1. I am a picky eater, but not hopelessly picky.
First thing's first: I still will not eat zongzi. But my tolerance for gelatinous food has greatly increased in the last month. I have started to really like aiyu, Willy's favorite Taiwanese dessert, which is really just fruit jelly, ice, and syrup. I weaned myself onto it by first eating just the ice and syrup, and now I find it's really not bad, especially in ninety-something-degree heat. And add to the list that I can now drink tea and beer, as well as eat bitter fruits and vegetables and slightly spicy food, which I wouldn't have tolerated back home. Oh, yeah, and the occasional animal product. But that's a different topic.
2. I get carsick easily.
As my mother or brother will tell you, "Duh." But since I learned to drive and moved out of Maine's backwoods, I haven't really felt carsick. When I came to Taiwan, I started feeling a little nauseous almost every day, and I wasn't sure why. Not until my first of many day trips with Willy's dad that I understood just how much traveling at high speeds through mountainous terrain affects my body. Since it was a Saturday, we took the scenic route. This involved driving up and down and around hills and mountains to a town called Fulong. We ate lunch and strolled through the streets, and then, unbenownst to me (I couldn't understand Chinese very well at this point), Willy's dad decided to head for a temple in the mountains somewhere. Along this second drive, we had to stop so I could regain a decent comfort level, but once we got to the temple, I perked up quite a bit. This really is a gorgeous country. As we drove back home at a somewhat slower speed, it occurred to me--Willy's parents live at the top of a mountain. No wonder I felt nauseous whenever we left the house. The heat probably didn't help, either....
View of Fulong from the temple.
3. I am a dog person.Don't get me wrong, I love cats. In fact, I never thought I was more of a dog person or a cat person. But Taipei has so many dogs, and they're so accessible. They run around unchained, cross at crosswalks, and ride on motor scooters with their owners. They're like people who don't wear clothes and don't go shopping, and also they can't talk like people can. Believe me, they're everywhere. On a typical day, I leave the house at 6:45am (grrr...) and head down the hill to the bus stop. First I pass a house with its garage door open a couple feet and two yipping dogs inside. I've never seen them, but as I was walking by one time, a Miniature Schnauzer trotted out and continued on its way. (I'm pretty sure it wasn't a resident.) Then I walk down 121 steps to the bus stop, where there is a cute black dog fenced in up above. A few minutes later, a fluffy off-white dog always appears from down the road. A couple times I've caught the black dog coming downstairs so they can touch noses at the gate. (I used to think the white one was a stray until last week, when it rounded the corner with its entire body shaved except for its head, its tail, and a set of fuzzy slippers.) Then, after I get on the bus, I pass the shack where the black dog gang hangs out at night, and then the driveway where the rest of the dogs sleep--usually three to five in each location. There's also another fluffy off-white dog who likes to sleep directly in the middle of a certain three-way intersection at night. I admire some of the pet dogs I see in the city, but I really look forward to seeing the suburban dogs--they keep me entertained.
4. I also like monkeys.
Not sure how this happened, but I own a lot more monkey-related things than I did when I got to Taiwan. The whole cartoon monkey motif appears to be popular here. And I hear there are wild monkeys living on the mountain where I live. Before I leave here, I intend to see one.
Enjoying the Taipei Zoo, pre-downpour.
5. I am scared of the dentist.This one was a shock. Ever since I started seeing my current dentist in Maine when I was five or six, I've had no problem going to the dentist. I looked forward to getting the toothbrush and the stickers and even the fluoride treatment. Back in the States, Willy told me he'd never been to an American dentist because they were too expensive. In Taiwan, he said, it only cost $20 or $30 without insurance, and you wouldn't even have to make an appointment. So when I chipped a tooth a couple months before my trip, rather than finding a new dentist in New York or calling my Maine dentist on short notice, I decided to get it done here for cheap. Well, as it turns out, Willy and I have different ideas of what dentists do. We went to see his dad's dentist friend, and Willy went first. One cavity. No complaints. But when it was my turn, the dentist said (in broken English and using Willy as an interpreter) my tooth chipped over a filling, so he would drill it out and put in a new one. He looked at us funny when we asked about novocaine, so I figured I'd do like he said and just tell him if it hurt. Yeah, it hurt, a lot. Turns out there was a cavity in there. I was already nervous about having my first filling without novocaine, so I was in that much more of a frenzy when confronted with this horrible sensation in the middle of my head. (In Chinese, this is apparently called a "sour" feeling.) Needless to say, he ended up using the novocaine after all, and I ended up more than a little shaken. So you can imagine my dismay when part of the filling fell out two weeks later. Well, after a couple weeks of apprehensiveness, and the discovery of what I thought might be another cavity, I finally chose a respectable-looking dentist in downtown Taipei and went for it. Lucky for me, he said there was nothing wrong with my teeth, my chipped filling would be okay, and I should floss more. $25 later and I was out the door. But that doesn't mean I'm not scared to go back.
6. I'm allergic to pineapple.
News to me. I never ate much of it until I came here, at which point it fast became my favorite fruit. I guess I overloaded my body or something, because as of now, when I eat more than three chunks of pineapple, my tongue gets scratchy and my throat starts to swell a little. I haven't pushed it further than that. So this is what it's like to have allergies...or is it? Stay tuned for more Tales of Interest!