Learn Chinese

You will soon realize that there is something you should really do if you want to have a good time in Taiwan: learn Chinese. I do indeed know a couple of people who have lived in Taiwan for over ten years and who don't speak any Chinese... Do you want my opinion? - This is a stupid attitude. It doesn't make sense. These people can't even order food in a restaurant where they haven't been yet! They can't ask their way if they are lost! They can't take a taxi... And so on!

On the other hand, there is a kind of myth going on... Chinese would be the most difficult language on earth. Well, it is not a myth, I think, it is a fact. Chinese doesn't have an alphabet like all the other languages do. That means that Chinese doesn't write down the sounds of what we say, it pictures the objects, the people, the emotions, etc., of what we are talking about. Writing Chinese is not really like writing, it's more like drawing. There are about 80,000 different characters. Even a Chinese or a Taiwanese person doesn't know them all. In other words, writing in Chinese is a nightmare. Bonne merde!

However, speaking Chinese isn't that difficult. It's difficult too because there are five tones, i.e. the same sound can be pronounced in five different ways, but compared to the pictographic writing system, it's a child play. In English, there are 44 different sounds; in Chinese, 35. That means that Chinese is phonologically easier than English. Its grammar is also more simple. You won't need to add an 's' to talk in a sentence like "A girl talkS to a boy," nor an 's' to girl, if you say "Two girlS talk to a boy." You won't have to add -ed or anything else for the past tenses, they aren't any. No plural, no conjugation, etc. The words are all invariable. They never change. Feeling better?

The best places to learn Chinese in Taiwan are probably the universities. They offer intensive Chinese classes at reasonable prices for all levels. The main three are Shida (National Taiwan Normal University), Taita and Chengta. There are also classes at the Chinese Cultural Univerrsity and at different schools like TLI, 'Taipei Language Institute.' It's a good way to meet people and to learn one of the most interesting languages on this planet. You could also learn through a language exchange. They are many Taiwanese people willing to do that with you. The principle is the following: you meet for two hours. During the first hour, you teach English to the person. During the second hour, this person teaches you Mandarin. Unfortunately, that doesn't work well because this person won't be a teacher. She won't have a clue how to teach you, especially if you are a beginner and not too much into languages yourself. If you still want to try, look at "http://www.tealit.com" to find someone. Good luck!

Cycling Around Taiwan Without Going to Kenting?

I have done it once. Do you want my opinion? - You should go to Kenting. That time when I cycled around without going to Kenting, I felt as if I had missed something. Something important!

Kenting is one of the most beautiful places on the island. The sea and the beaches are gorgeous. The food is great too. Especially the street food! There are literally hundreds of great places where to spend the night. You will meet throngs of cyclists. Most of them will be Taiwanese, so probably too reserved to talk to you, but friendly. And last but not least, Kenting is the southernmost town in Taiwan. You can't go anywhere further South. Coming from the northernmost point, Danshui, you should ride all the way to the South. That's my opinion. There are about 456 kilometers (283 miles) between Danshui and Kenting. A good challenge!

What I did last summer (2015) : I left Kaoshing at around 5:00 am, found the road number 17 and followed it until Fangliao, where it ends. In Fangliao the 17 merges with the road number 1. I followed this road until I reached the road number 9. This is the first road that crosses from West to East. It goes all the way to Taitung. I took it. The landscapes are breath-taking... The slopes as well! 

I went to Taitung that way, but I don't advise you to do so. I advise you to take the road 26 instead, which is the continuation of road number 1. This road will bring you all the way to Kenting. After a night of well-deserved rest, carry on eastward on 26, take your time to explore this heavenly piece of the island and then go back on 26. From then on, it will go northward until it reaches the road number 9, the one we have already talked about. That's the best plan.

Is Taiwan a Third-World country? (1)

The answer is simple: No. Taiwan isn't a third-world country. A first-world country is a liberal, developed country, where individuals can vote and have rights, like most European countries and North-American countries, for example. A second-world country is a communist country, where people have rights only as long as they respect the leading political party, like Russia, China and North-Korea. A third-world country is a country which is poor, under-developed, and which doesn't fit it any of the first two categories. Countries in this broad category are all the others, namely most African countries, most South-American countries, most Middle-Eastern countries, India and some other Asian countries.

Taiwan is not communist. Taiwan became so populated when the Chinese people who were not communist decided to leave the mainland. They didn't all go to Taiwan. Thousands of them went to Thailand, to Malaysia, to Indonesia, and to Western countries, such as America and Australia. But those who left went to Taiwan for that particular reason: they were not communist. Therefore, Taiwan can't be placed in the second category. Let us examine the third.

