Typhoon Talim will hit us soon.
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Hello everyone! Let me first start off by apologizing for how infrequent I update my blog. I know that several people back home are interested to know how life is going over here. In in a word things are excellent. I also want to let you know that this blog is now open for comments by anyone. Before it was only open to people registered to the site.
As I had said earlier life is great here in Taipei. I don't think I can describe how happy I am that I took this opportunity. While I was happy in the states, I was at times bored with the day to day aspects of my life there. I spent much of my time fretting about politics and work. I was displeased with how wasteful and shallow many of my countrymen were. While no place is free of trouble or conflict, Taiwan is different in so many ways. Because they aren't vast tracks of land to create landfill after landfill, EVERYTHING is recycled. In my home state only cans with deposit ever see a second use. Also SUV are seldom seen in Taipei. A Hummer could never find its way down many of the narrow side streets of this city, and I am sure that the driver of such a vehical would receive more well deserved scorn then they receive in the states. I am pleased to say that there are also no Wal-Marts here. This pleases me a great deal. There are however a lot of McDonalds.
One other thing that has made me happy is the medical services here. A few weeks ago I was running in Fujonshan Mountain Park near my apartment. I have for a long time considered myself a rugged outdoors man. I fear very little and would often put myself into somewhat dangerous situations to see if I could get out of them. Back in the U.S. I would venture out by myself on epic cross country ski trips or night hikes. However at that time I knew everything about the animals and terrain. I have yet to become accustomed to the my new tropical mountain paradise. Everything is different here. I here animal sounds that I have never heard before. I also know there are several varities of poisonous snakes here. As I was running over rugged mountain jungle terrain at twilight, something jumped out from the underbrush and freaked me out. I was to discover much too late that it was only a frog the size of a dinner plate. I jumped up and landed on a rock, severely twisting my ankle. I rived in pain for a while and cursed the frog. It was getting dark and I had a ways to go before I got to the well lit more frequented part of the park, and even further to go before I reached the bottom of the mountain. Again to mention how nice the people of this island are, 3/4ths of the way down the mountain 2 non-English speaking women saw me limping and motioned me to sit down. They took off my shoe and began to message the ankle. One of them ran down and brought back some Chinese's medicine. They applied it to the foot and wrapped it in large leaves and losses bandages. The stuff worked wonders. There was no bruising the next day. The ankle was weak so I took to wrapping it tightly in an elastic bandage for support. I had it wrapped when I got caught in a rainstorm far from home. I walked many kilometers with the wet bandage, and then I foolishly rewrapped it. My skin did not like this. It broke out in a rash. I did'nt want to see a doctor because my Alien Resident Card is still being processed. This means I am currently uninsured. I was afraid the situation would get worse, so I broke down and went to see a western medical doctor. I had a doctors visit and was prescribed an array of medicine. The grand total came out to be $250NT. For those of you unfamiliar with exchange rate that is roughly $8US.
I feel a bit like a rock star when I go out here in Taipei. Last Saturday I went out to a club to see a co-worker spin some records. I spent $500 to get into an all you care to drink event. I eat $100 meals 3 times a day. I by a six pack of beer for $160. My apartment cost me $6000 a month. I will make well over a million dollars before the end of the year. For the longest time I never thought I would be a millionaire, I was just in the wrong country all this time.
Anyway Typhoon Talim is headed for Taipei as I write. This will be the second typhoon I have experienced since I arrived. We closed the school early today and there is a 90% chance that we will have a typhoon day tomorrow. I have stocked up on some DVDs and will make sure that I buy enough Tsingtao pee-jyo (Chinese beer) to make it thought the storm. Unlike my friends and family in hurricane alley, Taipei is pretty well protected from these tropical storms. We are surrounded on 3 sides by mountains. This one is supposed to be bigger then the last, but I am not too concerned. The last one was like 3 day of thunderstorms with out the thunder. My area is not prone to flooding and I live on the 5th floor. The biggest danger is being hit by flying debris. The last person killed was hit by a large sign falling on him. I saw one fall during Typhoon Matsa. I was glad I wasn't under it. The wind can be pretty fierce, but its more of a party atmosphere then an apocalypse.
Thanks everyone.......I will try and update more often and get some pictures soon......
Daniel James

I love Taiwan................ Finally I have found an apartment. I will be moving in with a couple of Canadians. They seem pretty cool. I look forward to the experience. I can't believe how cheap it is. The price is $6000NT a month which is around $218US. It is on the 5th floor with no elevator, but it's close to some mountains and has a great view of Taipei 101. It's also right between 2 Metro train stations, so I can get to almost any where in the city by metro el or subway. I am less then 2km (I have gone metric and I am not going back) from my school. Taipei is awesome. It is amazing how nice the people are. Many of them want to practice their English with me. I was trying to find the internet cafe where I am currently writing from, I was given directions to the approximate location. I couldn't find it, so I stopped into a book store and asked if they know where it was. The guy left his shop and walked me some 3 blocks to the cafe. Something else that I enjoy is the fact that that I can buy sushi at the 7-11. 6 rolls for $28NT that's less then $1US. Some may find the idea of eating sushi from a 7-11 store a bit scary. I find it far more settling then eating it in Iowa. Other then friends and family; one thing I miss about the Midwest is fresh air. The air during the afternoon rush hour is hard to breath. There are several million people in Taipei, and millions of of cars and even more mopeds and motorcycles. It's hard to believe that so many vehicles exist in a country no bigger then Illinois. I have had only a few opportunities to do sightseeing. I went to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial. He was the first president of modern Taiwan. The architecture is monumental. I climbed the steps on the outside and watched the changing of the guards. It was interesting. I also went to the infamous Snake Ally night market. It is a must see for anyone visiting Taipei. There are snakes their. They "charm", or more like torment poisonous snakes right in front of you. There is nothing between you and the snakes. I didn't stand in the first row of people. The place is packed with people, and you can buy almost anything you want. I walked through some of the side alleys around the market. Seeing how I can't read Mandarin, I don't know exactly what was going on in the little shops that I saw there. All I saw was a lot of girls and hallways full of private rooms. I Could write for hours, but its getting late. One last thing, Typhoon Matsa is nearing Taiwan. The weather is getting crazy. It's storming right now. Of course they don't have snow days in Taiwan, but we might have a Typhoon day tomorrow.