Quirky, zany days: #1

The ubiquitous face masks of Taiwan... I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I saw these — and in such incredible numbers! :D As many of you from back home probably know I am not only USED to the idea of wearing masks, but often do it when I am sick or cleaning (dust allergies - urgh!). The ones I wear are more like this however:

Seeing these around Japan was very common, especially during hay fever season! I'm used to it, and in fact I find this second type of mask very useful. However, the massive cloth masks that pretty much EVERYONE in Taiwan wears are usually used by a certain type of people in Japan. When I see these masks I think of high school delinquents or yankees in Japan with their rough language, brazen rebel attitude, and for the girls — their incongruous habit of wearing hello kitty house slippers... Don't ask. haha. Anyway, when I first started seeing these masks in Taiwan, I'll admit it through me for a lip because it has that connotation in Japan. I remember thinking, "Huh, weird."

But live here for a few days and you'll soon figure out that there is a REALLY good reason EVERYONE wears these masks. They aren't to protect other people from your germs like the surgical masks — which people here will still wear if they are sick. No, they happen to be to protect THEM from the fumes of scooters, cars, and trucks while they are zooming around on their bikes and scooters. The number of scooters here is so mind blowing that there seem to literally be armies of them — I'll talk about that later! :D But the fumes can be really bad if you find yourself stuck behind an old scooter that is blowing out an obnoxious amount of smoke...

How often does THAT happen, you ask?

Pretty darn often! Haha. I was choking on fumes on my way to work yesterday, no joke. So the odd face masks in Taiwan are a complete necessity if you don't want to have a coughing fit behind some old beater huffing and puffing down the street. So, you can bet I'll be wearing my own once I get on my new scooter. :P Call me a dork if you want, but at least I'll be able to breathe easy, mwahahahaha.