culture shock.

after my late night arrival to taichung on friday night, i still couldn't sleep - you know, the whole unfamiliar surroundings and it being daytime in california. saturday was my cousin shiao yu's engagement. amidst several ministers speaking, three dress changes for his fiance, the twelve-course meal, slideshow and romantic music, i became really confused as to whether i was at a wedding or an engagement. i guess the so-called engagement is what the bride pays for, and thus it is mostly her family and friends in attendence, and the wedding is the groom's time to shine. hell, they even exchanged vows that translated to "do you take this woman to be your fiance, blah blah blah.." since i won't be here for the wedding in two weeks, my uncle gave me the wedding favors : a deck of cards, each with a different picture on it of the bride and/or groom, all very done up in different styles of clothing and backgrounds. jo-fucking-der. i think i prefer the american tradition of the engagement being a private ordeal between the two people, and then just a single culminating event as the wedding.

i was finally able to sleep last night, since it'd really been about 48 hours since i'd slept any amount more than dozing off for an hour. this morning mum, my aunt and i went to a street market to shop around for a bit and get some breakfast. then a bunch of the fam drove up into the mountains to this little bbq place where you pick your chicken live out of a pen, and a style of cooking, then slaughter and season them for you to cook over some hot coals. after we finally got back to my aunt's place, mum, dad and i went to the costco which happens to be less than a block away. seriously insane. i mean, it's the same as any costco in the states, same setup, same look, same products (all imported) plus some additional stuff catered to the taiwanese palette. however, if you imagine the busiest you've ever seen a costco in the states, and then multiply the number of people in it by about fifty, then you have what it was like here. you could barely navigate the place without a cart, it was so freaking packed. and there were huuuge lines waiting just to get at the food samples, and the rotisserie chicken and other deli goods. i don't understand. i wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, being claustrophobic and all. obviously, the taiwanese don't believe in the mantra "time is money."

i miss los angeles and chicago terribly. only when i'm eating the delicious taiwanese foods am i happy to be here, and while that's been a lot of the time, there's still a lot of down time in between. tonight it's off to a night market for shopping and more eating. then gaoshiong early tomorrow (via bullet train!) for new year's eve and day.

{ 6.30p taiwan / 2.30a los angeles }