Dragon Boat Festival

Remember my foolish assumption that I wouldn’t have jet lag as long as I got on a normal sleeping schedule? Well it turned out to be totally right, because after my first full day in Taiwan (which, admittedly, was grueling), I feel basically normal. This is probably bad, because it convinces me that my irrational overconfidence is warranted in this and in all things. 

Andrew's apartment building (the farthest pink building on the right)

The heat/humidity is exhausting, but it hasn’t been too bad because everything that’s not outside is air-conditioned. Plus, I’ve become determined to prove to Andrew and his mom that I can take the heat like a champ, and stubbornness will get you surprisingly far in life. 

Here are some more pictures of Andrew’s neighborhood. 

Motorcycles and scooters are almost as common on the streets as cars

The canal on Andrew's street

The canal continues. If you look closely, you can see a ladder
(which Andrew told me I should use under no circumstances)

Yesterday, I took my first real trip into the heart of Taipei to go see the Dragon Boat Festival.

What I took away from this experience was largely that the Taipei metro was a magical land of cleanliness and efficiency. I didn’t take pictures of the subway itself, but I will soon because it makes the D.C. metro look like a 1970s-inspired garbage nightmare. Everything is so shiny and new and well-maintained. The same goes for local buses; according to Andrew, the bus that takes him to work gets there at exactly 8:23, regardless of traffic. And it’s incredibly cheap; a normal bus ride is about 15 NT (50 cents), and if you ride on a bus and then get on the subway (or vice versa), they’ll cut the second fare in half for you. Interestingly, some buses require payment when you board and some when you leave; I'm not sure if there's a difference between the two. Some of the buses also have anti-sexual harassment whistles and buttons, which I’ve never seen in the states. Andrew says he’s never seen anyone use one, but that he’s read they do reduce rates of sexual harassment (perhaps because of a deterring effect). 

A bus! Featuring over-head handles and hanging whistles.

I wonder how many people have touched this with their mouths

I’ve been surprised by how many signs (public transportation, restaurants, road signs) have English translations on them. I have mixed feelings about this, because it’s nice to think that I could get around the city myself, but this is probably a by-product of cultural imperialism. 

Anyway, after an hour of very pleasant public transportation, we arrived at the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is a national holiday that commemorates the legend of Qu Yuan, Chinese official who lived around 300 BC. The current king didn’t like Qu Yuan’s advice, so he had him killed and his body dumped in a river. But the advisor was so beloved by the people that they tried to find his body, and when they couldn’t recover it, they threw rice balls (Zongzi) into the water to keep the fish from eating it. 

The festival itself is hugely popular in Taipei. Apparently, people from all over the world came to compete in dragon boat races; I saw teams from Australia, Israel, even Columbia University. It looks a lot like crew racing, but with a giant drum and a drummer in each boat. In addition to watching the dragon boat races, there were a ton of food vendors (I had a watermelon smoothie) and some sort of event at noon where people tried to stand an egg on its end. 

A dragon boat with musical symbols on it!

A dragon boat in the water

The rowers are all very toned

Where the boats line up

The race! I think the second-farthest boat ended up winning.

 After watching some of the boats (we weren't there for the most exciting races), we went back to Andrew's neighborhood and had lunch.

Hot pot (with cheese!). So many restaurants have free
unlimited rice and tea.

Vegetarian zhongzi! It was mostly rice, beans, and mushrooms,
wrapped in banana leaves.

Apparently also zhongzi? This tasted kind of like mochi; it was
sweet and chewy and seemed to be made with peanut paste

Overall, I've (unsurprisingly) been loving the food. I find that I get hungry less here and the tofu is the best I've ever had in my life. Apparently Taiwan has a pretty high vegetarian Buddhist population, which may explain it. It's so refreshing to eat vegetarian protein that (for lack of a better expression) knows what it's doing.