Tuesday, January 11, 2011

It's a bit nippy

Something that I don't know if I've whined about or not here is the lack of indoor heating in Taiwan.  Most of the time the major concern is not cooking while you're just sitting in place, but for a couple months out of the year it gets quite cold. And wet. It's been raining almost continuously for a couple weeks now and doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon.  The longer we are covered by clouds and damp the colder it gets. 
What's even better is that school's do not have indoor heat either.  When the building you work in has the hallways open to the elements and everyone insists that windows should be open at all times it gets uncomfortably cold.
There's also the matter of the general lack of insulation in buildings.  The whole concept seems to have completely eluded them.  The building I live in now seems to be okay on that aspect, being surrounded by a couple hundred other apartments also seems to help. In general though, you must be bundled up in several layers, with a hat and mittens to feel remotely comfortable.
Then there's the extreme opposite. Cabs and buildings that do have heat tend to go into panicked survival mode and turn it up as high as it will go.  It feels good for a few minutes while you thaw out and then you're just sweating.  Of course once you start to sweat you have to head back out into the chill. Lots of fun.

 Please send warmth my way.

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