Rain, rain, lovely rain

You know you're a Northwest native when a weather forecast of 24*C and rainy all week not only doesn't dampen your spirits, it lifts them--and that even when you have to drive 20-30 minutes to and from school every day.

So this morning, I donned my full-body 7-11 poncho, covered it with my full-head helmet, hopped aboard my scooter and set out for Siaogang with a smile on my face. It was raining, yes, but it was raining like it rains in Seattle: a slow and constant drizzle. When coupled with pretty decent waterproof gear and a temperature of 75*F, it was actually quite pleasant.

The only real problem was, of course, the back-splash effect; imagine what you have happen with your car on the freeway, then imagine that you're on a scooter. Still, not too terrible an outcome.

When I arrived at school, I couldn't help but think of home as I heard the steady, comforting patter of raindrops on the large plastic cover over Qingshan's central courtyard. It wasn't *quite* cold enough, but I still felt like curling up near a fire somewhere with a book and a big cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Yet, for some reason, everyone else here is complaining about the rain. It's been going on for a few days now, yes, but it's just drizzling most of the time! Must be the "all the time" part--the very thing that I'm most used to and which few other parts of the country experience. I got a little worried today in the late afternoon, when a thunder-and-lightning storm started up, together with heavier rain, but both finished up before I had to leave, so no harm, no foul. All in all, it's just been a wonderful little reminder of home.

With that reminder, though, comes the recognition of the other little things that should be accompanying rain in the fall--rotting leaves, for instance. Not particularly pleasant things in themselves, but together with frost-bitten nights that leave ice on car windshields in the morning, the cold bite of air when you first inhale outside in the morning, and the welcome comfort of thick hot soups and steaming beverages, they spell fall--a fall we simply miss out on here.

So far, November is my favorite month in Taiwan: a little cooler, and now this wonderfully light and constant misting. It's still not home, but it's something. So, for now, let it rain!

Climate Change

I haven't dedicated a whole lot of time recently to talking about the climate here (with the notable exception of Kenting). There are several meanings for this. First, it's been pretty uniformly hot and humid. Second, I've more or less acclimated to that.

But now that October's hit, I've noticed some wonderful changes around here that are absolutely worth taking note of.

1.) It gets cooler at night now. This is actually a really, really big deal. When I first got here, it was absolutely bizarre to me that stepping outside at 10pm was no different, temperature-wise, than stepping outside at 1pm. The only thing that that happened at night was that it got dark.

After a while I got used to this, just as I've gotten used to most things here: I just took it as a given that you never ever needed even a sweater, even if you were running out for a late dinner at 9pm. Still, my Northwest-bred self didn't fully like the monotony of perma-heat.

Which is why I got so excited when I realized yesterday that this was no longer the case! Driving back from Chinese class, I realized that the temperature had dropped a good 10 degrees (F) or so. I also remembered that, that morning, I'd felt nice and cool on my drive to school, and connected the dots. Fall is coming at last! Of course, by "Fall" I mean "still feels like a Northwest summer," but anything a little cooler is okay with me. Maybe if we give it a few months I might even need a jacket while scootering--and then my life here will be complete. :)

2.) With the cool has come a new cleanliness in the air. Now I'll be honest, I don't know if that's completely coincidental or if there's a real connection, but in the past few cooler days, the air has been infinitely more clear than it has been up until now. I gauge the air quality on my ride back from my schools by looking at the city skyline--at the 85 Sky Tower, to be more specific. On bad days (of which there have been quite a few in the past month), I can't see higher than about the 12th floor. On most days, I can see to the top, but the top ten or twenty floors are hazy at best.

Here's what it looked like today:

It was so gorgeous I had to pull over and take a picture

And closer up, at a stop light.

If this is a side-effect of the slightly cooler weather, I'm all for it!

So, to sum up: Fall here apparently means Oregon summer temperatures and Seattle February clear skies. And I'm loving it.