Typhoon Day

Amid tense expectations on Sunday night, an email was finally sent out that school was cancelled the following day because of a typhoon. The government had ordered all schools across Taipei to close, and I heard many businesses did not open on that day either (interestingly, a rumour soon spread that the government had only made this decision to score points for the upcoming elections). My suitemate very foresightedly bought us some supplies to, well, weather the weather, and we holed ourselves in waiting for the worst.

The next morning, I pulled open my blinds to find that the city had woken up to a bright and sunny day. I could not help feeling perplexed. I checked my emails again to see whether the advisory had been cancelled, but nothing had changed. Eventually, I discovered that the typhoon was not supposed to hit until the afternoon, before which time everything seemed perfectly fine and ordinary.

Even when the typhoon did make its landing, it was a little disappointing. True, the rain was so heavy that one could hardly see several streets away, but people did not seem to mind and the cars splashed down the road like in an aquatic theme park.

The view from my window during the typhoon