There's a tropical storm that's just passed through the Philippines south of here and it's brought us a couple of days of heavy wind, gusts of 40-50 mph, and this will likely be followed by a cool day tomorrow. It was cool today and people were wearing jackets and sweaters - temperatures in the low twenties seem frosty here in Taiwan. Extremes of temperature are unexpected. Extremes of everything else seem quite ordinary. Six months of the year spent in the rainy season seems normal. A month or so of typhoons in storm season seems normal. Earthquakes are just things that happen... normal. But temperatures of 22C bring out the autumn clothes.
The wind outside is howling...
I rode into Taichung today or at least to the outskirts where I strolled along "Art Street" as it's called by my friends. Lots of little shops with some very nice stuff. A friend of mine bought a handcrafted cigar box made of nice wood for about $8 (US). Now he's wondering about how he's going to fill it - the likelihood is that he won't. Then we ate in a family-run Vietnamese restaurant that wouldn't win any awards for decor but produced a wonderful meal. And, surprise, there wasn't a single noodle in the bowl!
The ride was a little dicey at times because of the wind. A couple of times I felt myself being pushed sideways by gusts of wind... not a pleasant feeling when one is riding an underpowered motor scooter in the company of what seems like thousands of others who are all jostling for position.
The scooter looks as if it might be one of the best purchases I ever made. School is just too far to walk and public transportation there is non-existent, so I broke my vow to never again have a motor vehicle and purchased an old Yamaha 90cc scooter that must be more than ten years old for about $150 (US). It has run perfectly for more than two months now and shows signs of continuing to do so. I initially didn't much like the look of it and christened it "The Pig" but have in time revisited that and now think of it more as "Miss Piggy". And if it continues to perform as it has I'll try to propose it for the New Year's Honours List and perhaps begin to refer to it as "Dame Piggy". My weekly transportation costs amount to approximately $5 (US) and I can never remember paying that little.
Monday (tomorrow) afternoon, I have my Basic French class and they are scheduled for a test. So, a large part of Saturday was spent on that. These tests will become easier when I have my format more established and I intend to keep repeating questions since the questions mirror the class work. The week went quickly and the weekend even more quickly.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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