Two Roads Diverged

Good evening, everyone. Today, I started off the morning with Taiwanese style bread. Here in Taipei, they have these bread shops that sell the most scrumptious pastries, and when you walk inside, you know for a fact what heaven smells like. It is probably a good thing that I can't transmit that smell to you over the internet, because you would be drooling on your keyboard. That is to say nothing of the taste. The one I tried had custard inside, but the custard isn't like the stuff that we Americans put in pastries, this was like flan. The actual bread was like the croissants that they serve at Cheddar's, but much better, and covered in some kind of sweet crust. All in all, the bread is wonderful, and cheap. The rather generous sized pastry is equivalent to $0.75 U.S. dollars.

I'm quickly discovering that the mindset here in Taiwan is, "how can I save money." It is an excellent way of thinking, and I hope that I will pick up some of this frugality. This credo shows itself in many ways, whether it be transportation, food, or running a factory. For instance, my uncle told me about the way factories in Taiwan are operated. In the United States, if you want to produce a product, such as a lanyard, you must first buy all of the equipment to make each part. So, you buy the machine that weaves the cord, and you buy a separate machine to make the metal clips that go on the end. Then you need to hire workers to run the machines. So, you hire a group of workers to feed the thread to the cord machine, and you hire another group of workers to run the clip machine. But then, of course, you also need a group of workers to run the sewing machines to put the two parts together, and still another to handle quality control. By the end of the production, the business is very expensive. In Taiwan, however, instead of making the whole lanyard in your factory, your factory may specialize in one part of the production. For example, lets say that you decide to make lanyards. So, you call some local factories that you know produce the cords, and you compare prices to see which one is the cheapest, and you buy the cords from them. You acquire the clips the same way. Then, you hire a few workers, who will work part-time, and will assemble their lanyards at their homes on their own sewing machines. They bring in the finished lanyards to you. You pay them cash for their work, and you sell the lanyards. Using this method, the factory owner saves money on production, labor, and rent. Now, that is how to run a business. This way is better for, not only the owner, but the workers as well. As they don't have to deal with long hours at a factory with questionable work conditions, and they can save money on gas by not having to commute as often. See what I mean? 

The more time I spend in this city, the more I love it. I am almost positive that when I go back to the U.S., I will be a picky eater. I feel sorry for my parents who will have to deal with me saying, "oh, I miss such and such a dish," and "I wish we could get this thing here." However, I am also exceedingly thankful that I have the opportunity to experience this. It has given me a feeling of certainty about what I want to do with my life, and I'm not even close to being halfway done with my adventure. I strongly urge anyone who has ever even thought about international travel to just go out and do it. There are so many things that you learn from the experience. You learn about the different ways that people around the world think, but also, you learn about the things which are universal. You learn about the things that everyone has in common. Not everyone is willing to keep an open mind, find their sense of adventure, and go to another country. I took the road less traveled by, and I can honestly tell you all, that that has made all the difference. 

Now, after all of that sentimentality, enjoy some pictures of beautiful Taipei:

 Thank you all for being a wonderful audience thus far, I hope to see you all, (figuratively, of course), tomorrow at this time.