Taiwan: The Heart of Asia

After experiencing the Okinawan island life for some time, I felt an itch to leave and start my international travels. Taking advantage of a three-day weekend, and requesting a day off of work, two fellow OkiJETs and I set out sights to Taiwan, Okinawa's closest country.

The night before my departure, I picked up Tka in Okinawa City and we spent the night at Alley's in Nishihara. The next morning, we headed out ridiculously early to beat the traffic to Naha Airport. The traffic was horrendous and, what's worse, Google Maps decided to guide us to a frickin' golf course (Thanks Obama)! We had to call out to a pedestrian and ask for directions but fortunately we were not far off.

We made it to the airport just in time to check in and pass the security checkpoint. No one had breakfast that morning and we were expecting to get food at the terminal but since Peach Airlines does not taxi at a terminal, the terminal only sold boxed souvenir food. We met up with some other OkiJETs, who were also headed to Taiwan, and they gave us an apple to split between the three of us. Best apple of my life! We also met with Wendy a Singaporean OkiJET who was off to visit family in Taiwan. She marked our subway map for the best hot spots in Taipei and offered to guide us to Taipei's main subway station since we were all headed there anyway.

The flight was ridiculously short, but I spent the entire hour yawning and attempting to pop my ears since scuba diving temporarily damaged my inner ear. Once we reached Taipei, our main priority was to eat. We walked about a block or two until we found a small cafe that had an menu in English and food that would satisfy everyone, especially me with my food particularities. Afterwards, we headed to our hotel.

Lovely Travel Ladies

A hour passed and we still had not found our hotel. The map that Tka brought was not detailed enough but we  knew the street and were headed in the right direction. I used every bit of Mandarin Chinese that I knew to ask about location of our hotel. Every question was met with people pointing for us to go further down. We even stopped at a convenience store to ask for directions. At one point, we were so frustrated because one person would tell us to go further down and another person would tell us to come back the way we came. Finally, we walked into what we thought was our hotel. It wasn't, but the women working the front desk personally walked us to our hotel. We were so grateful!

As I was moving my suitcase to my corner of the room, I hear Alley laughing and telling us to check out the bed. When I sat on the bed, it felt as though I sat on concrete. This was the hardest bed on God's green Earth! I picked up the pillow assuming that would be just as terrible but, to my relief, it was fairly soft. I looked to Alley who was still laughing now on her hand and knees saying "It's like basement sex!" That's when I lost it, because I could imagine that on a terribly hard and uneven floor. The joy surged through me as I realized I would be spending a few days on the concrete bed (sarcasm). After we settled, we headed out into Taipei.

Taipei at night reminded me a little of New York with its crazy traffic and slightly dirty atmosphere. The only difference was the abundance of scooters. Aside from my ear problems, I also had a terrible cough and the exhaust fumes from the hundreds of thousands of scooters forced me to purchase cough drops at a convenience store. 

The night markets in Taipei were like Jesus, in that they were perfect. Japanese clothes are cute, but sometimes they can get pretty funky with their prints, "Engrish," frills, and fabrics. The clothes at the night markets were surprisingly of good quality, ridiculously cheap, and stuff that I'd actually wear. More importantly, at every corner there were people selling yummy fruits and pastries, along with the nauseating Stinky Tofu. I got the most use of my Chinese while shopping because I could ask for the prince and bargain by saying it was too pricy. 

Taiwan: The Land of Scooters

The next couple of days involved some sightseeing at Longshan Temple, Taipei 101, and trips to more night markets.

Longshan Temple is a reconstructed Buddhist/Taoist temple in the Wuhua district of Taipei. Although situated on a busy street, Longshan Temple created a peaceful atmosphere with a gorgeous waterfall and a large dragon statue at the enterence. Once inside the temple, there were hundreds of people praying and giving food and flower offerings. 

Taipei 101 is the second largest building in the world with the world's elevator (my ears did not appreciate this). The first two floors consisted of a high-end mall with recognizable brands that I could never afford. At the top, we had an spectacular view of the city as well as a view of the damper ball, which balances the building during storms or earthquakes.

