Fitting In

Living four to an apartment and long days spent at orientation has really pushed me to find time for me and explore the city on my own. Tonight I took a walk around the Cultural Center to do some thinking and relax a little bit. The nights are so lively here that if you wandered around Kaohsiung only during the day or early evening you would certainly miss much of the cultural experiences the city has to offer. Nights are balmy, but much cooler in Kaohsiung than the rest of the day. It's a wonderful preview for what I hope the beginning of fall will be like.

The area next door to the apartment building was set up in market form. There was a main stage on one side which was being used by a Shanghai acting troop that performed some short pieces. I caught the end of one piece and stayed for the next. I was happy to find that I understood the plot and the humor as well. I even found myself thinking about different acting techniques and tools the performers were using, evidence of the great influence the acting class I took during my last term at Lawrence had on me. The set was quite simple, but the actors used their bodies to create the rhythm and movement often felt from a more complex set. It reminded me a bit of the style of an acting student (much more advanced than me) at Lawrence.

People came and went throughout the performances, many of them walking with their dogs. A couple with a poof of a Pomeranian walked up beside me and I tried to snap a few discreet pictures. Unfortunately, I am not very skilled with the night mode on my camera yet, and the pictures were all turning out blury. I tried using the flash, and although I did get a picture, I startled the dog with the flash and drew attention to myself.

After the performance I checked out a few of the book stands, found a great gift, and made my way over to the large circlular mall area (think National Mall, not shopping mall). I found a comfy spot on the steps and watched dozens of couples dance in a sync to a recorded tape. The best part is, anyone is really welcome to join, and this sort of group dancing is so common in any park location that just about everyone knows how to do most of them. It's so fun and uplifting to watch because elderly people participate, although the majority of dancers are probably 30-50 or so, and girlfriends invite one another to have a dance. There was one elderly man in particularly who moved in small shuffles and would come to take some of the women out for a spin when their friends alone couldn't convince them. Most of the dances seem to be crosses between commonly known routines like tango and ballroom, with spinning and twirling, and small kicks of the lower leg. I smiled and tried to signal my curiosity by moving my head and shoulders to the beat, hopeing someone would invite me to join. I got a lot of smiles and some bows, but not takers tonight. I could tell I was getting closer, so I'll keep trying. If that doesn't work, I can always move a few feet over to join the section of aerobic dancers or one more section after that to the group of mostly younger women who like to shake their hips.

I did manage to take a few pictures that turned out a bit better after playing around with my camera. I couldn't resist shooting photos when a little girl about 2 years old or so was so excited and happy to hear the music that she ran out towards the circle to dance while her mom sat by beaming at her. I tried to capture a few others of a family of three walking along the steps, and wish I could have gotten one of the mom carrying the boy bucket style as they made their way back. On my way out I also heard a girl giggling and looked over to find her struggling to give her boyfriend a piggyback. It may have been tough, but she defintiely carried him a good ways.

On my way back to the apartment I stopped for a blended ice drink, a very popular snack in Kaohsiung. Last night we tried the mango, so tonight I asked the woman for her opinion and she fixed me the chocolate one. It had pieces of a chocolate bar, Hershey's chocolate syrup, a flavored syrup (which I'm going to say was also chocolate flavored), and some sort of cocoa powder. It was refreshing, and surprisingly not too sweet. I then moved on to what I call "a cutesy store," any store that sells all these different types of hair accessories and other jewerly, purses and cell-phone cases, cute chopsticks and eating utensils, etc. I found a really cute purse for a great price and then chatted with the three girls in the shop. Turns out that young people here also like to have their friends come visit them at work. The three of them do everything together and study at the nearby university. They were really excited to find out that I was the same age as them and agreed to be my friends quickly. They are crazy and fun, and they're such good friends that they just through me into their hilarious banter. We talked about their English names--I had to explain the dangers and strange reactions that would likely be associated with names like Kinki, Jessibettica, and Sorri, and we eventually decided that Zoe, Jessi, and Angie fit their personalities respectively and would go over much better. We have dinner plans tomorrow and I can't wait to see what crazy topics we end up discussing.

This is all I can manage for now, but there's A LOT (just for you, Ms. Seymour) more to write. Don't worry! I am keeping a list of all the things I have to add so that I don't forget!