The New North

We just survived elections for each district's politicians as well as the mayor of Taipei County's areas surrounding Taipei that have been organized into Xinbei City (New North City). I say survived because there's been some stiff competition for each spot, resulting in endless campaigning. In Taiwan, this amounts to (extra) trucks driving around with loudspeakers waking you up in the morning soliciting (citizens') votes and just before election day, more and more parade-type processions of the candidate with retinue, snare drums, fireworks, ... even a car done up like a tank driving around campaigning for someone. I do hope it wasn't a real one.

What's more, the city and county was literally plastered with flags and posters. Here is an example:

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My friend's colleague, having freshly arrived from UK for business, apparently nearly got into an accident crossing the road because in his own words: "I couldn't see anything because of all the flags!"

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Finally, there really was a bit of an unexpected incident when the night before the elections someone shot at a politician and killed a bystander. Given that it was the son of a former vice-president who apparently faked his own death in a previous publicity stunt, I'm not sure what to think...

Anyway, it's all behind us now. The flags are gone. There are still cheerful photos -- of candidates -- gracing buses, but the loudspeaker trucks are back down in frequency to the couple of self-enterprising repairmen and possibly a collection scheme for paper. Anyway, I've gotten used to the one truck's nice little jingle and the other one's fairly-annoyed-sounding recording soliciting for ... whatever it is he's soliciting for. I still haven't deciphered much of it besides: "Do you or do you not have/need...?"

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Taiwan - first impressions

My general feeling is that we've happily stumbled on a wee gem of a country that's taking us under its wing. People are lovely, you can get by with mere English and having a friend here from Toronto has been an immense help dialing into the action and getting various tips for orienting ourselves. Under Bob's kind watch we've joined a tai chi school under a bonafide master, met all kinds of good people and have been to several parties and an outdoor camping music festival!

In our first week here I was able to craft a dictionary definition through first-hand experience:
typhoon [tai - ' fün]: Asian weather phenomenon characterized by
horizontally-travelling rain alternating with sweeping sheets of water,
wind gusts destroying umbrellas and knocking down their owners,
businesses and schools closed.

It was more fun for us than anything, but that's because we are protected by the big city and are well away from the coast. On a later visit to a beach in Macau, we saw the stone boardwalk demolished by previous lashing winds and waves. Very humbling, Mother Nature! It's now early November and I think the winter rains have arrived. Honestly, it's a bit of a welcome change from absurdly humid heat that means I'm sweating buckets going about my day.

The friendliness factor here is set on high. We've been stopped by people eager to practise their English conversation, people offering us directions when we're simply studying a map, and it's common for someone to go out of their way simply to offer a hand. This friendliness lulled us into getting "kidnapped" by an unmarked-cab-driving big-grin-sporting enthusiastically-gesturing lady with zero English skills who we mistook for a driver a school sent for us and soon enough found ourselves at the top of a mountain at a huge temple complex with an unsolicited cab fare and some tricky explaining for why were late for the interview.

Speaking of interviews, I went through four teaching demos at various schools before being offered a job at my favourite of the bunch. I am now a proud employee of Eagle American School with great hours (2-7pm Monday-Friday), good pay and three rowdy classes of 7 to 13 years-old Taiwanese kids who aren't entirely convinced they want to learn English but it's still my job to keep them on track. Here is a picture of us on Halloween. My costume earned me the name of "Teacher Grape" for the entire day, even from kids I haven't met. : )

Teaching English means loads of preparation time to keep the kids occupied with activites that make the curriculum fun. I'm also brushing up on my Grammar for the higher level and generally feeling a bit like I'm on stage. Four weeks in, I'm mostly enjoying it! ; )

We've settled in Taiwan's busy modern capital city, Taipei. There is a wide system of public transport consisting of buses and the MRT - Mass Rapid Transit, whose trains run both above and underground and it's been voted the most reliable metro system for four years running. Street traffic is also heavy with cars and an outrageous amount of scooters. All of this leads to considerable pollution and many people wear a doctor-like mask over their mouth and nose when travelling through the city, to filter the air. Our cozy apartment is above a busy thoroughfare and we notice grime settling on the windowsills... Good thing we are keeping healthy by cultivating our chi, hiking in mountains and soaking in hot springs!

It took a bit of research and learning a few Chinese phrases, and I can now reliably find good vegetarian food. Besides restaurants and cafés, there are countless food stalls as well as infamous night markets which are places to eat, shop and see and be seen. Also on nearly every corner are bakeries, and one of the convenience store chains: 7-11, OK Mart, Hi-Life and Family Mart. 7-11 is the one-stop-shop king and not only sells drinks, snacks, beer, newspapers and phone cards, but there you can also pay your bills, fax documents and probably get a diversified mutual funds investment portfolio...

