Transport

Taiwan is scooter heaven. If you don't have a scooter it's like you don't exist. Unfortunately I do not yet own one. There are some motorcycles, but mostly scooters (although my students don't know the difference in English). They cost between $300 for a used one to $2,000 (US). Lucky I live near the train station, so I can take the train to town in five minutes (cost $0.50 US). The train is OK, but the problem is walking around town after that. It is not pedestrian friendly. Scooters rule, which means they may kill you at any moment if you are walking. Add to that the fact the sidewalks are almost non-existent and you see my problem. A Taxi costs $4, but that is the same cost to fill up the tank on your scooter. So for now, I don't go out too much. My girlfriend lives an hour away, so she drove her scooter up this weekend, so we could go out.
When I get paid, get my ARC, and get my driver's license, I can get a scooter, so we are looking at late Nov. I'll lay low until then. I walk to school anyways. It's only 10-15 min and I listen to my Ipod. Without the Ipod it is rather cruel, with the Chinese, the traffic, the pollution ( I tried to wear a mask like people do when they ride scooters but it was too hot and hard to breathe), the people staring at me ( I always stand out as a foreigner, and they never let me forget it, this really bothers me because when in a new place I like to try to blend in with the locals, in Poland I could sometimes do this, but here it is impossible, this is another benefit of the scooter, the mask, helmet and sunglasses help me blend in), but with the IPOD on, it is a funny cartoon world like manga or something. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but it does to me.