A word on transportation

Marie mentioned we should get some photos of ourselves to prove that we're here, just to prove we're not faking the moon landing. But in the mean time, I took a few photos to illustrate the transportation situation here.

Can you count the scooters?













They literally go on out of sight. Same with bikes.




















The bikes are near our dorm, close to the National Taiwanese University, just outside the metro entrance (you can see the top of it in the photo). The scooters are everywhere.















I can see why a bike would be good, but I don't get the scooters, yet maybe. The mass transit system is great. There are buses that run everywhere and the payment system is tied to the metro, so you can put money on a card and use it for a bus or metro, and it even gives you a discount over cash.

So far the metro's been punctual, cheapish, and even clean. It looks pretty new. It makes even the transit systems in D.C. and Seattle look like hailing a stagecoach. Oh, and it's air conditioned. Why would you pay to use a hot, noisy scooter? Good thing it's that obvious to me, 'cause these guys drive like they're delivering hot pizzas with their bare hands. I've yet to see an accident (in five days, but it looks like it should happen every time a light changes), and they seem very deferential to pedestrians, but the speed and intricacy of traffic makes cars look like boulders in a river of scooters.

And just an extra note, 'cause I didn't publish this thing at six in the evening. We're twelve hours ahead of the east coast (we get the day first). So if it's noon here, it's midnight in D.C. (they're just starting the day), it's 11:00 p.m. the day before for those in Nebraska, 10:00 p.m. for Arizonites, and 9:00 in the evening in Seattle. We hope this obscures things when you're thinking, "what are Marie and Keith doing now?"