Rash, Rash, Go Away…

Come again some other day. Wait, no. Don't. Maybe that was a poor choice for a title. How about "Don't come back another day." There, that's more like it.

So, since I've been in Taiwan (13 months now), I have found it hard to avoid small traces of wheat. As a Celiac, I should know better. If there could be wheat, I should not eat it. Plain and simple. But I became complacent fairly quickly, and occasionally had little "bouts" where I suspected I had been glutened. I still didn't take it all too seriously.

Then, one fateful night - October 15 (this date is burned into my brain, because I can't believe I've had rashes this long) - I ate some delicious, homemade curry. Yum. The next day, I started to have some rashes. "That's strange," I thought. "I haven't had rashes for years. In fact, not since I was diagnosed with Celiac disease." Bing! Light bulb moment. Uh oh. 

The following day, I still had the rashes. Raised, hot, itchy hives. So I investigated. The curry I ate was made from a Japanese curry base, which for some godawful reason contains wheat. Why on earth do they put wheat in curry?? It's so unnecessary. I am less than impressed. I was also less than impressed with myself, because I already know that some curry bases contain wheat, and that there's only one kind of curry paste I can buy at the supermarket. So, I should have known better. But I was hungry, so I ate it. This is my downfall. 

I didn't do anything about the hives, because I thought for some reason that they would get better and disappear. I had clearly forgotten the months of on-and-off discomfort I experienced in my teens. A week went by, and it was not better. The rashes had actually got a lot worse - to the point that my friend (who is battling breast cancer, and should not have to be dealing with other people's random ailments) advised me to find a sub for my class that afternoon, and drove me to our local dermatologist. 

There began my dance with the medical system here. Thankfully, Taiwan has excellent medical insurance, which is mandatory for workers to pay into. As a Canadian, I am used to my doctor visits being completely free; however, to see a specialist would mean going on a long waiting list, missing work, and taking an expensive trip over to the city to see this busy specialist. As a foreigner in Taiwan, I am incredibly grateful that we are allowed (even required!) to use the same heath insurance system as the locals. Because of the high population here, there are specialists everywhere! You can walk in to any hospital to see their specialists, or stroll over to the dermatologist or ear-nose-throat doctor in your neighbourhood. Or the dentist. Dentistry is also covered by National Health Insurance. So, any time you see one of these specialists, or any doctor, you pay a deductible which includes the cost of your visit as well as any medication you might need. It's a pretty good system. 

What did this dermatologist do, you may ask? Well, he prescribed me nighttime and daytime antihistamines, and informed me to "avoid my allergens." This ticked me off a bit. Of course, avoid my allergens! Do you think I'm going around stuffing my face with breads and cookies? Please. I wish. 

I went on my way, with my 7-day supply of antihistamines. I really thought that would be the end of it. Little did I know, this would quickly become an ongoing theme. 

Why Living in Taiwan is Awesome

After living in Taiwan for about 6 months, I'm in a bit of a "culture-shock"/homesick rut. Since nothing works better to get you looking on the bright side than a gratitude list, I thought that's exactly what I should do. So, here is a bit of a gratitude list for Taiwan, and why I LOVE living here, even though my home country is by far one of the most beautiful places on earth.


Weather
It is warm here in the subtropics! Today is a chilly 16 degrees, while the rest of the week was in the high-20s. As a Canadian, I never thought I would be saying the phrase "chilly 16 degrees" without the same sarcasm we use when saying "a balmy 5 degrees". Here, there is no sarcasm in those words! Ahhh so warm. The humid, non-sarcastically-balmy weather is like a cozy blanket on your skin.
Edit: When I wrote that, it was 16 degrees... by the time I've actually got around to publishing this post, I am thankful for the cool 23 degree weather after a week of humid 30 degree, air-conditioner-needed heat.

This was in February. A beautiful, hot sunny late afternoon hike in Yangmingshan National Park.

Flowers
Learning that these colours exist in nature - what?! Amazing. All throughout the year, flowers bloom in exciting, exotic hues that I have never before seen in nature. It blows my mind. I'm kind of a nature nerd. And what's up with those orange flowers on the trees, which remind me exactly of autumn, but bloom in early spring? My senses are incredibly confused by this. It's all very exciting.

My new favourite flower. It smells amazing, and I wish I could buy a perfume made from its scent. Plus, it grows on trees!

A statue in a tea garden in Pinglin, with a camellia flower placed in his cup. Oh, and rows of tea bushes. Lovely!

Generosity
People here are overwhelmingly kind and friendly. I have had someone try to help me with my Chinese homework in a public library, random people offer me directions at an MRT station, restaurant staff offer to call a taxi for us because it's cheaper than flagging down a cab, vegetable shopkeepers add cilantro to my bag for free, been invited through the back of a restaurant for a tea ceremony when the shop was closed for the holidays, and had a bus driver allow me to sit in the front of a particularly crowded shuttle bus. These things become more evident outside of Taipei, as it is certainly easy to get caught up in the frenetic pace of the city. It is these little things that remind me that I am living on an island, and island people are great people.

My first tea ceremony, during Chinese New Year. We were literally welcomed into this family's home!

Convenience
To have such a large population function in a relatively small space, efficiency is key. This means public transportation options, restaurants, tea shops, banks, convenience stores, markets, you name it - everything is easily accessible and probably within a 10-minute walk from your apartment. Also, you can easily sign up for a city-operated bike rental program called YouBike, and use bikes for free, or for super cheap. I love it.

Taking the YouBikes to the riverside trail. This is way easier than exploring the city on foot!

Novelty

Dude. I freakin' live in Asia. That thought usually crosses my mind at least once a month. Whether it is a narrow street lined with bright flashy signs, or yet another incredibly elaborate temple, or the rain streaming off the typically-Asian clay tile roofs, or the selection of fresh local produce at my neighbourhood fruit and vegetable stands, I am inevitably struck by a sense of wonder that I am actually living here. It is impossible to be bored here. The moment you step outside, it is sensory overload time. Oh, and did I mention the night markets?

Keelung City's Miao-Kow night market during the Chinese New Year holiday

The Story Begins…

Hello… welcome to my very first blog post! After living in Taipei, Taiwan for nearly three months, it's well past time to start a blog. Better late than never I hope!

Because my Facebook posts and photos have been flooding people's news feeds with enviable tales of life in a subtropical country (or so I'd like to think), blogging may be a more reader-friendly way to see what I've been up to. At the moment I'm composing this post on my iPhone user the Blogger app, because I'm actually to lazy to open my laptop and type on the computer right now. But I figured that if I can maybe just get this first post out into cyberspace, then perhaps I'll be less nervous about writing future posts! So bear with me here if there are some weird formatting issues or anything.

Why am I here? As a tourism major, I have been lucky enough to meet people who are from, or who move or travel, all over the world. This past fall I had the opportunity to join someone in Taiwan (a small island in the Pacific, roughly between Japan and the Philippines) and so, off I flew! To give some perspective, it's about the same size as Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Yes, I moved here from another small island in the Pacific: tiny and eccentric Salt Spring Island, notorious for goat cheese, organic food, hippies, sheep and [a plant that carries the death penalty here in the ROC]. To paraphrase Gary Fjellgard: an islander I'll always be!

So, the last couple of months I have been studying Mandarin Chinese full-time at a well-known university not far from my apartment. Let me just say, I am far from fluent. When I arrived here in November, I learned what it feels like to be illiterate. Being immersed in a language that shares no common roots whatsoever with your native tongue makes language learning incredibly difficult, and makes communication hugely frustrating. I have felt like a frustrated, tired child and have learned patience and humility at a level I didn't know was possible. So every word, every phrase I learn feels like a major accomplishment and makes my life easier every day.

It's not all tough though! Last week for example, I looked up at the full moon, framed by tall palm trees, and was awestruck at how I had ended up in such an exotic-looking setting. Oh, and let's not forget Thursday afternoon, when I rode a bicycle along the riverside and past a meadow of butterflies. That's right, there were so many butterflies fluttering over these short yellow flowers that I actually rode through a flock of butterflies! In the warm afternoon sun. In January. It's okay to be a little jealous right now. Just know I'm sending warm, sunny vibes back home to all of you in the grey and the cold.

This blog is hopefully going to be where I share my tales of daily life in Taiwan with you! I welcome any feedback, comments, questions, and send you all a ton of love!

And yes, there will be pictures. :)