Not My Job

The Taiwan International Animation Festival is going on now. I went to see one of the series yesterday. The theme was Monsters - Not So Scary. It began with a short about these cute little creatures, entertained by a set of monster like version of the characters. Two fall in love, become separated, and finally reunited after a tragic accident. Quite imaginative with both character design, lighting and camera angles. The last one was also quite memorable with 3 very grumpy claymation figures. When the grumpiest of all swats a fly, he transforms into a colorful, bright, cheery fellow - coming off as insane to the other two. He then spreads his joy to the second creature and they find comfort in their shared joy, much to the 3rd's complete discomfort. Finally, the third succumbs, yet surprisingly remains grumpy. The wonderful ending shows that he too is also quite joyful inside, but only showing a disgruntled face. It's quite funny and enjoyable in the way it's shown the viewer.

The Festival is being shown on three theatres in the Shin Kong Cineplex near the 西門 (Ximen) MRT station. It was my first visit to that neighborhood and so I wandered around for an hour exploring the different streets and alleyways. It looked like a bad tourist trap, with lots of carnival like things, a massive cluster of cell phone shops, and expensive but teenager-ish looking clothing stores - including a section dedicated to second hand (二手) clothing and hip-hop wear. I did spot a gem among the rough - there were about 20 people in front of one little food shop, either eating or waiting in line. By far the most popular spot, so I jumped in line and ordered what everyone else was having. It was a delicious steaming hot bowl of noodles, mixed with oysters, a little soup and some spice. [Post edit: This noodle place is called Ah-Chung 阿宗 (a-zong)]

After the movie I walked around the 2-28 Peace Park...which in comparison to 大安 (Da'an), is much more open, and as a result, more noisy as well (from the nearby traffic). I then walked north and west, passing some night markets all the way home. It was quite a long walk and my feet were beat by the time I got there.

I got a call from Dan reminding me of a Puppeteer group's party at his place (he's got 5 other roommates in his 100 year old house - something always seems to be going on over there). So I headed on over to meet the mostly French-speaking folks. Low and behold Elodie showed up! The same woman I had met at the Chen house in 林口 (LinKou). It was nice to see her again - she's one of those instantly likable people. Her husband Matthew also showed up a little later. Again, when the French folk found I knew some French they asked me to use it. Even the slightest effort to call up French words causes the equivalent of a train wreck to go on in my head. I swear the Chinese and French are kept in the same compartment in my brain, and there's only room for one. My recall ability only gets worse and worse - Chinese just comes flying out of my mouth! I suppose it's a good thing that Mandarin is more natural for me now, but I am sad that I've lost all fluency in French.

I met another woman who's been in Taiwan for years, recently moved to Taipei and only just starting formal lessons in learning Chinese (her original goal when moving here). She's been teaching English the whole time and continues to do so now. Another man told me all about the films he's screening in the next 5 months in Taipei - most sound foreign. Another woman, German, but from the Netherlands, runs her own production company and travels around the world collaborating with people and putting on shows.


As usual it was freakin hot out. These poor guys, all dressed in black, had to stand around all day holding these little bottle of free sample Zero Cokes and HOLD their pose! Meanwhile a cute woman in front handed out little cans on a tray for tasting. They certainly drew my attention, and I tried the coke (which was gross), but I'm glad THAT is not my job.