It has been sometime since I resided in Taiwan as a military wife and much has changed since then. What is the same is the kaleidoscope of smells, sights and sounds that invades the senses when you arrive in Pacific Asian countries.
Not one to miss an opportunity for adventure, I found myself teamed with my two children, when I was still young slim and sassy. We were in the "friendly skies" headed for Taiwan to join my husband and their father who was working.
In sixteen-hours, we went from "Hello, how are you!" to "Nee how ma!" As we disembarked the plane in Taipei, everything was new and whirled around us like a kaleidoscope. We were submerging into a new culture of curious smells, scenes and noises. Everything seemed and truly was alien. The signage was in Chinese character. The language had a sing-song resonance. The comforts of home quickly disappeared as we drank in new experiences and adventures.
Chinese New Year had just begun and red lanterns and banners with gold lettering were hung to symbolize happiness and love. We noticed the divinity behind the water temples that dotted the rice terraces and there was the occasional pagoda, whose architectural ornate details ornate demonstrated the wealth and sophistication of their owner.
Taiwan is a small tobacco shaped island, beautifully green, both the coastline and mountains. On the highway heading down to the island center and the town of Taichung, the traffic was crazy. Any occupant in the vehicle ahead might throw out an arm to signal a turn. It was not unusual to see bamboo branches placed over a pothole warning of a detour.
Running our eyes over the countryside, we saw small farm homes and chickens running about. Water buffalo were providing the farm power and the land appeared strewn with small straw covered huts. There were so many as the miles rolled past, I first wondered if people lived in them. Later I learned these were mushroom growing huts!
Traveling with children, it was inevitable we would soon have need of a public restroom whenever we left our hotel room or later left our house. The first time came while inside a gift shop. Our pre-school age daughter began to squirm, protesting her need to use a bathroom. I asked the clerk where we might find one and as she prepared to show me, my husband leaned over and whispered, "You'll find it different."
Sure enough, we entered a small room with a tile stall, much like a shower stall back home. In the center of this tile enclosure was an open hole, twice the size of a shower stall's drain hole. Here one was required to squat over the hole and do their business. At first my daughter protested, but her need to go overrode her distaste for the unfamiliar.
Living overseas was a wonderful gift, teaching our family a valuable lesson: Always appreciate what you have. For the children, a Baptist missionary school offered the only American or English instruction. During the nearly two years we lived in Taiwan, each day was like living a page from National Geographic.
Kathy Manney is the nationally recognized author of autobiographical, lifestyle and travel articles and the travel columnist for "The Vegas Voice," a monthly regional senior lifestyle newspaper.
She was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and has lived in Asia and throughout the United States during her adult years.
Kathy is open to freelance work in the fields of non-fiction writing and editing.
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