Many scooters waited at the traffic light at the crossing and many signboards were hung around there

Scooters waiting for traffic light — Scooters waiting at a traffic light

While waiting at a traffic light at an intersection, I noticed a group of scooters across the street waiting at the same light. Scooters seem to be the main means of transportation in Taiwan, and seeing so many of them on the road, one would think that the only people moving around on foot are tourists.

By the way, Taiwan, like Japan, has its own year. The Taiwanese year is called “Republic of China calendar” (民国紀元), and is counted from 1912, the first year of the Republic of China (ROC). The year “Minguo” refers to the Republic of China itself, and the number of years in the Minguo era is the number of years that have passed since the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution. For example, the year 2017 is the 106th year of the Republic of China. Taiwanese official documents stipulate the use of the Minguo calendar, but foreigners are not familiar with it and may find it difficult to understand. However, Japan's calendar also has a similar difficulty for foreigners. Even if someone says “Heisei” or “Reiwa,” it may not ring a bell for those who are not familiar with Japanese culture.

As we look around the world, not all countries use the western calendar. Japan's calendar is one example, but North Korea has its own calendar, called the Juche calendar, and the Islamic calendar is widely used in Islamic countries. Since the Western calendar is based on the birth of Christ, each country's unique calendar seems to reflect how that nation or culture defines its own history and identity. How a nation or culture marks “time” is a clue to a glimpse of its values and sense of history.

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