Wo Ai Tai-Mei

Something that may not have occurred to you before: Halloween sucks in Taiwan. That is to say, it's not really celebrated. One of my top three favorite holidays growing up (only behind Thanksgiving and Christmas), Halloween passed without much notice in Taiwan. Several of my students came to the teachers office and demanded candy, but that was about it.
The previous Saturday, Judy and I went to my friend John's new apartment in Anping for a halloween party. We spent the better part of the day shopping for our costumes. I went as a Taiwanese gangster (very simple: black shirt, pants, and shoes, sunglasses, an unlit cigarette, and styled hair) while Judy went as Tai-Mei. Tai-Mei literally means "Taiwanese Beauty" but is mostly a derogatory term for a Taiwanese girl who wears short skirts, flashy blouses, too much make-up and too many accessories. It's a whole subculture in Taiwan. There is even a Taiwanese rap song about Tai-Mei, appropriately titled, "Wo Ai Tai-Mei" which means "I love Tai-Mei". The song is by MC HotDog (no, seriously, that's his name) and the chorus goes "Wo Ai Tai-Mei, Tai-Mei Ai Wo" - "I love Tai-Mei, Tai-Mei love me" and then goes on to suggest that a Tai-Mei would be preferred to any number of classier models or pop singers. In case you're interested, here's the link to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSd1h5hX1i4
(cut and paste to the browser line)


Unfortunately, we were the only ones who dressed up. Apparently, none of John's Taiwanese or Western guests got the memo about "costumes" "Halloween" or even "party".
Well, none the less, it was a fun night, and we did get some good pictures.