Acclimatization

I've been here a month and a half now, and I'm surprised about how many things I've completely gotten used to, things that not too long ago I would have balked at which now seem perfectly normal.

So, here comes another of my lists--things I have changed my entire perspective on since I moved to Taiwan:

1.) Dish washing. There is the obvious aspect of this, of course, in that I have never before lived in a house without a dishwasher. But more than that, my perspective has shifted about what constitutes clean. Having spent a good three or four summer and winter breaks in the service industry, I've been trained that cleaning a dish requires four stages: spray down; wash (in as hot of water as my hands can stand); rinse (ditto to wash, but often hotter than I can stand); chemically sanitize. At home, of course, that last step was skipped, but the necessity of hot water was still upheld.

But here in Kaohsiung, our kitchen sink does not get hot water. At all, so far as we can tell--and it's not just here! Every restaurant we go to, no matter if it's a street cart or a walk-in restaurant, uses hose water in an outdoor sink to wash dishes. At my schools, the kids and teachers wash dishes after lunch--in cold or lukewarm water in outdoor sinks. We use soap, true, but no hot water anywhere. And it makes total sense--who wants to touch hot water in steaming hot weather? So what constitutes a clean dish? Something which as been passed under water, swished around (and scrubbed, if necessary) with soap, and rinsed. And that's it! Nothing could be more natural.

2.) Chopsticks. While we're on the subject of eating utensils, I can't help but remark on this one--every time I sit down to eat, I am amazed at how easily and how fast chopsticks became second nature for me. It was no earlier than June of this year when I was struggling for every bite, and reaching across the table for food at family-style meals in China was torture. My chopsticks would cross, or slip, or just prove generally unmanageable. I wondered how anyone could ever do it on a regular basis.

But now, I often find myself using chopsticks for things most Taiwanese people eat with a spoon, like rice. I mean, why not? Once you get the hang of it, chopsticks are quite easy and convenient. I even find myself now eating like a native, chopsticks in my right hand and spoon in my left, scooping when necessary and eating bites of whatever without a qualm.

3.) Driving. I could (and will, at some point,) devote an entire post sometime to my driving experiences here in Kaohsiung, but for now, allow me just to say that I used to think there were rules to driving. In Eugene and in Seattle, I followed rules like these: stay in your lane; go the right direction on every street; leave a big space between yourself and the next vehicle in any direction; stop for every red (or yellow) light; never drive on the sidewalk; yield the right of way to the other drivers, and especially--and always--to pedestrians.

But here, I've discovered, none of these apply. And, more than that, I've learned to accept this fact and live accordingly! Just to clarify, I still stop for lights, I still don't drive on the sidewalks, and I still go the right direction on the streets. BUT, when in Rome! And I'm not gonna lie--after four years of entitled Seattle pedestrians expecting nothing less but that you miss your light so they can meander through the crosswalk, it's refreshing and wonderful to be able to squeeze past them without a qualm. The only rule of driving here? Don't kill anyone--yourself included. And obviously, those are the only real rules you need!

So that's my list! For now. I seem to be fond of lists these days, though, so look for more as time goes on.

In other news, I started Morning English today at Han-Min, an 8 o'clock half hour 5-class session in which we taught a supermarket conversation. It was fun! Taught apple, banana, orange, kiwis, grapes, mangoes, lime, and yogurt. My character was making fruit salad. :) The kids seemed to enjoy it, especially toward the end, but we'll do more games next time. Beginning of a weekly event!

I started Chinese classes today, at long last! I'm in a beginning/basic (no one's quite sure) class with Andrew, Tiffiany and Analicia--when we started Esther was in our class too, but since she's had a good 2 years of classes, she decided to move up to the intermediate level. Which is good, I guess, since before we basically had 3 distinct skill levels, and Tiffiany is a true beginner.

So yeah, we'll see how that goes--we still have 2 levels jammed together and right now we're quickly reviewing basics like name, age, numbers, family, nationality, time, etc. Learned a lot today! I'm actually just hoping we can keep our review pace for the whole time--I want to learn, and now!

After all, I won't be truly acclimatized until I can speak Chinese.