You must be thinking of somewhere else...

Thursday morning, I got a message from a friend in Ohio:

"Hey, heard about the stabbings...praying for Taiwan tonight!"

At first, I thought maybe he was confusing an incident in Thailand, Vietnam, or mainland China, which have all been dealing with unrest lately.  When I checked the Taiwan News online though, I was shocked.  If you haven't heard, a student got on the Taipei MRT on Wednesday and started stabbing, killing four people.  CNN story  I know where that station is, I was there a few weeks ago, when Linda and I went to see the paper panda exhibit.  Everyone here is stunned, because this sort of thing doesn't happen in Taiwan.  There is very little violent crime, mostly petty theft, and guns are banned, except for use by police and military.  And the guys who maintain the ATM at the 7-11.  I learned that Friday, but that's another story.   I've never felt unsafe here. The upside is a lack of violence, there has never been a school shooting in Taiwan.  The downside is that students here, especially little boys, are fascinated by them, and I hate to think of what would ever happen if they somehow got their hands on a gun.
             The news media has reported that they are stepping up security at the MRT stations in Taipei of course, and  I noticed today on my way back from Zhunan that there are now visible police patrols in the TRA stations and on the trains themselves.  It's comforting, and at the same time, unsettling.  It's highly unusual, and you could tell on the train that the atmosphere was a little more tense. The Taiwanese are not used to it, and it's a reminder that things aren't 100% safe anymore.
             If I hadn't taken this job, I probably would have seen a blurb on the news, and probably wouldn't have had a second thought.  It's interesting how the world gets smaller and smaller as you travel.  It reminded me of 2004, when the train station in Madrid was bombed.  It wouldn't have mattered to me personally, but I had just come back from France, and had shared a dorm with 4 or 5 Spanish students that I got to know well.  This was pre-Facebook, so there were a ton of emails and AIMs sent, all the same message: "are you ok?"  And whatever happens in Taiwan in the future (earthquakes, typhoons, etc.) I'll probably be the same way.

Wulai

We went to Wulai today, a scenic area with hot springs and an aboriginal park

 And lots of waterfalls

 Rode the cable car

Linda's friend brought her some mangoes, which were delicious.  We ate some in the car, and then spotted an ice cream shop at the park.  We convinced the woman to put the ice cream directly in the container.  And then she informed us that she didn't have any spoons.  So we got creative. 

Fed the fish

 Rode the little tourist train

 And soaked our feet in the river, before it started to rain.

Welcome to the Jungle

Still busy, I've had about 6 weeks of school with no breaks.  It's exam week though, which means I have a little extra time.
     Lately, it seems like I'm being introduced to the "wildlife" of Taiwan.  About two weeks ago, on my way to class, I encountered a large group of students yelling at me in Chinese.  Finally, one got out the word "snake."  I'm not really afraid of snakes, we have small snakes in Ohio.  But I looked over the railing and saw a snake slightly larger than the ones in Ohio.  It was probably 3-4 feet long, and I swear it turned around and looked at me, daring me to go down the steps, onto the sidewalk, and cross its path.  Then it promptly turned the other way, towards the school driveway, and gave me an opportunity to run to class.  Literally.  Later my co-teacher explained that it was "dangerous," and someone had to come and get rid of it.  If it was venomous, it was probably one of these: Chain Viper, judging from the size and coloring.  Then a few days ago, I got the bright idea to try something I saw on Pinterest, and it involved moving my wardrobe.  I pulled it away from the wall, only to find a huge cockroach, smashed into the wall behind it.  Pinterest fail?  I did get brave enough to get a broom and sweep it up, but the wardrobe is staying in the same place for now.  Then this morning, while I'm reading my book, minding my own business, there was a huge bee/wasp flying around the office.  The Taiwanese co-teachers asked what I was staring at, but weren't overly concerned.  I however, spent about 10 minutes holding a binder over my head, prepared to defend myself.  And finally, a few minutes after I let my guard down, my eyes were drawn to a large spider, crawling on the phone receiver.  I did get brave enough to kill it, only because I would hate for someone to grab the phone and get a nasty surprise.  And I'm allergic to spider bites.
   I have two months left here, just a little under sixty days.  The kids are ready for summer to get here, that's kind of universal I think.  I don't have any major travel plans, but I might do something fun, in between bug fighting and evading snakes, ha ha.