So we are happily settling into our Taiwanese life and wishing a more peaceful resolution to the current China-Taiwan trading negotiations which have sparked flurries of rioting.

PS. Hurray Obama and Canadian Opposition Leaders!!!

Hey! Canadians! Vote: for our Air, Water, Earth, Wildlife

Overshadowed by the upcoming US Presidential elections scheduled for November, no less importantly (in my opinion?) the Canadian Federal Elections are taking place October 14th, 2008.

There are so many issues when choosing a candidate, all the while knowing the platform is a malleable projection of what the voted-in representative may or may not adhere to, once gaining support. What's the point? At least this is the tactic many voters use to avoid participating in the election.

Certainly we humans (some argue politicians especially) are flawed creatures: emotional, attached to personal promotion, swayed by all manner of opinions and strong wills. Yet there is so much we all commonly share, shape and steward, wittingly or unwittingly, consciously or when giving away our power.

Of the myriad issues enfolded into the political platforms, I happen to really care about the environment. One needn't be the most news-savvy individual to know our entire planet is facing a crisis of over-population, over-pollution, over-use of resources, over-looking our responsibility to the natural balance of Earthly inhabitants. With just one week before Canadian Elections, our current PM's Stephen Harper's reputation as the country's sole leader with an irresponsible and disinterested stand on environment issues is just one reason to keep the Conservatives out of the ruling seats.

But how to do that with a crowded and divided political left? Enter Vote For the Environment, a site with "up-to-date riding by riding information on how to defeat Harper and his anti-environment policies." Thank you! To me this is rising above pettiness of control and power and humanity's history of divisive factions, and making a better choice for not only all of Canada, but the entire world.

So please! If you care - and I hope you do, enough to get out to a polling station next Tuesday... Vote for a cleaner future of fresh air, huge stands of forests, biodiversity, renewable energy, water we can drink and swim in, and more worthwhile jobs to be proud of in all these sectors.

My two cents...

A word about Politics...

It seems our visit to Thailand has coincided with a flurry of political unrest and restructuring of government.

On our first evening here, I read an email from my Dad who checked into advisories for travelling Canadians and found out there had been demonstrations and several airports closed by protesters entirely unhappy with their Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Amazingly, we had seen a complete lack of any out-of-the-norm events or behaviour while extensively touring Bangkok that day. That same week, a state of emergency was declared in the capital after one man was killed in clashes between pro- and anti-Government protesters. Also members of the latter group had barricaded themselves inside Government House. At this point we had already travelled north, but I think it would've hardly mattered - except for newscasts and parental warnings, everywhere we went it was business as usual.

Making a point of following the events, we found out that General Anupong Paojinda appointed by the PM to oversee the country during the state of emergency politely refused to follow his orders as he was certain that the army's involvement would only escalate the situation. Newspapers hinted that the General also sided with the anti-government group's (People's Alliance for Democracy) position that the Prime Minister "bought his election by duping poor, ill-educated, often rural voters and that he should therefore resign." Mr. Samak continued to experience high government officials refusing to follow his instructions, although a few promised to support him unfalteringly.

Last week his downfall climaxed when Mr. Samak hosted a cooking show, which was reason enough for the constitutional court to force his resignation, as it is forbidden for a Thai PM to be involved in business. Mr. Samak was re-nominated for the position, but three days later even his party withdrew its support. His newly voted-in successor Somchai Wongsawat is from the same (People's Power) political party and is a 61-year-old judge who is considered to be a conciliator by some. However, protesters continue to express their disapproval as Mr. Somchai is married to the sister of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a 2006 coup amid corruption allegations and is believed to have a puppet-master influence over his followers.

Whew... enough excitement on that scene... Our recent stay near villages in Northern Thailand also turned up some pretty disturbing bits of history. There are dozens of hilltribes in Thailand, Laos, Burma and Vietnam and to the unassuming traveller they seem like peoples who have maintained their traditional ways, sell wonderful handicrafts and are sometimes used as a tourist gimmick. But shady details float up about refugee camps whose inhabitants cannot leave, tribes without land ownership or other rights, suppression of indigenous culture with tactics ranging from intimidation to outright genocide and Christian missionaries who inundate the young with their dogma and agenda, stripping local customs, language and healing practices for all the usual excuses of it equating to devil-worship while they bring higher learning. That certainly made me think twice about ever donating to World Vision Youth. I won't even go into the opium and heroin trade history fueled by aggressive power struggles of Shan and KMT army factions, as frankly I don't know enough about it.

The world seems such a troubled place and even in this wonderful country underneath the surface not all is calm and well.

