4:15

Friday afternoon, 4:15

Half an hour till I could go home.

Half an hour till I could get out of the school and into the fresh air.

Half an hour till my weekend began.

Half an hour till I had freedom.

Half an hour till…ring!...ring!

“Day-bid, uhh…please go to third grade. Class 3-2.”

Damn! What did I do? “Okay…what do they want?”

“Uhh, uhh. Just go. Not…bad.”

I walked to class 3-2. I hope this is quick. I wanna go home. What could they possibly want? Class 3-3 teacher saw me coming down the hallway. A big smile on her face, she excitedly motioned me to come quickly as she slid the door open for me.

As I walked into the classroom I immediately recognized that I had just stepped into another one of those bizarre, yet unforgettable Korea moments.

“Ahh! Day-bid!!! Come come! Mani tisayo- eat eat!!”

Four female teachers in aprons kneeled on newspapers on the floor in the middle of the classroom, hovering over two portable gas grills, barbequing up some meat. The desks were pushed together and five or six other teachers sat at them. The table was covered with an impromptu Korean Barbeque feast: lettuce for wrapping the meat, red pepper paste for seasoning, rice, sesame leaves, garlic leaves, tangerines & coffee for dessert and, of course, that potent Korean liquor- soju. Liquor? In a school??

“Day-bid! Sit down! Here!” The school manager handed me a tiny paper cup and poured me a shot of soju. I respectfully turned my head and covered my mouth as I downed it in “one shot” and then returned the favor. Liquor in school? Sure, why not? Americans are too uptight anyway.

I then spent the next hour stuffing myself with the delicious samgyeopsal meat (essentially thick bacon meat) wrapped in various leaves- lettuce, sesame, komchi- and washing it down with soju. Not that I like soju. It actually tastes like rubbing alcohol, but, in Korean culture, if someone doesn’t have soju in front of him, you’re supposed to fill up his shot glass. And they always are supposed to return the favor. Seeing as how Korean men love to drink and they were not only my elders, but my bosses, I was filling a lot of shot glasses.

Having spent an hour enjoying the meal with my colleagues, I decided it was okay to excuse myself and go home. Luckily, I was able to cleverly keep my soju consumption to a minimum and I walked home with just the hint of a buzz. Enough to make me smile at the generosity and kindness of Koreans, as well as the bizarre situations we sometimes walk into.

Taipei Part II

For the international relationist in me, Taiwan is fascinating. As I said before, Chiang Kai-Shek and his Nationalist forces fled here after loosing the Chinese civil war to Mao Tse-tung and the Communists. It was here that Chiang set up the Republic of China (ROC). It was Taipei that held China's seat on the UN Security Council until 1971. In that year the United Nations recognized Beijing and the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate government of China and kicked Taiwan out of the UN, awarding the powerful permanent seat on the Security Council to the PRC and designating Taiwan as an autonomous region of the PRC. The United States did not switch recognition from Taipei to Beijing until 1979.

Despite being wholly autonomous from Beijing (Taiwan has its own embassies, government, passport, etc.) it is China's top priority to eventually return Taiwan to PRC sovereignty. Thus, China has threatened invasion of Taiwan should it ever formally declare independence. For its part, the United States has told Taiwan not do anything as foolish as to piss off China. Although Taiwan is protected by America's implicit threat to defend it in the event of a Chinese attack, the US has no desire make good on that threat. America's relations with China are far more important than that of Taiwan. Likewise, China has decided that it will bide its time in regaining Taiwan. It depends far too much on the American economic market than to risk war.

In the meantime Taiwan sits in limbo: neither able to declare its independence and gain official recognition on the international stage, yet unwilling to return itself to Chinese sovereignty. Thus Taiwan has settled for the status quo, which includes vying with Beijing for countries' recognition of their government as the legitimate government of China. Currently 23 countries recognize the ROC over the PRC, including the Vatican.

My friend Grant is a career soldier in the Taiwanese military. I asked him what his position on his country's situation was and he said that as long as China remained undemocratic he hoped Taiwan would maintain its independence. Although, it seems that reunification with China is probably an inevitability. The "One-China" policy is the single issue about which China cares the most. It has used its influence and sway to punish countries that do not hold to that policy. The more powerful China grows, the less willing countries will to raise their voices in Taiwan's defense. And, I must say, I don't want my own country going to war over Taiwan, as terrible as a Chinese takeover of the island would be.

I thought of this the three days I was in Taiwan. As I pushed through the hundreds of worshipers at Longshan Temple. As I stood on top of the world's highest building and looked down on Taipei. As I sat behind Grant on his scooter and we zoomed in and out of Taipei's traffic one warm evening. As we ate fried chicken on the Danshui waterfront and people watched I wondered, what would change if this were now "China" and not just "Taiwan"? Hopefully nothing. Afterall, Hong Kong seems to have fared well since being returned to China. Still, freedom is not something that you can touch. But it is something that you can feel. And the knowledge that that my friend's freedom lies so precariously in the balance made me appreciate mine all the more.

The main gate to Longshan Temple. The dragon at the top of this post is one of the many elaborate statues that can be found on its roof.

The scooter is to Taipei as the bicycle is to Beijing.

Above is the National Palace Museum. Unfortunately I was able to visit it for only about an hour. It is the world's greatest collection of Chinese art and spans 5,000 years. Chiang Kai-shek took the imperial treasures from the Forbidden City and carted them across mainland China during the Chinese Civil War before finally evacuating them to Taiwan. A good thing he did too. Otherwise they probably would have never survived Mao's Cultural Revolution when he destroyed all things relating to the old era. Thus, China's greatest treasures are not even in China. It is said that through all its movement, not one item in the 600,000 piece collection was broken. The museum is located at the base of a mountain. It is inside the belly of this mountain that the collection will be protected, should China ever attack.

The bridge at Danshui, a quaint seaside town 45 minutes outside of Taipei.