The first day...

Arrived safely in Taiwan yesterday morning. The plane was not too full, so I had seat to myself in my aisle, as the woman next to me moved somewhere else. I later discovered she had lived in Germany for more than twenty years. She complimented me for my ability to speak Mandarin and Taiwanese so well, even though I’ve not lived in Taiwan for more than 14 years. She said her children are almost like me, grew up abroad, but can only speak with a foreign accent, completely ‘foreignised’ thus, where as I can speak, not only well, but as if I’m a local! The flat, monotonous Taiwanese tones, colloquial use of words and phrases. Speaking a language is not just a way of communication for me…it’s becoming the person who speaks it, feeling the language and culture in which it is used. I guess I’ve always felt strongly attached to my roots, and always wanting to know more of my roots…hence my desire to speak Mandarin and Taiwanese, and my wish to study and learn about Asia at SOAS.

The terminal building also seemed very dead. It seemed we were the only plane to have landed in a long time. Walking towards the passport control we passed quarantine control too. There a high-tech scan of your body is made as you pass, I think measuring the bio-signs, and looking out for any viruses and increased body temperature. After all, it was just two years ago that SARS rampaged here. A notice warned of the deadly Marburg virus in Angola, and requested all passengers who were there to report to an official of disease control. It’s a bit Foucauldian how the Taiwanese state tries to control the bios-signs of each and every person who enters and leaves. On the plane, a small documentary warned passengers not to bring any fresh bio-produces (flowers, fruits, animals) unless there is a permit. Cabin crew sprayed the plane to disinfect it of bugs and viruses (reminiscent of entering Australia, so I heard). A special bin is left at the gate when you enter the terminal to dispose of all the fresh fruits and vegetables, to avoid contaminating the bio-cycle and balance of the island. Transporting narcotics is met with the death penalty. I also remember reading application formulas for a language course in Taiwan, and they ask you to send medical certificates and AIDS/HIV tests with your application. A negative test will bar you from entering the country for life. It gets worse with migrant workers. Female workers who become pregnant will have contracts terminated immediately, and everyone must undergo medical examination regularly. Foucault warned that such ‘biopolitics’ (probing, examining, control, quarantining, screening, sterilising) is the most effective way of control and subjugation… is it so?

Was a bit worried about my visa at the customs. Not least because I’m still a Taiwanese national, and of mature age, which can make me liable for military service. But also worried that my visa of 60days will not be valid if I go to Indonesia and return in August. The friendly customs officer told me not to worry. My visa is valid for 60days, per entry, and lasts until November. So, relieved I passed the passport controls, and entered the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC is the official name).

Mum and dad were there to greet me. As I caught sight of them, I wondered how they had arranged to come together to the airport. Dad was standing a bit further away from mum, browsing through some brochures, while mum waved and called me as I passed through the glass doors at Arrivals. It’s been a while. I walked together with them, and felt a warm feeling of being reunited again. I walked between them, and said “I have returned” (我回來了!) in Taiwanese. Those words were filled with such emotion, such meaning. Indeed, I have returned, as if I was forcedly separated from them and this all for such a long time. Almost two years, but it felt like so many, many seasons more. As we walked out of the building, I took a close at them both. Dad had not aged physically, but his voice was a bit weaker and coarser. He cancelled a medical examination especially to be with me. I had imagined him with grey hair, as it’s been really a long time since I last saw him. But he was the same, only a bit thinner, and looking more like grandpa. Mum was just the same aswhen we last met in February, when she was in Holland for Lunar New Year, dressed elegantly and smiling happily,.

As we took the coach to Taipei, we talked about this and that. I told them about what had happened the past few months, just briefly at first, savouring some details for later. About work, about my plans the coming time, about what’s happening in Holland, about our lives there…They were interested in brother, and were concerned with his future. I told them how we sat silently as we travelled to Schiphol Airport. I knew something was on his mind, and it must be his job prospects. I tried to told him not to worry, to use his time off well, and he will definitely find something soon, but I’m not sure he heard me. I said also that his glum mood and silence has an impact on everything and everyone, and that he shouldn’t be so upset, and that he’s at least looking constantly. I’m not sure he heard it. More I cannot have said.