I have been living in Kinshasa, the capital of the Congo, a Central African country, often somewhat poetically called 'the broken heart of Africa,' for a full year. And I plan to stay here for one more year. I teach French and English in a European school. So how is it? This is a third-world country. People who have electricity only have it for about five hours per day. The running water is so polluted that if you swallowed even a little bit you would get sick and if by mistake, while taking a shower, you poured some in your ears, you would get an otitis or some kind of ear infection. You can't walk in the street because dozens of people will ask you money and follow you, sometimes for several miles. If a policeman meets you, he will ask all your papers (up to your birth certificate). Since it's almost impossible that you have all the papers he wants to check, he will ask you for money. If you don't give him, you will be arrested.

Life is as expensive as in London. I pay 1,500 USD per month for a three-room apartment without much view. A night at a decent hotel costs about 120 USD. A meal for two costs at least 70 USD. The minimum rate of a taxi is 5 USD. And you can't go anywhere without a taxi because you can't walk, for aforementioned reasons, you can't ride a bicycle because car drivers don't pay attention to cyclists, you can't take the bus because there are very, very few, and because they wouldn't stop for a white person, and you can't take the train because there is only one per week and it only works on weekends. Supermarkets are very expensive. Most items cost twice more than in Europe. More than 50% of the people who could work are unemployed, but those who work rarely earn more 100 USD per month. Did you get that? This is a third-world country.

Is Taiwan a Third-World Country? (2)

People don't earn much in Taiwan, but nobody earns 100 USD per month. And life is not that expensive! Everything is about twice cheaper than in Europe, not twice more! In Kinshasa, there aren't any cinemas. In Taipei, there are over thirty! In Kinshasa, the libraries count only a few books and they can be counted on a single hand. In Taipei, they are hundreds of libraries and each of them has several thousand books. There aren't any roads outside Kinshasa, so to say, apart from the one that leads to the harbour. The capital and the second main city, Lubumbashi, are not connected. The only way to go from one to the other is to fly. In Taiwan, it isn't like that. Every city, town or even hamlet, however small, is well connected to the rest of the country. There are roads, buses, trains, taxis, and everything else you can imagine. The metro (MRT) of Taipei is one of the best of the world. It is fast, convenient, beautiful and clean. It is not far from going everywhere in the city.

In Kinshasa, a judge, a general or a politician can built his house on your own land. There will be no consequences for him. If you complain, you will be send to jail, where you will probably die after a few days. If the city wants to make an official building where your house stands, they will dislodge you, destroy the house and build what they wanted to build. If you complain or ask for compensation, they will send you to jail, where you will probably die after a few days. In Taiwan, it is not like that. If someone wrongs you, you can sue him, even if he is the president! And if the city wanted to make a road or an official building, they would ask you if you could relocate. If you disagreed, they would let you live in your house. They wouldn't send you to jail. That's a reason why they are so many old buildings in Taipei! The city doesn't decide when to destroy them. They let the people choose for themselves.

On the other hand, a country like the Congo has only a handful of factories, Taiwan has thousands and thousands. Taiwan has several skyscrapers, there isn't any in Kinshasa. Taiwan has probably the fastest or second fastest Internet connection in the world. In Kinshasa, it is almost impossible to upload a single photo on your Facebook wall because the connection is too slow. In Taiwan, children go to school until four o'clock and then most of them attend a 'buxiban' or cram school, to learn more. In the Congo, school is not compulsory. It costs 200 USD per year and per child. Many parents can't afford that... This is a third-world country. Taiwan is at the other end of the spectrum. Taiwan is definitely not a third-world country.

Practice Yoga

The first time I came to Taiwan, in March 2009, it was to meet a yoga teacher I had met in London a couple of months before. I practiced yoga by then. I was pretty good at bending my body in all kinds of weird postures called 'asanas.' I was actually so good that I had become a yoga model for several magazines, posters and even a book. The book was called 'Yoga, Your Home Practice Companion.' I met the female model there. It was the second time we met. The first time had been a year before, at another photo-shoot, in Austria. She told me that she worked in Taiwan as a yoga teacher - a full-time yoga teacher. I didn't even know that that job existed 'full-time'. She invited me to spend a week in Taiwan and to see the yoga phenomenon with my own eyes. And I went! It was indeed amazing.