On a lighter note, the Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej is currently the world's longest-reigning head-of-state and a highly revered figure to the Thai people. Some interesting Wikipedia facts about the Thai king: he is one of the richest men today, has funded over 3,000 development projects, born in US and mainly educated in Switzerland, he is an accomplished musician, artist, and sailor and I've been told up to 20% of the country's population wear yellow on Mondays symbolizing their devotion and this figure quadruples during his birthday celebrations. Although he is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role, he is "regarded as a key to Thailand's stability and in his six decades on the throne has stilled bloody uprisings, weathered military coups and has reigned through scores of governments, democratic and dictatorial." Long live the wise king and may his people prosper!

My Native Land, Belarus

Since we left Turkish borders, it’s been a slow steady journey into the heart of the former Communist block, where Russia’s bear grip has loosened but is not yet forgotten. For example, asking Romanians if they spoke Russian as our respective Romanian and English were severely lacking, only elicited indignant anger in a land where customer service already ranges from non-existent to insulting.

Much of this Soviet fallout is also lodged deeply in the fabric of Belarusian day-to-day proceedings. Russian language made such a stronghold here that in the first twelve years of my life spent in the capital Minsk I knew and heard Russian almost exclusively. The school curriculum included Belarusian language and that granted me a vague understanding of its relation to the dominant “russki”— which is still the vast majority of spoken and written words. A notable exception is state-issued communication such as street signs and city transit info, now using the official Belarusian tongue.

Other holdovers from Soviet times abound. There is the afore-mentioned customer “service” from grocery store cashiers, bank tellers and post office clerks who are absurdly rude, acting as if you are the one committing a terrible social faux pas by asking them for assistance purely as outlined in their job description. There is the outrageously thriving bureaucracy through which my sister and I lost 3 hours going through the motions of registering our brief stay with the local militia, paying several charges and filling out various forms which endeavour to track every single move a foreigner makes within the country’s borders. The government still reserves the right to assign a university or college graduate to their new post anywhere they will best serve the nation (spousal ties seem to be the only protection from this fate) and young men are required to serve in the army, though I’ve heard tales of some evading the system by moving frequently, with a flurry of conscription mailings pursuing them at their fugitive addresses. Even commonplace grocery items are diligently monitored and sport a pretty hologram sticker, which certifies them approved for sale in the Republic.

This cozy involvement of the state in its people’s lives has a definite echo of a middling parent, if not quite to the height of Orwell’s “Big Brother”. Although it’s a democracy in name only, that can be said of nearly every country claiming that political structure today, and there is a certain freedom of speech and press that allows criticisms where people see them. I enjoyed an actor in a TV newscast relate the following joke: “The president answers the telephone, listens for a moment and replies: ‘That’s a good one… good… I said good… that one’s bad… okay, good… bad… Okay.’ He hangs up and sighs: ‘They can’t even sort potatoes without me.’”

In the seven years since I last saw Belarus, it has taken a decided step towards the bright future of modernity. The government has adopted initiatives in building restoration, squeaky-clean streets and public spaces, and a burly determination to be seen as a force to be reckoned with on the European and world stages of politics. For the common folk the evolution means more access to fashion, cyber technology, foreign holidays and consumer goods, not least of which are edibles: food stores are now plentiful and filled aplenty and besides McDonald’s the average Minsk dweller can also find a restaurant for Chinese fare or pretty plates of sushi.

Of course, my main reason for visiting is always to see my relatives, who let me glimpse the strong thoughtful character of Belarusian people. Two traits that always stay with me are their ready, honest humour and their amazing array of practical skills, developed in answer to lives of uncertain providence and slim budgets. Besides full-time work and raising children they all found time to sew clothes and blankets, grow vegetables and make preserves, build summer homes (with fabulous wooden steam rooms) and engage in a few creative pursuits besides. Our visits are punctuated with gatherings, feasting, gifts and most valuably their readiness to show us their lives, their traditions and their country.

Belarus is a land of serene beauty, despite its grim history of battles, occupation, oppression, war crimes and screaming bomb raids. Amazingly, both the terrain and its inhabitants have carried on living and breathing. Polesyje is a swampy area in the south of the country that recycles so much air it is known as “the lungs of Europe”. Belavezhskaya Puscha on the western border shared with Poland is Europe’s largest surviving primeval mixed forest. This small country boasts 20,000 streams and 10,000 lakes and the river Pripet is Europe’s largest migratory circuit of waterfowl.

Perhaps my favourite notable about Belarus is that the brilliantly original painter Marc Chagall was born in its northern town of Vitebsk. Like me, Chagall moved abroad, but I wonder if I might share his whimsical imagination as an inheritance from the land where we first glimpsed this world.