Tango at last!

Three months after moving to Buenos Aires, I have finally started taking tango lessons in the tango capital of the world. It seems a terrible waste of time to my dedicated dancer friends that fly 30 odd hours from Taipei every few years just to soak up the tango scene for 2 weeks, or a month if they're lucky, dancing every night till the sun comes out.

I blame my procrastination on decision fatigue. I was overwhelmed with choices of tango salons, schools, and milongas, not to mention a multitude of tango teachers. When I asked my dancer friends for recommendations, I was only left more puzzled by their vague assurances that there are too many good teachers to name. (I later learned that for a beginner like me, I don't need a high-flying pair of tango teachers.)

Turns out I just needed a pair of sexy tango shoes to spur myself into action. Though it's a wonder why I didn't have decision fatigue shopping for tango shoes at the annual Tango Festival and World Championship! 

Tango shoes aside, I also have my friend Hong I to thank for knocking some sense into me when I was obsessively analyzing the local listings of tango classes based on location, reputation, teacher bios, class times, etc. "Stop thinking!", shaking me lest I miss the point that tango is for experiencing, not overthinking.

My first tango class with Damián y Nancy (far right) at Club Villa Malcolm

阿根廷版的微型世博

昨天我和朋友去了Tecnopolis，一個展現阿根廷科技發展的園區，概念有點類似去年的上海世博，當然規模就完全不能相提並論。

其中，我實在想不通為什麼要選在冬天辦，也不理解明明是個能收門票的活動卻讓民眾免費入場。問了我的朋友後才知道跟選舉有關。這在和台灣同一個時代脫離軍事戒嚴並逐步邁入民主的阿根廷，也就不讓人意外了。

算一算時間，現在離10月23日的總統大選還有兩個月的時間，所以現在辦一個彰顯政府功勞的展覽，的確是個好時機（阿根廷很多科技方面的發展不是政府直接推動就是國營企業主導）。尤其是現場的眾多低收入戶，在領了免費的衛星電視小耳朵之後，難免拿人手短，應該不選執政黨也難吧！

阿根廷大大小小的選舉，感覺上比台灣的還要多，因為只要候選人的票數不過半就得重選，而且重點是還不能不去投票，要不然要罰錢！雖然這個硬性規定有點違反民主精神（放棄投票權也是一種權利啊，不是嗎？），我還是很欣賞這麼高的社會參與度。

我在Tecnopolis最快樂的事，就是到有照相活動區的館去照相（連照4張到臉部僵硬～）

First day of public school

My first day of school at Lenguas Vivas Juan Ramón Fernández, a public school in Buenos Aires, started in typical Argentinean fashion - half an hour late! My teacher is a sweetheart, and when she explained she was tied up with administrative duties on the first day of school, for once, I was neither surprised nor upset.

I take my new-found calm as a sign that I'm acclimating. Two and a half months after moving to Argentina, I've finally reached the point where jaw-dropping tardiness, and people's laissez-faire attitude about it, doesn't infuriate me, but rather amuses me.

For all that I poke fun at Argentinean ways of life (all in good humor), the country has obvious merits for which I feel justifiably smug about intuiting before coming here. Apart from the world's best beef and ice cream, free Spanish classes taught by top-notch public school teachers is no laughing matter, for which I am grateful to take advantage of during my year of no gainful employment.

The view from my classroom at Lenguas Vivas

時間 Tiempo

最近常常在想時間的事，可能是因為我對時間很敏感，不管是準時的禮儀還是人生裡大大小小的里程碑。再加我在阿根廷整整兩個月了，漸漸體會到這裡的人對時間有很不同的概念，tempo也相對比較慢。對於不讓自己鬆懈的type A人格，阿根廷真的是個不錯的棲息之地，不過前提是要在適應、學會不抓狂之後！

例子不勝枚舉，在此分享我最近的兩個經驗：

上超市的時候，記得身上一定要帶一本書，沒有書也可以靠字典消磨時間（查周遭不懂的字），因為阿根廷結帳的時間出奇的慢，一般長度的隊（4、5個人在你前面），可以等整整半個小時才輪到你！

還好我後來發現我常去的超市有兩個結帳區，分別在超市前門和後門這兩端，我就會推著車走到後門比較少人的結帳區，節省將近半個小時的時間。我很納悶的是，為什麼大部分阿根廷人不會這樣做呢？他們天性就比較悠哉，還是文化的熏陶讓阿根廷人不覺得“乾瞪眼”是浪費時間，而是漫長的一天之中，難得喘息的機會？對於凡是衝、衝、衝的台灣人，這一點是需要慢慢學習的。

