I don't know if it's a commentary on life in Taiwan, or just life in general, but it seems like more than a few people I know were a bit disappointed that the world didn't end last week.
In Taiwan at least it's not for lack of trying. Taiwan can have some devastating natural disasters. I've spoken before about typhoons and their dangers. Floods are also quite common and quite dangerous, especially in the south of the country. Mudslides and rockslides are also a danger, especially with so many mountainside roads. The pictures can be quite disturbing, and even I myself was hit on the head by a rock (that may explain some things).
A silent killer is the humidity, especially in the winter. Things can get quite damp, and mold is a very serious problem. And it just reeks havoc on your things. You have to keep things really packed up safely so they don't get moldy, and your poor electronics, it's the heat in the summer and the moisture in the winter. My babies...
But the most devastating of course are the earthquakes. We usually get a few a year and for the most part they are not too bad. Although a few years before I came there was a huge earthquake that tore up the center of the country. You can still see the abandoned schools, buildings, attractions, standing almost frozen in time from when the earthquake was.
But even the buildings here in the north have been affected. While none have toppled over, it's rare to see an building that doesn't have cracks in the walls. Just looking around my apartment I can find a few. But the longer you are here the little alarm that says "that's not good" gets softer and softer.
When it comes to earthquakes I have been pretty lucky. My first apartment was on the top of a large building and it swayed a lot during earthquakes, so much so that it would feel that you could just fall out the window. Cabinets would open up and things would fall out, so you quickly learn to tie cabinets closed and pack things away inside in a particular way. Since then I've been on lower floors and not really felt them. The only real situation was a huge bang one night, and I got up to see that an HD TV had fallen off it's stand. Yet it still worked amazingly, unlike a much nicer and newer one that died from being too hot....twice.
Yet you must always have earthquakes on your mind. The picture above is a clear example of this. I'm always mindful of where I put down a glass of water. I never put it down on my desk with my papers and computer if I will be leaving it unattended for awhile. But not just a glass of water, with everything you must give a bit of extra thought when you put it down, because you never know when an earthquake will occur and knock something over if it's not secure.
Although it might not matter. Usually there a few small ones over the year, but it seems like forever (a year and a half?) since there has been an earthquake. Seems like that means the next one will make up for lost time. Beware December 21st 2013!
