Reposted from yesterday's FB entry:
I thought I'd get my revenge on the Taiwan weather today. I've chronicled my outing before in this place where I was out during summer and ended up drenched in sweat while the slender people around me, built for this climate, gave me a wide berth, as well they should.
Today, it was in the low 60s F. I was out in a sports shirt while the non-sweating folks around me were mostly in jackets. So, hah. Even so. I tend to walk fast, and after about hour out, I was starting to feel damp. There's just more water and oxygen in this air than I'm used to.
And I was very careful in my mental mapping of where I was going, along with picking out landmarks, and it's a good thing, because I still ended up 90 degrees from the direction I thought I was going, which I realized when I spotted one of my landmarks. That got me going right again, and I kept walking with even more care.
Now, I'm at a really nice hotel in Taipei. It's my second stay here. But... I stay at this place, and things just happen. Last year, it was getting caught in a stuck elevator between floors during a typhoon. This year, about an hour or so ago, it was getting hit by a car.
Well, more like thumped. And it was a minivan.
Crossing a big ol' street with a funny name (FuXing). I was in the crosswalk, the little green lighted sign man was walking, the countdown next to the little green man was in the 60s, and people around me were also walking freely, so maybe I don't know the local laws all that well, but I'm pretty sure that means I had the right of way.
Cars were turning left across the crosswalk, and the minivan came at a 120-degree angle from my right, so kind of in my blind spot. I caught it in my peripheral vision just in time to start to jump out of the way when there was a thump, I was up on its hood, it was coming to a stop, and I slid off back to the side, onto my feet. Didn't even knock me down.
I felt fine - still do - and I waved at the driver behind the tinted glass in what I thought was a "no blood no foul" wave, stalked around the back of the vehicle, and continued on my way. But I wasn't happy. I doubt that ending up on a car hood puts anyone in a good mood. About half a block later, my thigh was aching - still does - presumably from the thump.
Several people looked surprised or scared at the time of the thump, but no one said anything to me, probably for any one of three good reasons: 1) I was walking (stalking) off, so I seemed to be okay; 2) the high probability is that I wouldn't have understood a thing they were saying; and 3) Chunky Little Glowering White Boy probably didn't look too approachable at the moment.
I was going to stop at a random little restaurant and order a chef's surprise - which for me here is just about anything that I order - but I was no longer in the mood. I stopped at a C-store, picked up some fruit milk, a couple little rice-and-fish-stuff triangles, and made my way back to the hotel. At least I was oriented enough to go straight there.
That's my day so far at 1:00 p.m. I can't wait to see what the afternoon and evening bring.
P.S.: I started to really feel sore and achey as the day went on, and I Yelped a massage place that worked me over for a couple hours (for fifty bucks, cheap). I was screaming on the inside. But I'm better off now than I was. On to the assignment today.
