Today is a (nother) holiday here in T-dub (my new way of referring to Taiwan by the way). I've heard it called "Peace" day by some, but it is commemorating the massacre of the citizens by the government on February 28th, 1947. You can get the full breakdown here, but basically, the Japanese ruled Taiwan, excuse me...T-dub, for the 50 years before the end of WWII, and during their reign had done a pretty decent job modernizing the country and treated the civilians well. Not everyone loved them of course, but many did (and still do) view them favorably. When the mainland Chinese took over the island after the war, their administration of the island was sketchy at best and there was a lot of heavy handed legislation and taxation. In 1947, the local ATF confiscated a 40 year-old widow's contraband cigarettes and when she pleaded for their return, one of the officers smacked her with his pistol. In the ensuing altercation, they shot and killed a by-stander. The next day, Feb 28, 1947, the pissed off locals stormed the Governor-General's building (with swords) and took it over. Over the next few days, the locals had effectively taken control of most of the island until the mainland government initiated a curfew and shot those breaking it. It is estimated that about 4000 people were killed before the uprising was put down. The authoritarian KMT government ruled with an iron fist until the mid-80's when democratic elections were allowed. My opinion is that this legacy of strict rule is one of the main reasons for the low crime rate now as there is still an underlying fear of Big Brother. Not saying that was right, just sayin'. The democratic government recognized the incident and made 2/28 an official holiday in 1995. Acknowledging past atrocities is a sign of a healthy society. That and the fact that women are treated equally and have equal access to power are two of the most admirable things about T-dub that makes their future bright. Now if we can only do something about their driving habits...I might be in favor of a small return to the draconian tactics of old to clean up that mess.
I just got my second haircut since arriving here by the same gal that cut it last time and have to say that she gives me the best haircut I have ever had in my life. My hair is not very pretty to start, grows like a weed, and there is a slowly expanding bald spot. For my whole life, barbers/stylists would try to give me a "look", but it always looked terrible, like Edward Scissorhands off his meds at best, and at worst, like the dude from Kid-and-Play.
At least 10 (and probably closer to 15) years ago, I started going to Rudy's Barbershop (local cut-rate chain in Seattle where the barbers are heavily tattoed/aggressively pierced) to get the $10 buzz cut. Would get the #2 level setting on the razor all over, which looked OK after a month, but laid bear my oddly shaped skull. This T-dub lady (who speaks zero English matching my zero Chinese) manages to hide the bald spot nicely and cuts it so it looks natural. Funny that it took 46 years and 10,000 miles to find a women whose culture has no curly hair to make me happy.
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