I'm back from my trip to Taiwan. Here's some interesting thoughts about Taiwan...
Driving there is lawless. People have little regard for the rules of the road. However, during the time I was there, I didn't see a single car accident.
They really have no idea about child safety in cars. My father couldnt' understand when I was so insistant that my kids be in car seats. Even though it is law that children need to be in car seats, very few people seem to follow it. I saw a lady on a scooter with one kid sitting in front of her and one kid sitting in back of her. The kid on the back had no helmet!
I also noticed very few people who were overwieght and not a single person who was extremely obese. Here in the US, if you walk into a Hometown Buffet, you will see a ton of people who are morbidly obese. I never saw a single person like that there. 99% of the people I saw were extremely thin.
It was very interesting to see that their public parks had exercise equipment for adults. Here in the US, it seems like parks are mainly designed for children. In fact, the 2 parks that I went to had significantly more adults than children. When my kids and I woke up at 6:30am because of jetlag, we walked to a park and there were a bunch of adults exercising.
It also seems that there are either no leash laws for dogs or, just like laws for driving, people ignore it and just do what they want. I saw so many owners walking their dogs in the parks and around town off leash. I did see a sign saying that dogs needed to be leashed and muzzled when at the park, so obviously everyone ignored it.
the traffic is the same in the big cities in china. cars and bikes all ove the place crowding into each other. and i think i only saw one accident while i was there. but by the looks of all the cars you would think there would be an accident every other minutes.
Interesting comparation...and yeah - Hometown Buffet is very interesting place:) It brings some memories back when we were there every day.... with Joe Moreiara too....hahaaaaaaa good days:)
Mike,
Go back to the early 70's in the US and a seat belt was your father sticking his arm in front of you and throwing you back down on the seat after he slammed on the brakes.
No one wore bicycle helmets in the early 70's because they caused more injuries than they prevented. If you wore a helmet you got your ass beat every day at the playground. No helmet, maybe you never hit your head on the concrete.
Glad your back. I was fixin to start ans. questions just to see if anyone could tell bullshiest from truth.
I remember in Guangzhou they had expressways with bi-directional traffic, intersections, lanes of bikes and motorcycles, and streams of pedestrians, with absolutely no traffic lights or signs, engaged in a constant intermingling swarm.
I made it a point of never crossing unless I had 10+ locals as a shield. Also, crossed with friends so that if I was hit, someone would be there to call for medical (apparently, unless you have a friend, everyone else will just leave you there).
I found that driving in most countries like: Taiwan, Phillipines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Italy, France, etc is like doing BJJ. People who are used to driving in that kind of environment usually have better 'awareness'of things to come pretty much like the ones needed when grappling. That is why the accident rates are not as much. Even if the accident happens, the amount of damage is not as bad as in the US (usually scratches & bumps).
It is common place to not wear a helment on scooter here.
The thing what sticks in my mind is seeing 1 adult, 2 small children and a dog on a scooter. I know...
and none had helments.
A doctor in Taiwan said that not many people came to the hospital from car accidents, but in the evening a lot of people come in from accidents on scooters. He said that during the day, there aren't many scooter accidents.
4 years ago, I did not see any SUV's and Mini-vans in Taiwan. Now I see them. However, their SUV's and Mini-vans are not as big as in the US.
No seriously, how was it? Why do I ask is becaues I'm thinking, have been thinking about moving there for a few years and the most important thing I must know is how is the training opportunity there? And I don't mean kung-fu!
Whenever you are in a location that does not have a lot of practitioners and no high ranking instructor present on a daily basis, progressing is going to be a challenge. The guys in Taiwan have been able to handle their situation well and seem to consistently compete in everything in that area of the world in order to make sure that they are keeping up. From what have been told, they have been pretty successful in competitions, so they seem on the right track.