Days ago, before coming to Taiwan I had cleaned my Mac book Air’s screen off with an alcohol pad, and it immediately broke. I didn’t know it then of course, but the alcohol had seeped into the screen and broken the seal on the electronics for the backlight, ruining the entire panel (according to Dr. Fix in Taipei) that is, I thought hey, I’m in Asia, where all these things are made, it must be cheap to fix right? Wrong. It was $411.00 US and that’s half what I paid for the thing. Even so, it’s what I use to write, and so I need it. I had left the pc with Dr. Fix and went on many bike rides around the city until days later they left me an email to pick it up.
It was on this journey I ran into some elite buskers in the park which had turned multiple bicycles into a drum kit which he somehow was able to reassemble back into a bicycle he could ride to and from the park with, and he was using the setup to play Britney Spears, what a trip!
Anyways, once I got my pc back I did some serious writing in the hostel, and it was there I met a Japanese man whose dedicated his life to visiting the graves of forgotten Japanese soldiers across Asia. He invited me to go to an onsen in the morning and I agreed. It would be both our final days before going back to Japan.
The dawn came and I awoke, the Japanese man was already gone, but I found him downstairs eating breakfast. We walked across the city and found a classic business dealing in onsens, who knows what they call them here, that’s the Japanese word I’m using. So we get in there and three pools inside a small room appear before us.
Option 1: Sissy – (Temp)- Sauna strength - 71 Celsius
Option 2: Death – (Temp) – Boiling - 74 Celsius
Option 3: Shiver – (Temp) – Ice water
We went in the first option and it was nice for a few minutes, this is where most of the men inside were, with a few men in rotation for the ice bath, but there in the middle of the lava pool was a single bald head with a tiny white towel atop it. The Japanese man and I put 1 toes inside and immediately retreated for safety. The burning of our flesh too great to ignore. Needless to say this was something of an amusement for the singular man holding space at the center of the volcano, we tried not to smart against his knowing, towel laden gaze. We then went to the ice pool and it was there we took turns with an elder Taiwanese man who introduced himself to me, shaking my hand.
“American?” he asked, I nodded. He nodded back. “My name is Chen. Nice to meet you.”
He told me he had just retired from the city after working with them for over 70 years. Told me about all the changes he’d seen. The man was clearly proud and well respected, but when my Japanese friend came to shake his hand he asked.
“Japanese?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. My friend nodded. The Taiwanese man closed his eyes and stood without comment. Leaving us alone in that icy bath of emotion. You might not know it, but China is not the most hated country in Asia, that monicker belongs to the Japanese. One does not forget a conquest of a continent so easily, especially while still within living memory.
I looked into my friends face then, saw his pain, as well that of the man who just left... What does one say to something like that? How can I make right the wrongs of an entire generation? Of a nation caught in the clutches of madmen claiming divinity over them and all creation? This is what Anarchists do every single day. We see the mechanism of annihilation which every people falls into, try to explain, then watch helplessly as it happens over and over again... Like the watcher in the Marvel universe, we are doomed to witness with clarity the recuring madness of nations.
We left the Onsen in a mood. Going shopping together afterword was something of a trip. Things are getting far more expensive in Japan, and my friend is actually buying rice in Taiwan to bring home, as its 3 times cheaper here... Imagine flying internationally to save money on rice... We shook hands outside the metro, and I embraced him, which he was clearly not used to, but I could tell it was welcomed. I told him it would be nice to see him again, he gave me his info and told me to visit him in Tokyo.
I spent the rest of my Taiwanese dollars at the airport, played Pokémon, had a very sexual interaction with the stewardess which surprised everyone involved, myself included. Several Asian men and women looking at us askance. I hadn’t invited anything, or had I? Maybe it was something in the air? ;)
