USTDC

Photo of USTDC courtesy of Les Duffin

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Taiwan Report - 1960s (Chapter 11)

Chapter 11 discusses the household help ("servants," as they're called here) that many of us hired during our time in Taiwan.  These included amahs (housekeepers), cooks, yardboys, houseboys, drivers or some combination of these.  Prices were reasonable and I think most of us were pleased with the work they did.

As I've mentioned several times previously, I lived in the FASD hostel that was located right next to the east compound so my needs were pretty simple.  I just needed someone to keep things spruced up and to keep an eye on the place when I was away.  There were several men who worked as houseboys there and each had his own set of rooms to maintain.  My guy made the bed, shined my shoes, dusted, swept, mopped and just generally tidied the place up every day.  He also replaced my drinking water jug when it was empty and did my laundry, but I paid extra for those things.

One morning while at work, I realized that I'd neglected to pick up a fairly substantial amount of money that was on the table in my room.  I hurried back during my lunch hour and found my room neat and clean as usual, and the pile of cash was sorted according to denomination and neatly stacked on the table.  I never worried about the safety of my possessions after that.

My next door neighbor at the hostel was an Air Force master sergeant who was very fastidious about his room.  I think he only hired a houseboy because it was sort of expected of us.  Anyway, he used to sort his bottles and cans of deodorant, soap, shampoo, aftershave, etc. on his vanity, with the tallest container to the left and the shortest to the right.  When he returned home from work he found them reversed, with the shortest to the left and the tallest to the right.  He and his houseboy played this game for several days before he finally made it clear how he wanted them arranged.  I thought it was hilarious and I have no doubt that wherever he is today, he still arranges his containers by height, left to right.




Monday, September 19, 2011

Taiwan Report - 1960s (Chapter 10)

Chapter ten discusses purchasing and preparing food, as well as tips on eating at local restaurants during the 1960s.  It also talks about the importance of drinking only water that had been properly treated.  When I was there in the 1970s, we drank only bottled water.  I did brush my teeth with tap water but never had a problem while I was there.

Food poisoning was not uncommon, even among those who had been stationed in Taiwan for extended periods.  I wrote earlier about a visit to Snake Alley with my friends Pete and his wife Peggy and several other folks.  Peggy was the only one in the group to eat  boiled squid in one of the restaurants and she paid a pretty severe price for a couple of days or so.

But for the most part, just using a little common sense allowed you to enjoy most anything without suffering any serious consequences.









Friday, September 16, 2011

Blog Problem

I was able to find and insert some code that eliminated the dreaded light box image viewing, so now you can just click on any image to see a larger version just as you've been able to in the past.  If you click on the image once, you'll see a slightly larger version.  If you then click on that version, you'll see an even larger version.  I hope that this resolves the problem permanently.

Thanks for your patience.

Don

Intermission

I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days and will resume posting the 1960s era Taiwan Report when I return.  In the meantime, feel free to add comments to the USTDC Facebook page.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Taiwan Report - 1960s (Chapter 8)





BOT Housing Preservation Effort

Jenny Lee wrote:

Dear All USTDC fellows:

Tomorrow, there will be a second time of Yangminshan USTDC housing historical factor review.  Please try your best to assist us to achieve the goal of "appointing" these houses as a "Whole and Original" National Historical Eco Village.  Please do post a message [on Youtube] after you view the film and pass the link to  friends.