Leaving Taipei, we had a some trouble finding the bus terminals, and we also ran into some trouble or shall I say caught some attitude with the airline personal regarding the weight of our carry-on bags during our check-in. 

I definitely want to go back to Taiwan for a longer weekend and continue shopping sightseeing.

Dying of laughter at Longshan Temple

Hospitals in Japan: Closed for your Inconvenience

If you get sick in Japan and need to see a doctor, you must do so between Monday through Friday from 8am – 5pm. Closed on weekends and during national holidays. Also closed on days and times that are most convenient for you. This is not an over exaggeration! Hospitals in Japan close on evening and weekends. So if you break your arm while trying to twerk on the doorframe of some sacred Buddhist temple, you’ll have to suck it up until Monday or the next morning. I knew about the ridiculousness of Japanese hospitals prior to my arrival, but I didn’t realize the inconvenience until I needed to see a doctor. About a month after my arrival to Japan, I became ill and needed a specific antibiotic, I decided to hold off until my half-day, Thursday, to see a doctor because my mother I packed medicines from home and refused to take a personal day. 

Put a Pokemon Bandaid on it and wait until Monday

Thursday came, I left work and headed to the hospital. As I walked into the hospital, I immediately felt something was amiss. There were no receptionists at the front desk and the lights were turned off, so I walked around musing at the similarities between my life and a horror video game. I assumed that I was on the wrong floor and proceeded up the elevator only to reach a floor with hospitalized patients. I quickly backtracked and returned for the first floor to find someone that could help me. As I was snooping around, I found sign with the opening hours for the hospital. Using my very limited Japanese, I found the name of my specific clinic within the hospital and realized that the clinic closes after noon on Thursdays. Thursday was their half-day too! Eventually, an old woman, who I wasn’t sure worked there, approached me and told me to come during lunch break or to take a personal day. I thanked her and returned home feeling defeated. 

(You may remember that I mentioned this next part from a previous post, see here)

It has been joked about that I could smile and excuse myself out the door whenever I wanted in the Japanese workplace. Since I refused to take any personal time, I decided to test that theory on Tuesday and do just that. I excused myself from work about an hour and a half early. Half way to my car, the principal stopped me to say that I was leaving early. I walked back to tell her about my situation, but she continued the conversation saying that she missed the opportunity the previous day (because of a typhoon) to give me a huge bag of okra and sweet potatoes. Turns out, I mistranslated what she said. She said that I was leaving quickly ("fast" and "early" are the same word in Japanese). Either way, I felt bad and told her what was going on anyway. She couldn't care less that I was leaving early, as long as I used the veggies she gave me. 

At the hospital, which was now open, I checked in with the receptionist and filled out various forms. I was escorted to the waiting area, where they called me in to take my blood pressure and measure my weight and height. I met with a doctor, who surprising spoke English, and he asked me about my symptoms and prescribed me the Japanese equivalent to my usual American medicines. SUCCESS! 

Case closed!

The Finest Wilderness is Beneath the Waves (Part 2)

The weekend of the ocean dives occured a couple days before a typhoon slammed into Okinawa. However, we were given the green light to dive and I once again met with Jan and my dive-mates. This time, I was given a full-body wetsuit, since I almost froze in the pool during the contained dive, and, to my relief, a significantly smaller thank. Jan made a passing comment that anyone under 50 kg. ( or 110 lb.) required a smaller tank and elaborated that he had never met an American under 50 kg. (I withheld the tidbit that I am ethnically Hispanic, teehee).

Once we placed the gear in the boat and arrived at the dive spot called, I was geared up and pushed into the water. I mean that quite literally because Jan literally pushed me into the water. It was actually just a small nudge, but I found it hilarious. Nevertheless, my mirth was cut short as a series of issues began to unravel. I misjudged the circumference of my waist as my weight belt (which also adds weight for controlled buoyancy) began to slide down my hips and around my thighs making it difficult to tred water. Because of this issue, I removed my repirator to inform Jan that I was in trouble. This was a huge mistake! The waves slammed into me in all directions as I shouted, causing me to inhale water. I became exhausted in my struggle to tread and quickly lost my breath. Jan instructed me to swim to the boat and hold on to a side rope while he readjusted my weight belt. With the regulator back in my mouth, I was able to slow down my breathing and catch my breath. In retrospect, I should have dived down, hunched over and adjusted it myself, but whatever. Once that dilemma was over, it was time to dive down and check out the the underwater forest.

