly fear for my life.  The traffic here in Taipei is amazing to me.  There are lane lines and apparent rules of the road, but they are loosely observed at best.  People merge without blinkers or any notice really, pass on the right shoulder, and turn left from the right lane.  Scooters weave in and out between cars and buses like it’s no big deal.  Children ride in cars with no seat belts or car seats, and on scooters with no helmets.  I’ve even seen several kids riding on the scooter by standing up in front of the driver.  But no one seems to be phased by any of this.  I rarely hear horns honking and haven’t seen anyone getting flipped off.  All of this willy nilly driving is accepted as normal, and people are not upset about getting cut off or pushed nearly into the divider wall of the freeway.  I, however, from the back seat of the car, have to close my eyes and pray.
4. “Samanta.... Que pasa? Why are you so white?”  In Mexico, I was asked more than once what was “wrong” with me because I’m such a pale face.  I even had a Mexican suggest I rub CocaCola on my skin before I lay in the sun to increase the intensity of my tan.  Since I prefer to sit in the shade and regularly reapply my SPF 110, the notion that tan is better than pale has always been sad to me.  Here in Taiwan, I’m among friends.  A lot of people seem to want to avoid sun exposure even more than I do!  Many women walk down the streets with umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun.  In the drug stores, you can buy skin whitening cream, sold right next to the sunscreen.  And at the beach, lots of people swim in their t-shirts to protect themselves from the evil rays of the sun.  Me likey.

Arrival

It was just like the movies.  

I arrived in Taiwan tired, a bit nervous, and probably smelly from 24 hours of travel.  I had of course over-packed, which only added to the comical nature of my struggle to get my bags off the conveyor belt and onto the cart.  After using all my remaining strength to hoist the 150lbs of luggage into a precariously teetering tower of totes, I headed towards the exit of the Taipei airport.  

I was told that the director of my new school would be waiting for me at the airport with a sign with my name on it.  As I rounded the corner past customs, I was bombarded with a group of at least 50 people all holding signs with names on them.  My only hope was that I, as a very pale, 5-foot-11-inch redhead, would stand out from the crowd enough for my director to spot me.  There was no way I was going to find my name in that sea of signage.  

Then I heard it -- the most wonderful sound any foreigner who does not speak or read the language of the country could hear -- people yelling my name!  I scanned the throng of eager friends and family members waiting for their loved ones and landed on a large, poster-sized sign proclaiming, “Welcome Samantha!  Shane English School.”  Gathered around the sign were my school director, her husband, and three girls who also teach at the school.  

Honestly, I teared up a little.  The emotions conjured up by this simple moment I could only compare to the way I felt after finishing my first triathlon.  The successful and highly anticipated end to an intense journey that I had worked so hard to reach.  

Except, this wasn’t the end; it was only the beginning.