Haircuts and Loss of Translation

Ladies if you need to get your haircut in the future, just come to Taiwan. Yesterday I wandered into a 'small' salon near my house. I didn't have low expectations, but I certainly did not expect what followed. An adorable young lady in a uniform bounced up to me, led me to a seat and then turned on a small TV set in the mirror. I was brought hot tea and she proceeded to allow me to flick through TV channels while she gave me a shoulder and back massage. Really. Unbelievable - at least to me. After about ten glorious minutes of getting those knots in my shoulders out, she went into an long and intricate scalp massage using shampoo. I didn't even have to move from my chair until it came time to rinse. What was even better about this process was that she didn't avoid talking to me because I couldn't understand. She was so sweet about asking simple questions so that I wouldn't feel out of it. When I did move to get my hair rinsed, she went through the process massaging my temples and then placing a hot clothe on the back of my neck. I practically melted I was so relaxed.
Back to the chair, another woman came around wearing a different uniform. She gave me a book of hairstyles but called over one of the other patrons who could speak English in order to translate what I wanted. Snip, snip, snip. Finished, a different young lady came to dry my hair, then finally styled it. You can imagine I was getting a bit nervous at this point. You see, I hadn't expected all this and I was imagining this huge bill at the end. With trepidation I went to the counter to pay. Fifteen dollars. It all cost fifteen dollars. Yes, jaw drops, mouth gapes. A Wal-mart haircut in the States costs at least ten - in Taipei for fifteen you can come out relaxed and happy. Of course you have to have an hour or so to spare out of your day, but it's totally worth it! For some reason I think of all the ladies I know and how much they would love it - Barb, Liz, Lydia, Terri....ah the list goes on and on. So if you ladies ever come my way, I know exactly where to take you first :).

Travels

While I was traveling I wrote religiously in my journal every day. I wanted so much to have a way to remember and even to try to share what my experiences were. Now, as I sit here writing, I realize that there is no way for anyone to understand these experiences. Mostly because everyone has different reactions to the same experience, but also because a lot of people wouldn't care to take the same sort of adventure. We are all adventurers in our own right, but we don't all like the same kind of adventure.
For me, on this trip it was a relief to be traveling with someone who was as laid back as I am. This way, we avoided anyone complaining about the not so clean hostels, the dirty public restrooms, the cold showers, the difficulties in not understanding a lot of the language, etc. We went to small towns, camped, experienced the Taiwanese hospitality again and again. I will never forget getting up looking grungy and groggy after having slept on the hard ground all night by Sun Moon Lake and having the family camped a ways down walk up and offer us breakfast. Or the family that ran the first hostel we stayed at sitting us down to share their wonderful dinner. Even just asking for directions seemed so easy when taxi drivers were willing to tell you which direction to walk instead of conning you into having them drive you. And so, even though I thought I was already in love with Taiwan, I have come to a whole new level in my love affair with this country and it's people. I remember riding through the mountains on this tiny bus and looking out the window at the mountains of palm trees and greenery. My thought was that I didn't deserve to be so fortunate to be able to experience this.
The one experience of this trip that I would like to try to share is the one I had in Jiji. We had ridden the train in that morning and rented a bike to ride around the town and see the sights. Jiji is this tiny little town without even a movie theatre. We were the only tourists that I saw the entire day we were there. The one sight I truly wanted to see was the largest temple in Southeast Asia located right there in that tiny little town. It was quite a trek, we ended up having to push the bike up this long, winding road to the top of a mountain. It was totally worth all that work. This huge temple was perched with a view to die for. Lavish decorations, grotesque yet fascinating statues, giant golden idols. I removed my shoes and entered the temple to be directly greeted by a huge golden idol in the center of the room. It was deadly silent there, monks with shaved heads sat silently praying. This was one of the great reminders of the power of religion.
As I stood contemplating the idol, I couldn't help but think how empty it seemed. After all it is only a statue, can God be present or contained in this representation of a greater being? It was terribly overwhelming. I cannot help but admire people who are willing to give up everything in order to follow a greater purpose, but standing in that silent room staring up at that statue I couldn't feel God. Thinking back, I realized that I had felt God that morning when I stood looking at the sun rising over Sun Moon Lake, and I felt God looking at the huge field of flowers right outside of Puli, and I felt God when I talked to this tiny girl on a bus heading to Shuili. As wonderful as that temple was, it was man made. The statue was created by men, every stone set in place by human beings. But for some reason, it seems as if all is right with the world when you can look at things that are so beyond human comprehension and understanding and realize that there is a great creator behind it all.