Okinawa has an amazing array of sea life from the ugly and harmless to the beautiful and deadly. During my descent, I watched a sea snake pass above me as I tried to hug shoo'ed fish that invaded my personal space. Within the first 10 minutes, I encountered the venomous Lion fish (a.k.a. scorpion fish; a.k.a. that fish with zebra stripes)! I learned from multiple aquarium visits to keep away, but it was fascinating to see the fish up close (as little as 10 feet) in its natural habitat. I also played with a large sea cucumber and and felt the underside of an extremely large starfish. Moreover, Jan guided us to the illustrious Blue Cave located in Maeda Point, where we performed our dive skills

Fact: 99.9% of monsters found in animes are based on real animals (source: Me) 

Even with my life hack jotted down into the deepest portions of my mind, I was unsure if my abilities as I begrudgingly looked up to check the distance to the surface; just in case. When it came to my turn, I slowly let water into my mask, closed my eyes to protect my contacts, and breathed to calm my nerves. Then, I took in a large breath and used my life hack to blow out the air through my nose. I opened my eyes slightly and realized that I cleared about half the mask. It was working! I took in another breath and cleared the rest. Suc-f&*%ing-cess! In another dive, it was required that I remove my mask, return it, and clear the mask. For this skill, I closed my eyes and began to remove my mask. This should have been effortless, but my mask snagged on to my hair making it difficult to remove. As I floated with my eye closed breathing into the regulator, I felt a hand on my leg. I opened by eyes in surprise, but closed them a split second later as I mentally cursed in the realization that I may have ruined my contacts. In my efforts to detangle my mask, I kicked causing me to slowly ascend. Jan brought me back down and I continued to detangle my mask. Once it was free, I place it back on my face and cleared my mask without realization. Bam! Later, I would perform other skills such as the Tired Diver's Tow, Controlled Emergency Ascend, Buddy Breathing, Regulator Recovery and compass skills, as well as a written test to complete my Open Water Diver certification.

<3

The Finest Wilderness is Beneath the Waves (Part 1)

After I almost drowned in the ocean as a child, I had always been hesitant about water-related activities. Hundreds of Venezuelan Bolivares were wasted on swimming lessons so that I can later specialize in sunbathing and people watching. This had to change! I am firm believer of taking extreme measures in order to face your fears. A few years ago I went skydiving in order to conquer my fear of heights, and I decided early on that it was time that I did the same with my fear of the wilderness beneath the waves. 

Dont touch me! I'm tanning!

A fellow OkiJET referred a local dive shop and it was there that I made my appointment to become a certified Open Water Diver (OWD). Unfortunately, an ideal three-day weekend had been completely booked by local OIST University students and, because of this, my ocean dives were scheduled 3 weeks after my contained dive lesson. 

The day of the contained dive, I packed by bikini and headed to Onna Village where met with Jan my diving instructor. Jan was a German fellow who moved to Japan sometime ago and settled down with a Japanese wife. At first, his accent was a little rough and hard to understand, but I could sympathize with the difficultly of expressing in a non-native language. He packed the gear and we met with  French dive-mates at a pool where, after basic equipment instruction, I shimmied my way into a ridiculously tight wet suit and strapped on my air tank.

This was the first of many problems as I struggled to stand with the heavy tank strapped onto my back. Moreover, the back plate (which adds weight to level out my buoyancy in the water) was digging into my hips bones from the back. Eventually, the straps were readjusted, but the tank was still too heavy as I made the trek to the pools edge. Once I was in the water, the elephant-sized tank felt as light as a feather, but I passingly worried about my exit from the water.

