Empty Streets

Thing 5:
The streets of Kaohsiung are deserted. Truly, truly deserted. As in, I went for a walk at 6pm, and it could have just as easily been 2am--all the shops are closed, the lights are off, and there's next to no one in the streets, either walking or driving.

Let me just put this in perspective: there's no one. On the streets. In downtown Kaohsiung, which, beside being a large city, is one based on a night-market culture. (In a hot climate, it just makes sense.) But all that to say, I've rarely been on the street and seen few people there; I've never been on the street when there was no one there.

Until today. Honestly, the street looked more alive the other day when I got in after midnight; I hadn't realized how much light the various storefronts emitted until tonight, when they were all, unceremoniously, gone.

And why? The answer is simple: 新年快樂! Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, meaning that everyone is home with their families, celebrating. It's odd: it's not a holiday I've ever celebrated before, but it feels much stranger to not be with family today than it did on, say, Thanksgiving. It's amazing what cultural pressure will do.

On the flip side, it's been a pretty nice day for me. Plenty of time to hang out, work on my Fulbright midyear report (ugh), go to the gym, and get ready for my trip to Thailand, which begins in *gasp* a mere two days! So there's that.

But it's odd, looking out at a Kaohsiung in which only the 7-11s of the world are open--a truly deserted place, indeed.