I had never seen yoga studios like those before. Rooms packed with 50 or even 60 sweating females bending their slim and half-naked bodies again and again, smiling at me as if I had been Leonardo Dicaprio or Johnny Depp. I must say that I didn't like Taipei at first. I didn't like it because I didn't know anything. I didn't know where to buy Western or Indian food. I didn't know where to find a decent swimming-pool or ice-skating ring. I didn't know that Taiwan was one of the best places in the world to hike and to drink tea. I didn't know there were hundreds of fun things to do.  

Well, after a few months in Europe, this friend told me that I could find a job as a yoga teacher: "Foreigners are overly popular here. Taiwanese love foreigners." That decided me. I packed. My first few months were difficult. I don't want to talk about that now, but soon enough I got a job at the studio where she taught, Pure Yoga, one of the biggest yoga studios on the island. The others are True Yoga (hiring only Indian and local Taiwanese teachers), Space Yoga, Royal Yoga and Yoga Journey. I worked two years at Pure Yoga before I got into trouble with that friend in question. I left Pure, as soon as I could, and joined Space, a few hundred meters away. Yoga is definitely one of the most popular 'sports' in Taiwan, if not the most popular. I met thousands - I am not exaggerating - thousands and thousands of Taiwanese people in that way. So I can hear your question from here: Shall I practice yoga in Taipei?

- Yes, you can... But you need to be careful. After three years of teaching yoga in Taipei, I badly injured my neck and I had to stop yoga. I got a cervical disc herniation. I went back to Europe and I got operated for that. It was a very serious operation. Yoga is actually much more dangerous than what we usually think. It's dangerous in the long run, like smoking cigarettes. If you smoke a couple of cigarettes, nothing will happen to you. Even if you smoke cigarettes for a full year, every single day, nothing will happen. But do that for ten or twenty years and you will know exactly what what I mean. Practicing yoga, in the long run, is exactly like smoking cigarettes. It won't destroy you lungs though. Yoga will destroy your joints - mainly vertebral joints and knee joints.

However, for the purpose of meeting Taiwanese people, since it's a popular activity for them, you may join a few yoga classes. If you do so, let me tell you a few more things. Space Yoga is the nicest yoga studio you'll find. It's also the most expensive. There are two branches, one downtown, near Zhongxiao-Dunhua MRT station, and one in Tienmu. The owner is American. He is one of the nicest men I have ever met, and please know that I have met the Dalai Lama, Matthieu Ricard and Khempo Tsultrim Gyatso (an enlightened Tibetan lama). And there is more: physical yoga is dangerous, but it's a gate to a higher type of yoga: meditation. Through yoga, I have found the great haven of meditation. Meditation can really change a person, and it won't destroy your joints, unless you stubbornly sit only in lotus, day after day, ignoring your body's calls. 

About Taiwanese People

Shall I try to give 10 chararacteristics of Taiwanese people? In that way, you won't be too surprised when dealing with them... For example when trying out my 100 things to do in Taiwan!

1. Taiwanese people are kind-hearted people. Of course like everywhere else you might bump into bad people, but in the Bubble Tea Land your chances are pretty thin. 

2. Taiwanese people are extremely shy. They might actually be the shiest people on earth. Most Taiwanese people can actually speak some English, but 99% of them won't dare to talk to you. And if you talk to them in Chinese, they will probably shy away from you and tell you in broken English that they don't speak English. You might think "What the f***!" Just take it easy. They are shy. Give them time to know you. 

3. Taiwanese people are urban. They like cities. If you explain your Taiwanese girlfriend you would like to live in front of the sea in Danshui (50 minutes away from the city center) or that you would like to spend your next vacation in a campsite, like for example in the gorgeous Hualien or Taitung county, get ready for a big fight or even to break up. Everybody wants to live in the city center, that's why the price of houses and apartments there is insane and that's why houses or flats in nearby villages are dirt cheap.

4. Taiwanese people have bad eyesight. More than 99% of them wear glasses or lenses before the age of twenty. In my opinion, it is caused by their writing system, which is the most complicated in the world, with over 10,000 ideograms in use, and with their visual habits: Just walk in a train (the so-called MRT) and you will realize what I am talking about: most people are on their cell phones or tablets, either writing, reading or playing video games. They never let their eyes rest!

5. Taiwanese people are hard-working. If you tell them that you work 8 hours per day, they might think you work part-time. They might assume you are looking for more hours. The word 'retirement' is also an unknown word. If at night you bump into people older than your grand-parents in the street, don't think they are on their way to some kind of nocturnal hot-spring delights... They are on their way to work!

