Figured I'd put up another cute subway ad. While sexual harassment is no joke, I can't help but smile every time I see this. It always makes me think that I've been teleported to Tokyo.
Although to my knowledge this action is not very prominent on the subway. I haven't heard many stories, nor seen it. But it is an issue on the bus, I not only have heard stories but have seen it first hand a few times with various consequences to the perpetrator.
Finally i must say that fortunately or unfortunately nobody has ever touched my butt on public transportation. Although over the past few months more and more homosexual men have been checking me out on the subway. I take this is a huge compliment because in Taiwan most men who are muscular are gay. So by that logic if i'm being checked out more and more than it means my weight lifting is really showing results. I can't wait till spring. They'll really get an eyeful when it's t-shirt weather.
Actually muscles are an interesting thing here in Taiwan. It might seem like my comment before was an overstatement, but really it is hard to find a muscular guy who is straight. This may seem like an exaggeration but I think it partly stems from the fact that many Taiwanese women think big muscles are "disgusting!" There are plenty of women who fear not only muscular guys, but muscles on themselves as well. Many women will not exercise or even walk up stairs for fear that their legs will become muscular. In fact there are gyms and trainers who advertise classes and programs geared towards making men and women healthier without getting their muscles larger.
But I suppose this is nothing new. Chinese history is fully of exercise that is designed to get your circulation and chi flowing better, and you can still see many of these exercised performed by the older generation in Taiwan. Some of my favorites being...slapping the inside of each arm for ten minutes, hitting your back against a tree for five minutes, and swinging your arms back and forth.
If you find those funny, it's ok to laugh. During my time here I try to view everything with awe and respect, as i am guest in Taiwan, and I don't want to seem like anybody's culture is better than another. However recently I saw a play by a Taiwanese actress where she poked fun at these more traditional forms of exercise. It wasn't until seeing that play, that I saw the inherent humor in some of these exercises. It is amazing how rigid I have been during my time here. While I may criticize or question some traditions here, I have never laughed, fearing it would be seen as disrespect. But seeing this play allowed me to see that it's ok to find humor in things. I hope this year I can relax more and find the lighter side of things, perhaps it will allow me to take some things less seriously.
@nicedof Ha, thanks for reading so much. I do feel a bit bad putting such bad pictures with such long stories on a photo website, but writing something in English each night, is like a dessert after spending a day practicing my horrible Chinese.
February 12th, 2012
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