我常去的咖啡廳b-Blue號稱晚上9點關門，但其實8:45的時候店員就已經開始打掃、把沒人坐的椅子堆到桌子上。要不是在大陸也碰過類似的情況，我應該會不能接受。幾年前我在上海新天地逛Sisley的時候，在關門前的20分鐘跟店員說我想試穿衣服，結果她大小姐說她快要下班了，別試了！我傻眼到根本不想再試衣服了，不是不想據理力爭，而是對於不同的文化，漸漸學會見怪不怪了。

b-Blue和Sisley的經驗讓我覺得，阿根廷原來跟大陸比較類似，那就是“下班最大”！不像美國和台灣，店家標識幾點關門，就是幾點關門，之後才是店員整理、清潔的時間。其實就是對工作時間的認知不同，一個是店員導向（店員也是人，所以需要下班休息！），一個是顧客導向（老美講的"customer first"）。

時間的西班牙文"tiempo"這個字，我覺得蠻美的。可能是因為比英文的"time"有更多且拉長的音節，比較不急不徐。我上個週末去阿根廷第三大城Rosario，徹底見識到阿根廷人多會享受和家人相處的時光：在河畔，他們坐在草地上曬太陽，小孩看人偶秀或上畫畫課（畫風景），大人隨性的起舞或看著載貨的船隻開過。

For the love of football! 給我足球，其餘免談！

I'm not stereotyping when I say Argentineans are football fanatics, to the point that watching an important match trumps appearing professional at work! On a visit to a local Home Depot-like store called Easy, we didn't get any service for the duration of the Copa America quarterfinal between Argentina and Uruguay as all the staff tuned into the live broadcast en masse. Just another day in Argentina!

阿根廷人是出了名的愛足球，如果有場重要的比賽，管他什麼上班敬不敬業，先集體看完實況轉播再說。客人如果需要任何的協助，不是自求多福就是耐心等候到球賽結束！

Third-world country?

Before and since I have arrived in Argentina, no fewer than four locals have stated matter of factly that Argentina is a third-world country. At first it made me panic I made a mistake in choosing Argentina over arguably safer Spanish-speaking countries like Spain, but in recent weeks I've just come to see it as an acceptance of reality - it is what is is!

Today I witnessed a robbery (unarmed) in broad daylight near Retiro, the main train station of Buenos Aires, where a poor bloke was running after three thugs that snatched his backpack. The commotion was certainly hard to miss, but no one made even a small deal of it. From countless incidents I've heard so far, these petty thieves tend to be short, agile, and work in teams - their modest statures work to their advantage by giving standers-by a false sense of security.

It's been eight years since I last picked up an economics textbook, so I'm rusty on the difference between "third-world countries" and "developing countries", but I'm going to venture to say "third-world country" is less politically correct nowadays, whereas "developing country" - with the emphasis it places on an upward trajectory of growth - has a sunnier disposition.

In my earlier post on my disastrous experience with a the world's local bank, I mentioned two peculiar things I want to elaborate on.

First, I pay my rent in U.S. dollars because inflation in the past six months has kicked into high gear, eroding my landlord's side income. This adds to my transaction cost, but my landlord explained he couldn't simply exchange pesos into U.S. dollars because he already maxed out his forex "quota", above which he would receive a visit from Argentine tax authorities. I haven't looked at historical inflation figures, but this would imply a stark uptick from previous levels of 10%-20% a year (CPI, with core inflation being higher), according to a friend's account.

Second, I was surprised to learn that the security guards outside the Chinese restaurants I frequent in China Town aren't private security guards but rather police officers making a buck on the side. Ditto for the dozen or so police officers at HSBC, I assume, but I could be wrong, because HSBC is a conservative financial institution after all?

According to economic theory, income disparity is a reliable indicator of a country's level of development, so by that measure, I'd have to agree with my Argentine friends that bemoaned their country's state of affairs. But where else in the world would you find a country whose national anthem sounds like a tango song in all its glory, broadcast every midnight on the dot and throughout the day, with cab drivers singing along with admirable vigor? How do you measure a country's level of cultural sophistication ?

