In Peru I often found myself sleeping on worn out mattresses of dirty floors usually in a family home (doubling as a "hostel"). The mats would be about a half inch thin in the middle and 6-8 inches thick on either side. The sheets or sheet would be stained with many question marks and the smells would be, well, gross. I remember one time I checked into one of these rooms, I put my stuff down and went to pee in the bathroom (that actually came with the room!). I examined the bathroom floor to find gigantic toe nail clippings, lots of stains, a pungent smell, countless dead bugs in the drains and a lot of other stuff that I caught in the corner of my eye but decided to stop looking. The town itself was small, gloomy, and had an overwhelming feeling of being unsafe. I did not go out of my way to roam and when I did in search of food, I made sure to take only enough money for food with me and even then, I tucked it inside my underwear.
But I would stay for more than a day, sometimes even a couple of weeks. The reason being the surf... oh the surf, this magnificent, beautiful wave!
I can go on and on about the places and situations I've found myself in, all on the account of surf (maybe I will in another post). My point is there are certain... actually a lot of luxuries you give up when you're traveling in search of surf. Though usually I've come to find that the more unappealing the town is, the better the surf.
Taiwan is no exception. I did the traveling part when I first got here and now I'm doing the living part. The living part is still commanded by my desire to surf. This is why I have found myself in another unlikely setting with not so attractive circumstances but a wonderful opportunity to be able to surf everyday.
The reason why I chose Taiwan was because of the prospect of surf-able coastline and the possibility of saving money by working as an English teacher. When I heard this, I packed up my bags and moved here, board in tow. The first couple of weeks were dedicated to culture shock and sight seeing, mainly in and around Taipei. After that, it was dedicated to searching for the rumored surf in Taiwan. When I did finally find it, (it was actually pretty difficult) I found that most of the surf spots were situated in sleepy fishing villages and far away from urban civilization.
I am not a fan of big cities. They smell, they're crowded, and the people are always in a hurry... consequently, they're rude. However, being pretty much a mute, deaf, illiterate foreigner, many things would be much easier in a big, foreign city. There are many more businesses that can cater to at least a little bit of English. If you stop an educated looking person on the street, 8 out of 10 times they can speak some English. There are movie theaters which means that they play the latest Hollywood movies. There's an expatriate population, which means there are prospects of making friends who have a similar background or at least being able to have a fluent English conversation. The big kicker is in a big city, there's much more demand for a native English speaker to find employment, which means money, money, money. But there's no surf.
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| Picture of me in Kaoshiung city |
When I came to visit Jialeshuei, the small village that I now live in, I came face to face with a decision. Do I make lots of money and live comfortably in a big city? Or do I try to make ends meet here in this sleepy little fishing village with absolutely nothing else to do but surf? I'm not going to lie, it was actually a pretty difficult decision. I wanted to wake up and surf everyday, but I also wanted to save up money to be able to travel more in the future. I also knew how enormously easier it would be for me to survive in the city.
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| Our village of Jialashui... view from the beach |
It's already been five months and from time to time, I am tempted to leave and move to the city. There are overwhelming times of homesickness when I'm not able to call a girlfriend and go out for a drink or a cup of coffee. When the weather's windy, cold and rainy the commute to work can be very trying on my scooter.
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| Scootered back from work on a rainy day... It can be miserable |
If I forget to buy food for the next day, I will skip eating because I have to commute all the way to town to go to the grocery store or a real restaurant, which is usually just not worth it. At least once a week I'll walk into a restaurant and try to order something and the person helping me will treat me like I'm two years old. Yesterday, I ordered noodles to go and the guy actually laid out the materials on the table and proceeded to show me how to open the lid of the noodles, open the lid of the soup, pour the soup in the noodles, then put the spoon into the bowl and even charaded the motion of eating the noodles. In most moods, it's comical (and I gratefully accept their willingness to be so helpful), but then there's times I just want to shout, "I may not be able to speak your language but I think I know how to eat!"
I also live in the dorm room of a hostel with a steady stream of changing roommates. I don't even remember what it's like to own a closet or have my own living space because my closet is my backpack. There are a lot of things that I can go on about. Maybe my current living circumstances aren't exactly ideal, especially when I know that there are far better, more comfortable options out there.
But I'm sticking around for now because of the surf... oh the surf, this magnificent, beautiful wave!
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| Chris shredding |
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| Another fun day |
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