Hurry!

1. I took the Taiwan High Speed Rail to Kaohsiung (yeah, that's how they spell it, ridiculous. the entire world is using pinyin and Taiwan created their own pinyin. so stupid.) Anyway, I was walking into the elevator that would take me down to the "cars" (train) and there were four or five other 40 year olds, one holding a child, about to board the elevator. The elevator door opened and they rushed in. One of the "moms" that was standing in the elevator was outwardly fidgety and as we walked in, she goes "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! (not exaggerating) Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Get in! Get in! Get in! Which one is it?! One or two?!" I half-expected there to be a bomb somewhere near us. I think my blood pressure shot up 10 points, and I don't know how high hers shot up. Jeez.

2. I boarded late, and I had a window seat, so when I got there, a mom and daughter were already sitting down with their two luggages in front of them. The daughter got up and took her luggage out, so I could get in, and prepared to take her mom's luggage out. Her mom then goes, in Taiwanese (that's about all I know in Taiwanese), "It's okay, it's okay!" LOL. Like, wow. How rude would that be in the U.S.? Oh, man, Taiwanese people...sometimes I just don't know.

It's when I experience small nuances like this that give light to the Taiwanese people or culture that I feel 150% FOREIGN.