It was gloomy weather in Taipei. Not hot at all, as I expected, but seemed to want to rain, but not yet. We took a taxi where the coach left us. Taipei, as busy, crowded and loud as ever! The chauffeur actually taking our luggage as we walked. I was at first a bit suspicious, especially after hearing about Lonely Planet’s account of people hiding in the trunks of taxis in Taipei and robbing you as you are travelling (bizarre story). The driver turned out to be a friendly man, from Penghu (the Pescadore islands in the east). We drove trough the busy streets, hectic driving everywhere, cars, buses, motorcycles everywhere, people turning, crossing from lane to lane anywhere. Ah, Taipei, the place reported to be where car horns are honked more often per minute than anywhere in the world! I looked at the road signs, and wondered what kind of romanisation spelling they were using. Some words were in Wade-Giles (old spelling system, from the beginning of the last century), while others in Hanyu Pinyin (new system used almost worldwide)…and this sometimes on the same signs. Even getting a uniform system here is a politicised issue. You see, Hanyu Pinyin is the system used in the People’s Republic of China, and many here in Taiwan were against it (fear of being associated with the mainland). But then when almost everyone in the world uses it, you cannot but change to that system. Maybe the solution they’ve found is the one now seen everywhere: a blend, mix and match of both systems. Poor foreigners, who have to try and guess where they are…

We arrived. Our house is in Peitou (北投) district, a place near the Yanming Mountains (陽明山) of northern Taipei. Around For the first time in almost three years, dad entered our home. Mum funnily welcomed him home, and I said on the side, “It’s been a while”. How they wanted to interpret is, is up to them. I carried the heavy luggage up five stories. Dad walked behind us, slowly, holding onto the handrail firmly with every step. He was a bit out of breath when he arrived on top. I glanced at him, and thought, it is in these brief moments that you realise how much has changed, how much people have changed and aged.

After unpacking my suitcase a bit we went for lunch. A little family-style restaurant, where we had ‘heartless vegetable’ (kangkoen) (stem of the plant is hollow空心菜) ‘thread cucumber with clams’ (a type of Taiwanese cucumber, with soft texture絲瓜蛤仔), ‘ red-roasted tofu’ (紅燒豆腐) and clam soup(蛤仔湯). We then went walking towards Tienmu (天母), a fashionable district of Taipei with lots of shops, restaurants. Many foreigners from Europe and America, as well as Japan and Korea live here, since the schools for these people are located nearby. We walked beside the little creek where I, as a child used to come almost daily. It flows deep from the mountains upstream. Before, there were always birds, dragon flies and sometimes even small fish. Now, the banks have been dammed, to prevent flooding when typhoons come, especially during summer. And the creek, though still clear and flowing quickly downstream, looks more like a channel for sewage today.

All along the way, big, flashy cars line the streets and alleyways. Crossing roads is a life-and-death venture, as cars and busses seem to be king, and you must seize every second you have to cross, even where there are zebra crossings. Apparently, there is an unwritten rule that cars turning to the right, even where there is a pedestrian crossing. Motorcycles, which seem to flash across from anywhere and can cut off your step by mere centimetres. Even worse are motorcycles parked all along the pavements.

We went to Dayeh Takashimaya Department Store (大葉高島屋, Japanese join-venture), a huge circle shaped structure, with everything and anything you can buy from all over the world. Not really interested in the merchandise, but an exhibition on the twelfth floor on Taiwanese local specialties and culture…like ‘sun cake’ (太陽餅), sesame and peanut sweet (芝麻花生糖), baked sweet potatoes (烤地瓜), spicy meat jerky (肉乾), preserved plums (梅子), budaixi (布袋戲 Taiwanese puppet show), and all sorts of jade jewelleries and pearls. I had some tofu pudding with glutinous balls (粉圓頭花), a popular sweet Taiwanese dessert, famous among Chinese-speaking world people, so much so that you can find imitations of it in China. In the basement is a large open square, with a huge aquarium, filled with a sorts of exotic fish and plants from the seas around the island. Everyday there are live fish feeding shows, with divers that submerge themselves and dance in the water along with the fish to elegant classical music. It’s one of the attraction that department stores must have to attract customers. All three of us sat there, watching the fish and divers. A Hush Puppy icon dressed up in a dog suit walked around with a cloud of balloons, as children swarmed to him like bees. One of those machines for children to ride on, which move and play music when you put a coin in was next to us. I asked if I used to like to ride those things when I was young, and I apparently did. Dad joked whether he should get a balloon for me. Mum said she had bought me some stickers with the flags of countries around the world on it, but then realised these stickers were meant for young children. In their eyes, I’m still a child. It seems like I’ve never grown up (isn’t it always so for all parents?). And the fact that I have not lived with mum and dad for more than two months at a time does to them, to me, seem as if I have been stuck in childhood. Thinking about this, sitting between mum and dad watching the small children swarm around the dog mascot, seeing dads carry their little children on their shoulders, my eyes watered a bit. The feeling of being home, of being here is overwhelming.

