Sunshine Shoes

I first saw these shoes on Nordstrom.com and I remember the day clearly: It was a May afternoon on the Oregon Coast, I was sitting in the guest bedroom at my parent's house. In that moment I knew there had never been, and never would be again, a more perfect pair of yellow peep toes.

Two weeks later I was in a Nordstroms with Mom. We found them in the shoe department. Mom agreed: Shoemakers of the world could throw in the towel, nothing will ever surpass these in beauty or impracticality. So she bought them for me. And I schlepped them to Taiwan.

My mom didn't buy me high heels until I was 16. This was a good policy in a women's lib. kind of way. It was a bad policy in that I never really learned how to walk in anything but flats.

Whenever I slip anything on with more than a one-inch heel, James becomes visibly distressed, to which I snap, "Out of my way, short man!" And he responds, "I'm just really worried you're going to hurt yourself." If I'm in heels, the night isn't complete until I almost break an ankle.

I based my Saturday night ensemble on these shoes. Finding a dress in my closet that both went with these shoes and was appropriate for a family-friendly Christmas party took half an hour.

James was already in Taipei, so I had to brave the unlit, uneven sidewalks of Nankan by my lonesome. I caught the bus and as I clacked down the aisle to my seat, passengers on both sides stared at my feet - two dozen pairs of eyes that seemed to say, "Bitch, are you crazy?"

At 5'8'', I'm already taller than most women and eye-level with most men here. But Saturday night I was downright Amazonian. I felt like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation, except not so old and never as funny.

Miraculously, I made it to the hotel without incident. Once there, I only had to walk as far as the buffet line.

The road home was another matter. And James declined to piggyback me. My feet felt fine on every trip to and from the ice cream station. But trekking home was killer.

These aren't shoes, I realized, they're sunshine-colored torture traps - specially designed to concentrate my entire body weight on to two teeny pinpoints on either foot. The conversation between the bus stop and home went:

"ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch-

"You going to make it?"

"Want to switch shoes?"

"Nope."

"Carry me?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch...."

When will I wear them again? As soon as I have occasion, probably to Christmas dinner next week.

30 dolla' Fashion Show

Taiwan: You'll come for the "experience," you'll stay for the shopping.

Shopping here is something else. The malls are filled with Japanese boutiques that I try to avoid on pay day (ankle boots and waist jackets should not take precedence over groceries). And the streets are filled with markets where there are racks and racks of cute things that are dirt cheap.

If you're willing to pay, Taiwan has great shopping. If you're not willing to pay, you can still buy a ton of clothes.

I've done a bit of both. And herein will illustrate how to stretch $30 (U.S.) in the world of Taipei apparel.

For $30 you can buy....



One adorable vintage-style hat from Muji. That's quite a bit for one hat, but I've been looking for one for a couple months now. I almost dropped $50 on one from a Banana Republic. So I'm pleased with this find.

I can't wear it often because it's too warm. But it will be put to good use when I move back to windy old Florence, Oregon to live out the rest of my days in my parents' garage. They just started reading my blog, and now is as good a time as any to drop that bomb on them (hi Mom, hi Dad!).

Or...For $30 you can buy all of the following.

You don't get to try stuff on ahead of time, but the price can't be beat even if you do take home a couple unbecoming rags. Here is - in order of least to most adorable - everything I bought for $30, total, at Wufen Pu, a large market in Taipei where many night market vendors buy clothes wholesale. It's probably the best bargain in the city.

Pollution-colored maternity shirt. This shirt is really ugly, but it's good enough for the 4-year-olds.



white shirt with some leaves and buttons on it. More classroom couture.

A teachery-teacher smock. I try to make this face as much as possible in the classroom.



A beige shirt dress.

Show me sexy

A green shirt dress. I had to resew all the buttons on this when I got home.





A plaid shirt dress. Can you guess what sort of phase I'm going through?

And a flowery shirt dress.

My goal is to replace the weight in books I brought to Taiwan with clothes. I brought about a dozen books, including several large hard covers. But I'm well on my way to achieving this dream.

The Culture Convo

I've been here exactly one month and one day. This morning I had a nice online chat with a friend whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan back in the day. Here is a truncated version of that conversation:

---

Friend: What up, how's the motherland?

Me: Dude, I've been meaning to ask you ... Why are there no tampons here?

Friend: Because my people don't use them. I think they think it's really taboo to, you know, insert. Ha ha.

Me: That's so crazy.

Friend: How's the culture shock?

Me: Mostly people are really polite, except they talk about weight and money more than Americans.

Friend: OMG, tactless - I know. How do people dress?

Me: Mmm, Japanese. Layers.

Friend: You see, I have no idea about Taiwanese culture because my parents are ancient and they immigrated when Taiwan was all conservative. My parents were strict about dating growing up because Taiwan was conservative when they were young.

Me: I wasn't allowed to date until I was 16.

Friend: I wasn't allowed to date until I was done with college. But like, my dad was really serious about it.

Me: Out of college?! Your dad didn't really want you to be that socially maladjusted.

Friend: I dated of course, I just never introduced my parents to anyone.
Me: Weird. Yeah, I don't really know what the norm here is now.

Friend: The next time someone asks you what you weigh you should ask them when they lost their virginity.

---

Probably the most entertaining piece of advice I've received on living in Taiwan. I'm saving it for a boring day...

I died ...

and went to heaven a Dior fashion show at the Grand Formosa Regent. James' mom's high school classmate's brother is a top stylist in Taiwan (p.s. did I mention connections are sort of important here...). Anyway, my boyfriend's mom's friend's brother got us tickets to see this fashion show. Taiwan's top super model, Lin Zhi Ling, was there, so I've had my first official Asian celebrity sighting. The moment we were seated I did the tourist thing and took a bjillion pictures before the models even stepped out. I just couldn't get over how fancy these place settings were! The three of us, James, his mom, and I, got extra plebian on the Taipei fashion world and stuffed the complimentary hotel notepads in our bags. "We can use at home!" Tina said scooping them off the table.

Here's a picture of the fancy appetizers. I was just blown away by the fanciness.
Then came the models. I was developing a crush on this one. She could tell.

And then the supermodel.

For more pictures, check my picasa.