Limbo

As a foreigner with a limited grasp of the Chinese language, I live in blissful ignorance of most of what’s going on around me. I only recently found out that:

  • the most hotly debated topic in Taiwan right now is whether Chen Suibian, the president, will declare martial law so as to avoid the wrath of the electorate in March next year. Martial law?!
  • there will be a referendum next year on whether Taiwan should apply to rejoin the UN as “Taiwan” or as “the Republic of China.” The Taiwan option is almost certain to win and China will of course regard this as a provocation. A provocation is just what we don’t need. And of course they don’t have a chance in hell of actually being invited to New York.
  • a girl, a student, threw herself out of the top floor of her NCTU dorm last Friday and was found, very dead, on the pavement. I know it happens at all universities, but as an NCTU teacher I feel directly responsible (although she wasn’t a student of mine).

 

But it’s not just that I’m missing out on Taiwanese things, I’m not keeping up with Western things either. This year I seem to completely have forgotten about Christmas. I haven’t bought any presents, sent any cards nor thought about how to extend good will to my fellow man. I don’t know where I’ve been lately. Neither in Taiwan nor back in Europe it seems.