Once in the water we were asked to perform various skills that are essential for safe diving. The first skill was simply breathing with the regulator. It's human nature to hold you breath, but doing so could result in damaged lungs. I accomplished this skill without any issues. The next skill was breathing in with the regulator but blowing the air out through my nose. However, I could only blow out a few snorts, until the water filled my sinus making it seem as though I was drowning. This specific skill was just not happening for me and it turned out it would be the bane of my scuba experience. The next skill involved removing water from inside of the mask while underwater. Guess what that involved? You guessed it! Blowing the air out through my nose! As I lifted my mask to fill it with water I began to slightly panic once again because the water that collected into my nose had gone into my sinus. I tried to blow the water and air out, but the air would escape out through the sides of my mask instead of the bottom. I tilted my head back so that my bottom of my mask would be the lowest point, but I ended up swallowing water through my sinuses. Once again, I failed this skill.

An example of mask clearing. You know, that skill I can't do.

You could image my frustration as I was told that I could not become certified if I could not perform this skill. Moreover, this skill will be more difficult to perform in the ocean. As the day progressed, I doubted my decision to become certified. Aside from the issue with clearing my mask, the only other issue I had was equalizing my ears. As you dive, the pressure builds and you need to be able to release the pressure. We do it often in airplanes and elevators through swallowing and yawning ("popping your ears") but since those a bit difficult to perform while something is in your mouth, it needs to be done a different way. You guessed it! By breathing out through your nose! F&%$!

I'm just kidding! Well, you do need to breathe out through your nose, but you pinch your nose so that the air escapes via your ear canal simultaneously releasing the pressure. Surprisingly, I could do this, but it wasn't without its difficulties. I had to equalize my ears often and it took me longer to dive down because of it. I would sink a foot or two and I would feel a squeezing pain within my ears. This isn't necessarily a skill issue because everyone's body is different. Moreover, Jan reassured me that it is fairly common, for those with sensitive ears, to need more time in order to adjust.

Since I had a few weeks until the ocean dives, I bought a mask from the dive shop to fit my small face. I tried to practice the mask cleaning, but the results were the same - failure. Therefore, I used the best source of information acquisition known to man: The Internet. There, I found a simple little life hack that would change everything: 

If you flatten your tongue to the roof of your mouth, you will always blow the air out of your nose!

Did you try it?

Not so "Easy Peasy" but very "Japanesey"

If I am to do any justice to the Internet community or to those who are interested in the JET Program (or any other program for that matter), then I would have to be frank and state that living in Japan is not easy. 

What?! What's so hard about living in a country that is so technologically advanced that they invent robots that can play the violin just for frickin' fun? If you don't know that answer or need to brush up, read the article "5 Things Nobody Tells You About Living in Japan" and become enlightened.

Japan doesn't sh*t glitter and Pokémon.
 Well, maybe not glitter.

In the U.S. I am a fairly independent person who has no problems whatsoever with everyday situations. This is simply not the case in Japan. Due to the need of constant assistance for the most mundane task, I feel as though I have regressed from adulthood. One reason for this juvenility is the huge language blockade. It’s a “blockade” because if it were something physical, it would look something like Gandalf the Grey standing on the Great Wall of China quoting that epic line:

Although I studied Japanese for quite some time, it didn’t prepare me for in-depth or complex conversations. It’s difficult to develop friendships or work-relationships when the language blockade does not let you pass the superficial. Luckily, the language blockade has not disrupted my relations with students as they thrive on superficial conversations. Japanese children are like tiny, drunk friends that love to comment on appearances. So far, they find my intonations (when speaking Japanese) and gestures cute, but I wouldn’t consider myself as “cute” when I speak English. Therefore, as a result of the language blockade, my personality has not carried over when I speak Japanese. 

Outside of work, the language blockade is affecting everything from making appointments to filling out forms. Stores or companies can refuse to assist me because they cannot explain (nor would I be able to understand) complex contractual terms. However, in cases when I am assisted by a patient employee, things will, and need to be, repeated to make sure that I completely understand. The smallest accomplishments feel like I’ve won the lottery, while failures feel as though my life is forever ruined. It’s a real roller coaster ride of emotions.  The language blockade doesn’t make me want to run back to the U.S, but it does motivate me to work harder on my Japanese in order to communicate more efficiently and so that I can show these Okinawans the true loca that I am.