Why I would move to Taiwan in the future

They recycle, and the garbage trucks play music like ice-cream trucks.  Taiwanese people wait until they hear the music and then run outside to toss their trash into the truck as it slowly drives through their neighborhood.  It also fosters a sense of community, because neighbors bang on each other’s doors as the truck comes by.

Hiking Elephant Mountain at sunse

They have a woman president.

The subways in all the cities are unreal:
a) there’s eerie music that sounds like Mario Galaxy whenever a train is approaching,
b) there’s no eating or drinking at all on the subway,
c) people actually queue up while waiting for the subway,
d) I once saw a teenage boy spill water on the ground in a subway station and then get on his hands and knees to wipe the floor clean.

The people are so hospitable, just like the Chinese.

They read books "backwards" with the spine on the right.

There are so many tiny pet dogs that people take everywhere in backpacks or baby carriages.

They wear seatbelts (imagine my shock after a summer of no seatbelts at all, when my first taxi driver in Taiwan had to tell me to buckle up or he’d get fined).

Tainan University

The whole country is an island.

Like in China, it would be totally acceptable for me to carry around an umbrella to protect from the sun.

Also like in China, the fashion style is really anything goes.  The most typical Chinese outfit is definitely a T-shirt underneath spaghetti-strap top with attached gaucho pants and platform sandals.

I saw a blood drive happening in one of the plazas, and I took it as an auspicious sign.

The night markets are amazing: pastries, barbecue, desserts, noodles, fortune tellers, clothes, jewelry, electronics, and knickknacks for sale, masseuses, and one white guy selling chocolate chip cookies behind a sign that says “Joy’s Homemade Treats.”

Living right above edge of Shilin Night Market (the biggest in Taipei)

Everyone rides mopeds.

The whole country has free wifi (like London).

Hardly anyone smokes compared to China (but a fair amount smoke compared to the US).

The food is unparalleled, but I do have an obsession with all Asian food.

There’s tons of vegetarian/vegan restaurants.

They’re more or less accepting of gay people.

I’ll be able to easily travel to all the fabulous countries of Southeast and East Asia.

On the steps in front of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall