Typical Day on the Bus by Ten Loh

Really, what could be more fascinating than a bus ride that literally took the whole day to complete? Perhaps it was the even more strenuous dinner that stretched out unnecessarily over two to three hours. Having said that today was a good day to reflect on the trip so far, and to be quite honest, that was really what it was. Nothing reminds you more about the common human ancestry between nations than the Museum of Natural Prehistory, which, I am no history buff, but really seems very familiar to many other historical museums from around the world. Artifacts may vary slightly, but as the big picture, we really aren’t far away from each other. Lucy, the first humanoid skeleton can literally be found in every single museum one way or another, either replica or not.

Then, there are the islands that are scattered off the coast of Taiwan, but on a very sunny day with clouds looming in the distance, it was quite hard to visualize them. In fact, I believe there was only one successful island that was viewed by the majority of people, though some people claim to have seen a second one. Each one had it’s own specific history and it’s a shame we couldn’t take time off to personally visit each one, but alas, that is the burden of a time constraint.

Once the view of the sea was obscured, we got a little taste of a movie. In fact, it’s a typical Asian drama movie, where I won’t try to force anything and just plain out say that I probably slept through most of it. However, I did see that there was a girl that was heartbroken by a male lead singer of a band, and there was a happy ending. That’s always good right? At least it’s a bit better than your typical Korean drama … girl likes guy, girl gets terminal illness. Really, it’s a bit repetitive.

However, it’s important to realize that the culture of Taiwan really is all around us and even such a lackluster day can give us valuable insight on what Taiwan really is like. Of course, interpretations may be skewed and perhaps even wrong, but ultimately, everyone’s perception on Taiwanese culture is unique. Whether it’d be similar artifacts or annoyances, any experience really is golden and shouldn’t be detracted from its importance in the fact that this is still Taiwan. The real Taiwan. What we have come here to learn, feel, and hopefully embrace.