Taipei 101

In an attempt to make my life include something other than studying, I have joined National Taiwan University’s Tap Club. Yes.. that’s right, Tap dance. You might ask, “there are tap dancers in Taiwan?” While there may not be many, I can say with certainty that there is one speedy tap instructor with Asian mullet-dreadlocks that proves Taiwanese tap does exist. Believe it or not, he is in the more Afro-American school of tap, instead of my Broadway style training.

Upon my arrival to the club’s call out meeting, I was instantly introduced to about 30 people, one by one. They were thrilled, to say the least, about meeting an American tap dancer with 11 years of experience. These students (sophmore undergrads through grad students) have no more than 2 years of tap experience. What a shame I failed to meet their expectations… boy did they give me a run for my money! I must be really out of practice or something, because they are FAST learners!

The tap instructor doesn’t even use a lot of dance terminology to teach- more of the ‘repeat after me’ approach where he just kind of beat boxes the rhythm instead of reciting the steps. Needless to say, this is not how I learned to dance. Not to mention the issue that there are 30 people in the class all tapping at different times, or that he doesn’t ever explain the order of steps in English, so sometimes I’ll think I’m caught up but when everyone starts dancing, I’m totally off. Not sure how much more memorization my brain can handle in one day.

Here’s the ‘combination’ (more like a whole dance) that we learned last class.. and that most people had down pretty well. In this video Taipei Tap the teacher is dancing nice and slow so we could all record him and use it to practice, but trust me, the full speed version is insane!

While on my way home one day, I decided to take a stroll through a market near my apartment. At first I just browsed the fresh produce, snacks, and housewares.Then I was offered some freshly brewed oolong tea by a vendor. I sat and drank with another customer, bought some tea, and headed home. But before I could get all the way out of the market, my exhaustion got to me.

I finally decided to get a 15 minute $3 massage from a group of masseuses/beauty care people who work in the park when the weather is nice. My masseuse was a pleasant and talkative 50 year-old Buddhist woman who was so busy talking to me that I got 10 free minutes of massage. Unfortunately, she had succeeded in distracting me so much so that I didn’t object to her suggestion of some technique I had not heard of. She began scratching my back with a small tool, and at first it felt pretty good. Not long after, it began to be quite abrasive, and soon, it was outright painful. I looked over to the man next to me getting the same treatment and his neck and shoulders were a bright blistering red. My heart skipped a beat when I realized my skin must look the same.
This is how I learned about Chinese “Guasha”- by accident.

Evidently the treatment is used to cure a number of ailments, from fever, to digestive problems, arthritis, fatigue, and in my case, muscle pain. They focus the scraping on the spots with the worst knots (right behind my shoulder blades). According to my masseuse, when you have muscle pain your ‘qi’ is often stopped up. In other words (I think…) your circulation is not flowing as it should be in that part of your body. “Guasha,” translated literally ’scrape-rash’, is supposed to bring the stagnant blood/qi to the surface of your skin (in a terrifying red streaky or speckled rash), thereby allowing the blood flow to return to the area. In the process, you should feel calmer, cooler, more relaxed, and of course, less muscle pain. I don’t really know if this treatment was particularly effective at relieving muscle pain, but it certainly was useful for startling other Westerners, or for striking up a conversation with a Taiwanese. Many Taiwanese receive the treatment on a regular weekly or monthly basis. At first I thought that my whole body felt cooler and my back was refreshingly tingly and only a little bit sensitive….then I realized that there had been Vick’s Vapor Rub involved. Most importanly, my skin has since returned to it’s normal appearance. But after a terribly exhausting week of studying, I might just be willing to give it a shot again… my back is killing me.

After scanning the shelves of three different convenience stores and finding myself bored with the usual snacks, I, after a solid 40 days, swallowed my pride and yes, stepped into a McDonald’s. I’d like to say it was solely for the purpose of scientific observation, but sadly I must admit, I kinda had a taste for it. Nevertheless, here are a few observations:

1. The international community is just not in to the Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese. I don’t understand why, but I’ve never seen it (or a similar counterpart) for sale outside the US. Too bad too, since it’s my ‘usual’.

2. The dollar menu isn’t a dollar menu. Some things cost more, some cost less.

3. The standard single patty burger and small fries I had smells exactly the same as in the US. This is not surprising since I have read that McDonald’s actually stores that smell in little vials and uses eyedroppers to add it to all their products.

4. There are only 3 beef options available in the combo meals (all of which have 2 or 3 patties), and one of them looks like an attempt at a ‘Salisbury’ burger.

5. Corn soup is a side option.

6. Once I was about half-way through with my meal and it started to get cold, I suddenly regretted going to McD’s.. just like in the US.

7. The ketchup packets come from California.

8. I consumed 46% of my daily fat intake.

9. I tried to conceal my incriminating paper bag on the walk home, but was still subject to the incriminating gaze of passersby, surely thinking “Oh look, an American eating McDonalds. I bet she isn’t used to eating our delicious Taiwanese cuisine” despite the fact that they all go to McDonald’s too.

10. I’m not lovin’ it, but I’m sure I’ll be back.