|
|
a pair of disposable chopsticks!" YUCK! That's one of the most common things a foreigner will say after arriving in Taiwan. It won't happen right away. The Chiang Kai-Shek airport near Taipei isn't the most modern-looking airport in the world, but at least it's relatively clean. Just wait until you get on the bus. Taiwanese people have a habit of eating boxed meals during their long bus rides. Strong, indescribable odors fill the air. Plastic bags crinkle constantly (because people don't completely remove the box from the bag). Wooden chopsticks (bleached with toxic chemicals) are used once, then dumped with the paper box the meal came in, tied shut with one or two rubber bands, and stuffed into the plastic bag the meal came in along with the mandatory styrofoam bowl for the rice. |
 |
|
While many remote parts of Taiwan are absolutely gorgeous, populated areas are inevitably covered with litter. Lack of concern by individuals makes up a lot of it, but capitalist greed holds a good share, too. You're lucky (perhaps a "singularity"!) if you don't have ads for locksmiths and moving companies pasted right onto the front of your house! Industrial zones reek of toxic waste which flows through creeks and rivers into the supply of drinking water, and puddles of "garbage juice" line the streets of residential areas. Convenience stores in Taiwan give new meaning to the word "convenient"! In a stretch of about 1.5 km along the main road near my former home, there used to be FOUR 7-11s. Besides the 3 remaining 7-11s, there are 2 Niko Marts which are located just 2 or 3 minutes walking distance apart. If you buy a canned soft drink at any of these stores, you should expect to receive a straw with it. Even if you buy only 1 item, you'll probably receive a plastic bag (to add to the "garbage quota") along with it. When you tell the cashier that you don't need a bag, you may have to say it 2 or 3 times (even if you're using correct, well-pronounced Chinese), and when they finally understand you, you may get a strange look. Sometimes, you'll hear a compliment: huan2 bao3, which means something like "environmentally aware." Just smile and nod. They need good examples, but any attempt at an explanation will probably go in one ear and out the other. (Note: I wrote this paragraph in 2000. In 2002, despite new laws, much of it still applied. We'll have to wait and see how the implementation of the new law pans out in 2003. Improvement is coming, but it's damn slow!) If you ever grow tired of riding that smoke- | |
At any time of day or night, you can find frail-looking, old, weather-beaten folks with hunched backs picking the refuse containers outside these convenience stores and the dumpsters near student apartment buildings looking for plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. Some of them push wheeled carts in a manner resembling Sisyphus trying to push that rock up the hill. Others ride motorcycles with multitudes of plastic bags hanging from every possible place. You'd be amazed at the amount of stuff they can carry. While it's kind of a disgusting task, I kind of admire what they do, pushin' that rock up the hill only to have it come rolling down again when they near the top... It really seems pathetic. If only others would do their part to keep this island clean. |
|
|
|
TRAFFIC |
|
|
|
|
|
|