Rotary Friendship Exchange - Rotary District 5960

Pottery making 2/3/12
We learned early that you could find a 7-eleven store on almost every block in Taipei or Old Taipei. We saw a few McDonalds but
not so many. It was hard to find a gas station but little repair shops for vehicles were everywhere.
An early culture shock for me was the traffic techniques. In the US, we are used to fighting for our position in traffic. In Taiwan, it
appears that each driver has the obligation to make sure the other driver can do what it takes to achieve his or her goal. I watched
many cases of politeness/courtesy so the other driver could make lane changes or even dramatic direction changing. Traffic was
typically bumper to bumper with 2 lanes each way on major streets. I was fascinated that there was virtually no honking. The only
honking was when someone did something very inconsiderate. The drivers that I rode with and the drivers of vehicles around us all
seemed to be very laid back and relaxed. There appeared to be no evidence of any form of road rage that we see in our country.
There are millions of scooters in addition to the cars and trucks. The motorscooters have the right of way. At signal lights, there is
the typical pedestrian crosswalk, then a space to accommodate scooters and then the rest of the traffic. At a red light, the scooters
come up through traffic and accumulate in the scooter space ahead of the rest of the traffic. When the light turns green, the scooters
charge forward. Often there is a 4-foot lane on the right side for the scooters to use. For the most part, the scooters simple go wherever
they chose amongst the other vehicles and drivers seem to look out for them.
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