6. Taiwanese people like to gossip. I won't say much about this. Just be careful!

7. Taiwanese people are terrible at spelling Chinese words in Roman letters. That's the reason why it is more difficult to learn Chinese in Taiwan than in mainland China. In China, everyone can read and write pinyin (which is the romanization of their language), but unfortunately the Taiwanese people don't learn pinyin at school. They learn 'bopomofo', which is an alphabet pretty similar to the Japanese one (hiragana and katakana). So if you ask them to write a word in Roman letters (called pinyin in China), they won't be able to do it, unless they are Mandarin teachers. 

8. Taiwanese people think the bigger their vehicle are, the more rights they have on the road. That's why riding and driving in Taiwan might turn into a pretty gruesome experience if you are on a bicycle or on a motorbike. Car and bus drivers just think they have more rights than you just because they drive bigger vehicles. There are several nasty accidents every single day, just because of that! Be careful!

9. Taiwanese people respect their elders. It is really beautiful to see. In a train or on a bus, they will get up to let an older person sit. At Chinese New Year, children and grand-children who already work bring money to their parents and grand-parents in red envelopes. Others buy them apartments and houses! It is really something we should imitate in the West.

10. Taiwanese people are Chinese and not Chinese at the same time. If you consider that they are 'only' Chinese, you will hurt them and possibly run into trouble. If on the other hand, you come to the understanding that they aren't Chinese and let them know, you will hurt them and once again run into trouble. This is a very tricky topic. Don't think or talk too much about that!

Top 10 Things to Do in Taiwan

Only 10... That's a hard thing to decide! That's why I called my blog "100 Things to Do in Taiwan". Actually, I couldn't decide which 10 I could choose. That's why my plan is to talk about 100 things in this blog. For today's article though, I will make an effort to enlighten you a little about Taiwan.
So here you are:
1. Cycle around the island. It is a fabulous experience you will never forget.
2. Cycle on the bikeway along the Danshui River, to Bali and to the Fisherman's Wharf. If you aren't in for a long ride, this is a short version of the first one. You can rent a bicycle in Danshui, near the MRT station or in Bali (on the other side of the river). If you don't like crowds, avoid weekends.
3. Swim across the Sun Moon Lake. This is probably the most beautiful lake in Taiwan and this swim is among the most popular on earth. Unfortunately, it happens only once a year, late August or at the beginning of the following month.
4. Swim in Houlai. If you aren't in Taiwan for the Sun Moon Lake crossing day or if you are not that into swimming, I heartily advise you to spend a day in Houlai. On a hot summer day, Houlai would probably be the best option.

5. Walk along the Caoling trail. If you are in the mood for a good walk, take the train to Fulong and follow the signs for the Caoling trail. You will be bewildered by the beauty of nature. It is a 15-kilometer walk, so take your time and enjoy the landscape. 

6. Hike in Yangming Shan, to Mount Qixing. Even closer to Taipei is Yangming Shan. It is the mountain that you can see in the North of the capital. This is a great hike and on the breezy top, on a summer day, it feels a little bit like heaven.

7. Visit the 101. It is a pretty building and, you won't disagree with me once you are at its foot, a breath-taking one. Take your time to visit it, go to the top, buy whatever you want - there are hundreds of shops -, eat in one of its numerous restaurants and, if you are into dancing, or looking for someone, spend some time in its night-club.

8. Enjoy a mesmerizing sunset from the Fisherman Wharf, Danshui, with someone you love. If the sky is clear, head for Danshui with your beloved and enjoy the sunset, a few meters from the Lovers' Tower, where Taiwan ends.

9. If you are in Taiwan with your children, go to Ice Land, the iceskating ring, downtown. It is particularly cool in summer, when everyone wears shorts and T-shirts. It's so refreshing!

10. And what if you come in winter? There are gorgeous hot-springs in Beitou. That's where you should go! Take the MRT to Xin-Beitou, have a look at the delightful, eco-friendly Beitou library, and pick a hot spring resort that you like: there are dozens nearby.

And a last thing: I placed the items in a random order. It's already so difficult to choose only ten, what did you expect? That I would tell you the best of the best? I couldn't. I already have to apologize to the food lovers (I promise I will soon write an article about Taiwanese food), to the beach boys and beach girls (you must certainly think I have never been to Kenting, to Baishawan or to Wai'ao?) and to a dozen of other groups! I do apologize. Anyway, that's it for now. Stop reading and go out there, try it for yourself! Have fun!