Cabbies and footballers alike sing the national anthem with flair

Adios Expanish...por ahora!

My first five weeks of Spanish immersion classes at Expanish has come to an end! Except for the first week, my teacher Cynthia taught the class almost entirely in Spanish, which has done wonders for my comfort level with hearing a mile-a-minute Spanish.

Thanks to double-digit inflation, Argentina is no longer as cheap as it was back in the heyday of living like a rock star (or tango star) in Buenos Aires, as Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, put it. But it's still good value for money (or as the Chinese say, 高性價比) if you compare it to Spain. For example, some steals in the city of Buenos Aires include:

• a 20-hour week of language instruction for around US$150, further discounted during the southern hemisphere's winter low season
• tango lessons for around US$10 an hour
• a maximum subway/bus fare of US$0.30 - you guessed it, it's subsidized by the government
• a thin, crustless sandwich for under US$1, a staple of my current diet - comes in ham & cheese, ham & eggs, ham & tomato, etc.

My favorite hangout at Expanish

High-functioning princess (HFP)

A friend forwarded me an excerpt of a eulogy that the chief of Taiwan's Examination Yuan, Kuan Chung, delivered at his beloved daughter's funeral in May. I cried in the subway when I first read it, and teared up again watching the TV clip of his speech when I got home.

It seems universally acknowledged that the father-daughter bond is something special - terms like "daddy's girl" and "Jewish-American princess“ (JAP) come to mind.

Although Chinese fathers don't tend to be openly affectionate, the few that are, from what I have observed firsthand, are testament to the Chinese saying that fathers and daughters were lovers in their past lives. Not lovers in a Western sense, but lovers in a puritanical sense - certainly celibate, and often pining from afar, as befitting the protocol of dynastic China. And perhaps that's why in their present lives, daughters hold a special place in their fathers' hearts - not a son that's imperative to carry the family name, but a little girl to spoil for spoiling's sake. That's the feeling I got from Kuan Chung's eulogy.

Kuan Chung's daughter by all accounts was the pearl of her father's palm (掌上明珠). What surprised me when all the news stories of her suicide/accident (a fall from her 27th-floor Shanghai apartment) came out, was how talented and independent she was, growing up largely on her own in the U.S. and carving out a film career in the U.K.

Chinese expressions like the ubiquitous four-character idiom can be fun but also excruciatingly difficult to learn for foreigners without the cultural context. The bright-pearl-upon-palm idiom is one such case of lost-in-translation, so for a Western tongue I would substitute it with "high-functioning princess". For my attempt at coining a new term complete with an armchair psychologist's observations, HFPs are often:

• first-born, so growing up, they basked in the attention of their fathers without any competition from siblings in their formative years
• attractive, so the pattern they established with their fathers are replicated to some degree in their dating relationships, with the balance of power titling in their favor
• self-sufficient and usually fiercely independent, these type-A personalities earn the adoration they subconsciously seek

Kuan Chung carrying his favorite photo of his daughter and her remains 
back to Taiwan 

滙豐讓我氣到吐血！

出國在外遺失提款卡已經夠悶了，碰到我碰到的一連串鳥事更讓人想掐人！

我的悲慘遭遇之回顧：

6月21日
13:10
我在Buenos Aires市中心的滙豐大樓領錢的時候，在沒有把提款卡取回的情況下就離開了。事後證明不是我沒有取回眼前的提款卡，而是ATM吞了我的卡沒有吐出來還我！（不過我確實是因為前天晚上睡眠不足、精神不濟，才會大意的離開了。）

14:15
我的房租要用美金支付（原因需要另一個po文才能解釋），所以我回到滙豐換美金，白白排了50分鐘的隊後，才發現：
1. 3點過了5分鐘，不能換錢了（那在我後面還在排隊的40多人是怎樣？）
2. 我是台灣滙豐的客戶，不是阿根廷滙豐的客戶，所以根本不能在這裡換錢。那還是World's Local Bank嗎？

15:30
我意識到提款卡掉了，火速回到該滙豐大樓。雖然滙豐已在3點關門，但透過玻璃窗可以看到室內的工作人員仍然在作業，所以我請熱心的路人幫我翻譯，請守在門外的警察（在阿根廷，不是保全，是警察，這又是另一po文）走十步路、幫我傳個話，看銀行有沒有撿到我的卡。

