Alright I feel like a jerk. I haven't updated this in such a long time and it's probably been the most substantial time since I've been here. A lot has happened since the last post....started teaching for one, met some cool people, took a nice little weekend trip to Hsin Chu, have gotten settled into my apartment.....had my A/C break last sunday...got it fixed on Tuesday after two painfully hot days....A lot has been happening I've been sooooo busy preparing lessons and trying to prepare to teach these TOEFL and adults classes...
...oh also I got my ARC !!! or Alien Resident Card (Work Permit) It's good for a year and makes it official that I will be staying here for at least a year (unless I want to break my contract and pay the school 600 US, which being as cheap as I am, probably won't happen....
So there's a lot to write about and my fans have been clamoring for updates. Instead of writing about all that though (I swear more serious updates about each of those soon) I think I'll talk about another little oddity here in Taipei .............THE GARBAGE
So the garbage pick-up here is such an odd thing. When I first got to Taipei I would hear this song all the time Beethoven's "Fur Elise" faintly and all over the place. I mean liek I'd hear it waiting for the train, the bus all the time! Once I was going out to a bar with a friend of mine....I heard while we waited for the elevated MRT, then I swore I heard it when we got off...and IN the bar. I really thought I was losing my mind and that this living in Taipei thing was making me hear things that weren't there. So I was in HsinChu last weekend with some other teachers (more grizzled and experienced than I) when I heard that damn song again...
So I asked them what it was. They said "oh the garbage truck song? Yea that's the song the garbage truck plays when it's driving around. You'll definitely never think of that song the same way again after Taiwan."
Apparently here the garbage truck, just like Mr. Softee plays the song as it drives around picking up trash...the reason they play the song is to let people know they are coming because in Taipei you don't just put your trash on the sidewalk and then they pick it up....instead the truck will park in one area and you have to bring down the garbage and throw it in the truck yourself. This may seem convenient btu it's kind of frustrating....They pick up the garbage (at least by my apartment anyway) around 10 pm. And they only wait for about 10 minutes or so...
There have been many times so far when I've had a particularly stanky garbage I needed to take out...but didn't get home until around ten. I heard the song a few blocks away and had to run all sweaty, with all my teaching books....up to my apartment (4 floors) then grab the garbage and hustle back down to try and catch the trucks before they leave...most of the time I make it...but sometimes I'm left standing in the middle of the street, dripping in sweat, holding a bag of garbage while the truck drives of blasting Beethoven all the way. It is a pathetic sight....standing in the middle of the road holding a bag of garbage.......
What's even more sad is having then to walk back into your apartment carrying said bag of garbage....
It is pretty funny though one day I just was eating at this outdoor restaurant type place on my corner when the truck came....and just saw a panicky mass of Taiwanese people running from their apartments with trash bags........ in flip flops, or their pajamas to catch the truck. It's really funny to watch as long as your not the one in full flight......I recommend youtube searching for Taiwan garbage truck...
Anyway will post more interesting stuff and more about teaching too....now time for some 30 NT breakfast, and 10 NT milk tea to start my day!
Cheers
Brian
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