Nov_Dec_1998

November/December, 1998
Three American clowns
(from left), Linda Hulet
Troy Peace and Toni
Perrine, observe Taipei's
Lantern Festival
I-let Otiental gig
By Linda Hulet
COAi Southwest Regional Vice President
The announcement had just come over the PA that we
were descending into Taipei. Sleep had been difficult
during the 14 hours in the air because I was filled with
excitement. And now I stared out of the window strain ing to
see the airport lights. Could it be that two short weeks ago I
was in Las Vegas planning the next few weeks of "normal "
activities?
The phone rang. A clown friend had called about an
offer to travel to Taiwan. As usual, I barely had to think about
it, always up for an adventure. My,how plans change in the
blink of an eye! I had two short weeks to alter my life.
Leaving my iron plugged in was the least of my worries.
Putting your personal and professional life on hold for three
months is no easy task, but a person rises to the occasion
when the motivation is there.
I wasn't alone this time, though. I had been asked to
find another clown and on a fluke saw my friend Toni
Perrine at a local restaurant and jokingly asked if she would
like to go to Taiwan. To my amazement she said "Sure." To
make a long story short, she is sitting behind me on the
plane.
There were 14 of us altogether on this trip, six members
of a ska band, one country singer, one Italian accordion
player, two American Indians, three clowns and a magician .
Little did we know that we would all be living and working
together 24f7. Our living quarters was a three story house
in the middle of tea fields. It had a teeny tiny kitchen
equipped with an apartment size refrigerator. A small
washing machine and even smaller dryer (it held two pair of
pants if we were lucky) were our laundry facilities . Thirty-four
steps lead to the L-shaped bedroom which was shared by
the three females in the group.
When we arrived we were treated to McDonalds! Little
did we know that a hamburger might be the last
recognizable food we would see for a while. The first day we
were expected to do two sets at the theme park as
rehearsal for the management to decide where they would
place us at the park. The park hosted a lovely lunch, lazy
susan style, to introduce us to native food. It was, uh,
interest ing. Full-bodied animals and slimy things graced the
table . Our adventure was well under way. Shopping for
groceries was also quite an experience. The first time we
just wandered around the shop for about half an hour with
empty baskets because we couldn't identify anything.
Soon after our arrival we were given an information
sheet titled , "Little Things You Should Know About
Taiwan ." What an understatement. Here are some things
we learned: 1. Traffic signals are merely suggestions.(Take
this and run with it.) 2. Pedestrians have no rights. (Refer to
#1.) 3. Motor scooters, scariest things on two wheels. (They
go anywhere and will.) 4. Elevators. (Prepare for stampede).
5. Bathrooms. (ALWAYS, ALWAYS take paper with you.
Nutt said.) 6. Taxis -- they are great as long as you write your
destination in Chinese. (The exper ience is great and
compares with your favorite roller coaster .)
We were told to expect typical California weather. In
reality, it rained almost every day and we are talking HUGE
thunder storms. It was also freezing and we had no heaters
for the first month. Our night wear consisted of two pair of
pants, layers of shirts, three pairs of socks and gloves under
40 The New Calliope