很大塊頭的警察先生面無表情的叫我明天早上再回來。我沒有感受到一絲的善意或溫暖，頓時很想聽到台灣銀行保全阿伯的一聲“不好意思哦”。

6月22日
10:10
我回到滙豐，領了號碼牌，等了半個小時終於輪到我，可是替我服務的小姐不會說英文也沒有試圖要找人幫忙的意思。我的火終於壓不下去了，我衝回櫃檯，跟櫃檯小姐說我需要一個會講英文的人幫我翻譯。我說話太快以致她大概沒搞清楚，告訴我需要再次排隊等候。

這時候我很努力的控制自己的怒火，對她用英文說：“你們Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation 整層樓沒有半個人可以用英文替我服務嗎？”

她這時候才跟她的主管請示，她主管看到我火冒三丈，於是跟著我去找不會說英文的小姐，總算確定他們有我的提款卡。我緩和了下來，跟她說"Sorry about that, I was really frustrated." 她說她理解，我也跟她解釋說這在美國和大陸應該不會發生，在台灣更不可能發生，所以我才會反應這麼大。她說美國和大陸應該也會公事公辦，但她去過台灣，知道台灣人真的比較有人情味、可能會幫忙。

原來她在北京讀了兩年的書，所以我頓時對她有了好感，謝了這位Augustina小姐。

10:47
我用失而復得的提款卡，試著領錢，結果好死不死的用了同一台提款機，這次我非常警覺，確定是ATM沒有把我的提款卡吐出來。我大步走回櫃檯找人幫忙，一位會說英文的小姐對我說我必須下午3點再回來。

我暴怒，跟她說這是你們家ATM的問題，不是我的問題，還掏出了我的ATM收據，給她看是和昨天的ATM一模一樣的序號。我說我不會下午3點再回來，你們的問題要自己解決，不是叫客人再跑一趟。

我看到Augustina，就跟被我教訓的對象說，我直接找Augustina，她也很樂意的將我脫手。

11:40
離我來到滙豐的一個半小時後，我終於帶著我的提款卡離開了，發誓再也不踏進滙豐大樓。畢竟這件事情應該是滙豐理虧（我在其他阿根廷滙豐分行的ATM已經領了不下10次的錢都沒出問題），但我沒有聽到任何抱歉的意思。那台有問題的ATM也是我跟滙豐說他們可能需要檢查一下，以防以後再發生同樣的事情（他們好像沒有把問題根治、免除後患的概念）。

滙豐大樓

後記：
1. 我因為這件事跟滙豐耗到沒時間吃飯、氣到沒胃口，順便減肥。

2. 50、60坪大的滙豐大樓一樓，至少有10名警察（不是保全）站崗，讓我意識到阿根廷的治安真的不太好，而我的本地台灣人朋友Martin說現在局勢不太穩定，昨晚電視就播了上一次軍變的紀錄片，好似事件又要重演。（我還因為覺得這個警察多到快跟客人一樣多的畫面太經典，偷偷拍了一張相，但被發現、警察小姐要求我洗掉所有在滙豐拍的照才讓我走。）

3. 阿根廷法律禁止人民在銀行裡使用手機，我想不透，應該又跟治安有關係吧。

4. 阿根廷服務的速度我不敢領教，我大概算了一下，40個客人，有8個人服務，但我仍然排了50分鐘的隊，等於一個人的作業時間大概是10分鐘，我的天啊～不過跟大陸有的比哦！

Happy Father's Day!

While it's Father's Day in the West today, I thought I'd share an observation on how Argentines dote on their kids. Parents anywhere love their children, but parents here are certainly not afraid to show/flaunt it!

As I understand it, inflation here is creeping towards the "out-of-control" direction yet again and the middle class is shrinking fast. A typical Chinese parent in this case would be saving for college tuition at breakneck speed, and even without the threat of an impending economic "reboot" every 10 years, I don't know any Chinese parents that buy designer clothes for their toddlers. Are we frugal or prudent?

I'm sure I'm stereotyping, but my guess of the Argetine psyche is, doomsday fears are no reason to stop spoiling your children with an occasional trip to a pelotero (children's playhouse with a pool of colorful balls to dive into) and dressing them in adorable upscale children's clothes for a special occasion.

Of all the countries I've been to so far, Argentina has the highest density of children's play facilities and clothing stores by far - it's a great place to grow up! Imagine peloteros almost as common as cafes (albeit in a nice part of town) and children's clothing labels occupying a fourth of all clothing stores in a mall - not the case in Asia or the U.S., right?