A few blocks away, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (新光三越, yet another Japanese joint-venture) opened recently in two huge high rises. Its main attraction is the Warner Movie Village. I remember once when asked what it is that Taiwanese people like to do on weekends. My answer was: shopping. And nothing seems more true. People, old, young and infants crowd department stores and shopping malls with brand names of everything and anything there is to buy and see. Food courts are yet another favourite place, with little restaurants, bars and cafes providing world cuisines spanning all continents. In supermarkets, for just one product (say juice) there are brands from Japan, Korea (so-called the ‘Eastern Ocean’ 東洋), from Europe, the US, Australia (so-called ‘Western Ocean’ 西洋), and from local producers. Just for the number of flavours for a drink, I counted more than thirty. And there are fresh and colourful fruits, vegetables, meat and fish some of which I don’t even know the name of and have never seen before. That’s why it’s difficult to come here and think of something to give as a souvenir/gift…there seems to be nothing from abroad that you cannot get.

We walked a bit further and passed a temple. I told them I wanted to stop and pray a bit. Temples are always a fascinating place to visit, and shows a very interesting mix of the cultures and religions there is in Taiwan. It’s difficult to know what kind of temple it actually is, and what religion it belongs to…here, Daoism, Confusianism, Buddhism and local customs and deities are blended into temples that dot the island. The main altar had a statue of I think the god of farmers, beautifully gilded and decorated, and in front of it, dozens of semi-gods and goddesses dressed in all sorts of clothes, ornaments and carrying all sorts of instruments and weapons. I cannot start to name them all…some are green skinned, other red, some have long beards, other have many arms and heads…some look fierce and radiate an air of severity, others are smiling and radiate tranquillity…that’s just the main altar. Next to it are four smaller altars, one containers the carved wooden statues of seven local folk heroes, one cotaining Matsu (馬祖), the Goddess of the Sea, who originates from Fukien (Fujian) province of the Chinese mainland. She is worshipped everywhere on the island, was brought over by our ancestors as they migrated across the ‘Black Channel’ (Taiwan Strait) in search of a better land, some three, four centuries ago. She also happens to be my god-mother (literally!). Next to Matsu is a shrine dedicated to Bodhisatta (觀世音菩薩), the female incarnate of the Buddha. I carry a jade amulet of her everywhere. She is usually pictured cross-legged on a lotus, with her hands in the traditional Buddhist pose (right hands turned upwards, pointing at the heavens, left hands palms outwards, pointed at earth). Finally, there is the Tiger Lord (虎爺), a tiger who guards over the local territories.

I'm not sure how to express my beliefs. I go to temples to worship the deities, but of these gods, none is the almighty. Buddhism itself does not have a god like other world religions (some people even question if it is religion at all, and not more than a way of life). Local beliefs and religions have certain traditions and customs, but not do them, not worshiping them would not be accused of being irreligious. Except for Christians and a minority Muslim population, religion does not play a big role in people’s lives. People only go to temples on ‘special occasions’…praying for wealth, health, passing exams, asking for answers, praying for good fortunes and luck. I did the same yesterday. I expressed my thanks to every god/goddess, for taking care of my family, me and this country and its people. Heart-felt gratitude, wishes and prayers. I guess the saying心誠則靈 (xin chen2 ze2 lin2) puts it best…’ when the heart is pure and loyal, so is the spirit’.

By then I was tired...and I kept on sleeping until late in the afternoon.