Thursday, July 07, 2005
Taiwan in July
by jima
I'm on my way back from my first trip to Taiwan after the move. The trip was moderately successful, but I had to extend my trip longer than originally planned. Because of the rescheduling of the flights, I ended up on a 7 AM flight out of C.K.S. airport.
The city in which I was working, Hsinchu, is about a 45 minute cab ride from the airport when the traffic is light, so an early morning cab ride was the order of the morning. I got up at 4 am, took a quick shower (mainly to wake me up enough to face the day) and checked out of the hotel. So far, so good. I go from the hotel lobby (12th floor) to the first floor to catch my cab. The cab shows up within a few minutes and whisks me away. The driver decides to stop for gas on the way out of time (not a big problem, as I'm running a bit early and this is a fixed-fare trip.)
When the driver gets back in the car, he starts fiddling with the radio, gives up on it, and starts playing the CD player. Much to my surprise, and, I must admit amusement, the disc he plays for me is a greatest hits of ABBA, which starts with the song "Voulez Vous". Somehow this seemed too perfect, a Swedish pop band singing in English about a French pick-up line to a Taiwanese taxi driver and his American passenger. It's a small world, after all.
jima
The city in which I was working, Hsinchu, is about a 45 minute cab ride from the airport when the traffic is light, so an early morning cab ride was the order of the morning. I got up at 4 am, took a quick shower (mainly to wake me up enough to face the day) and checked out of the hotel. So far, so good. I go from the hotel lobby (12th floor) to the first floor to catch my cab. The cab shows up within a few minutes and whisks me away. The driver decides to stop for gas on the way out of time (not a big problem, as I'm running a bit early and this is a fixed-fare trip.)
When the driver gets back in the car, he starts fiddling with the radio, gives up on it, and starts playing the CD player. Much to my surprise, and, I must admit amusement, the disc he plays for me is a greatest hits of ABBA, which starts with the song "Voulez Vous". Somehow this seemed too perfect, a Swedish pop band singing in English about a French pick-up line to a Taiwanese taxi driver and his American passenger. It's a small world, after all.
jima