Andreas, Charlie, Ewan, Seb - doesn't this look like a great place to bounce around in for a few hours?

西班牙文的驚艷

我把西班牙文當作未來半年的學習目標。在學習語言上，花半年的時並不算長，但因此在異地紮根、生活，也不算短。對於家人、朋友的好奇，我只有粗淺的交代我的思路，不外乎西班牙文是世界第三大語言，外加拉丁美洲經濟起飛，所以學好西班牙文可以增加我在跨國工作上的競爭力。

比較細膩、難以解釋的原因，是西班牙文帶給我的驚艷。我多年來訂閱A.Word.A.Day (AWAD)的觀察是，英文字彙的多數字根都可以追溯至拉丁文，而雖然拉丁文已經作古，但它的精髓仍然在西班牙文裡延續下去。

比方說，對初次見面的人，西語系的人會說"encantada/encantado"。它是英文“enchanted"的近親，跟一般老美打招呼的方式相比，顯得格外文雅！我在美國住的七年當中，最讓我印象深刻的道別語，是一位德州老先生對我說的"enchanted"，原因就是這個字非常的不白話，有一種上一個世代的優雅。

還有一個例子就是阿根廷計程車司機最愛問的"A qué te dedicas?" 。西班牙文和英文的相似度不低，"dedicas"如同英文的"dedicate"，所以計程車司機問得是一個簡單的問題（你從事什麼職業？），但表達的方式別帶意境（你的一生，致力/奉獻於什麼？）。

還有一個簡單明了的西班牙文常用字，就是"tranquila/tranquilo"。我每次聽到這個字，腦子裡都會浮現"tranquil"的湖面的畫面。當有人對你說"tranquila"的時候，氣焰不立刻緩和下來都難吧！不像有人用英文叫你"calm down"，只會更氣吧！

我每次聽到"tranquila"這個字，腦子裡都會浮現這個湖的畫面（2005年攝於西藏）

Ice cream heaven

I bought a half kilo of ice cream and gelato today to celebrate the return of my sense of taste after a bad bout of the flu. The best Italian ice cream in town set me back by a whopping 43 pesos (US$10)!

Frutiera (strawberry, peach, orange), banana, mango,
and a complimentary sampling of apple

While ostensibly about ice cream, this post could also be aptly titled "Latin men heaven".

At the ice cream parlor, a 6' 2'' footballer-lookalike opened the door for me, and not because I was looking hot myself! Two strapping grown men eating ice cream together in public, and to open the door for me on my worst-looking day ever (sans make-up, in glasses, sneakers) - what is there not to love about Latin men?

Footballer-lookalike is in white and shades on the 
lower right-hand corner

烤肉天堂

我過去10天所吃的肉（牛、羊、豬、雞及其內臟）比我過去半年吃的還要多！我能想到最接近的比喻，就是台灣飯店在過年或婚宴上的海鮮全席，好像魚、蝦、螃蟹、海膽、烏參、鮑魚都不要錢的一樣。我已經算是個很愛吃肉的人，但是見識到阿根廷人吃肉，還是會嚇到！

我朋友一上街買肉就是扛回10公斤的各式肉類，多到愛照相的我都懶的一一攤出來照。但有圖還是有真相，所以分享一下我和朋友的雙人晚餐：

烤箱前

烤箱後

P.S. 我自作聰明把milanesa的豬肉薄片放到烤箱裡烤，但意外的發現烤乾後有牛肉乾的嚼勁！

Bilingual it is!

I was debating the merits of writing a travel blog in English or Chinese, when I came across this most-emailed New York Times article The Bilingual Advantage. Most of my friends are English-speakers, and a significant subset of them are bilingual in Chinese.

As cognitive neuroscientist Ellen Bialystok points out, bilingualism sharpens the mind. In this spirit, I have decided to write my travel blog in both languages as they pop up - depending on what's relevant in the moment.

This decision also saved me from procrastinating further on documenting my time in Argentina, which started on May 23. A day-by-day play of my life here would be overindulgent on my part and a bore for you, so I'll use my best judgment on interesting, beautiful, bizarre, or mouth-watering things!

Thank you for being a friend and showing an interest in my travels - it makes me feel less alone at the other end of the world.

First day in Argentina, with the Rio de la Plata (Silver River) and Buenos Aires coastline