新年快樂！！！

Since I have been in this lovely country, I have done my best to get myself into strange situations in order to see things from a different point- of- view.  That being said, I decided to sit in and watch my roommate, Josh, get a haircut in Taipei.

The whole process took about one and a half hours, which says a lot already.  These hair salon people took great care and pride in their job.  They meticulously made sure everything was absolutely perfect to the tee.  In a sense, they demonstrated great 功夫（Gong fu).  There is a misconception that 功夫 only means Chinese martial arts.  In fact, the term encompasses an acquired mastery in any skill or talent.  I feel some would argue that maybe they just care about having a great appearance, but that in a sense is the same thing as caring.  They wanted their customers to have a good time and enjoy their service.  I have taken my sister for her $60 haircuts and what I have seen there does not compare to the salons here.  This also applied to our tour guide at the Chiang- Kai Shek memorial.  I have not heard "my honor" and "my pleasure" used in a sentence in the United States for far too long.  It was refreshing and brought a smile to my face.

I have noticed that a volunteer work is pretty big in this country.  Growing up in Los Angeles, my family was actively apart of the Jewish community there.  Being both Chinese and Jewish, I have noticed many similarities between the two cultures.   Of the utmost importance to both of these cultures is the family unit.  Within the Jewish community, the family extends further and encompasses the whole Jewish community.  Growing up, I was active and still am, in volunteering my time to organizations that needed help.  I have noticed that many young people in Taiwan are also encouraged to volunteer.  I find this fascinating that both cultures I relate push forth the idea to give back to the larger community they are apart of.

We are all going to the southern part of Taiwan this coming weekend.  I don't know much about that area of Taiwan save for its history and am very excited to see how it compares to the culture and people in the north.  Are people in the south more traditionally Chinese?  Or are they perhaps more influenced by something else altogether?  I can only imagine at this point.  My hope is that the south is very different in its culture.  I have this idea that Taiwan is a very diverse land with all kinds of inhabitants and I believe I will not be disappointed.