日除け対策台湾編／How to not sunburn in Taiwan

Anyone who has ever visited an East Asian country has probably noticed something unusual when the sun is out.  You'll be walking around on the brightest, sunniest, most beautiful day, and you'll be surrounded by a sea of umbrellas.

...or parasols, really.  The fact that we have a word for them in English shows that we once too used these items often enough to bother having a name for them.  However, in modern-day America, the parasol is probably only seen at Victorian-themed Halloween parties and steam-punk conventions.

I have direct evidence (my eyes) that people commonly use parasols in Japan and Taiwan.  I've also been told that they're used in Korea, China, and Vietnam, and probably other countries in the region as well.  And it doesn't just stop with parasols.  Other sun-protection items include things like long gloves, long sleeves, and generally covering up as much skin as possible even when it's quite hot out.

Not that this is so bad.  Skin cancer is real, and protecting your skin from the sun is a good thing, but I've never understood why people don't just slap on some sun screen and then wear short sleeves.  Maybe some day I should do an informal poll to find out why people cover up so much.

A new sun-protection technique I noticed upon arriving in Taiwan that I had never seen in Japan is demonstrated in the photos below.  I actually had been wanting to get photos of people doing this for a while, but I felt strange about taking photos of random women I didn't know on their bikes/scooters, so I waited until yesterday, when I went on a group trip to Cijin Island and we all biked around the island.  Ms. Y and Ms. Z [not their real names] below were nice enough to let me take their photos and make them into representations of "Taiwanese women on bicycles in the sun".

 Ms. Y is showing us the "backwards sweater" method.  Additionally, pretend that the hood which is covering the bottom half of her face is actually one of those surgical masks that people wear when they are sick.  The backwards sweater enables the bicycle/scooter rider to cover up her arms (which are parallel to the ground when you're on a bike, and therefore maximally exposed to the sun's rays) without actually putting on her sweater, which would be hot on a sunny October day.  (It's still hitting the high 80's every day here.)  Because the rider's back is still exposed, she does not become as hot as she would with the sweater on properly.  The surgical mask then covers up the bottom of her face.
Ms. Z, below, has added "humongous sunglasses" to the ensemble.  For the complete picture, imagine combining big sunglasses, a mask, and a backwards sweater.  At that point, the person's face is mostly covered, and their arms are totally safe.
What I found amazing about this is, it's such a little thing, but it's so noticeable because just about every woman is doing it.  And it's extra noticeable because I don't think I've ever, even once, seen someone doing this in NYC.  Or Japan for that matter, where sun protection methods are much more similar to those used in Taiwan.  (Namely, covering up, as opposed to using sunscreen.)

When people talk about culture, they usually bring up the big things: festivals, special foods, traditional arts, but as much as anything, culture is also these little practices that most of the time no one even thinks about.  That is, until they go abroad and realize that everyone around them is doing something differently than they are.  At least I think that's what culture really is.  I bet no one ever sat any of these women down and taught them in a class that wearing a sweater backwards is a good way to avoid getting sunburned arms.  It's one of those things that you just pick up if you grow up somewhere where everyone does it.  So much of human culture is just that kind of thing.  No one tells you to do it, but you imitate it from a young age, and everyone is doing it, so it's totally in the background and invisible to you and everyone around you.

I wonder what strange habits Americans have that people from other countries notice when they come to the US to live.  What things do we just about all do without ever thinking about them?

日本や他のアジアの国々と同じく、台湾でも白い肌がいいとされている。私は日本に初めて住みついて、可笑しいと思った習慣の中に、日傘の多さと、真夏の暑さを長袖で耐えている女性の多さが有った。「日焼け止め有るのに、なんで長袖着るのかな」といつも思った。
正直、今も分からない。人に直接聞いた事がないから。
とにかく、台湾人の女性はよく日本人の女性と同じ格好をする。だけど、日本では見た事のない習慣が有る。上記の写真の様に、バイクや自転車に乗ると後ろ前にセーターを着るという習慣が有る。
これは時々しか見掛けないもんじゃないよ。毎日見掛ける。こうやっている女性は本当に多い。若いおねえさんも、おばさんも。なかなか賢いな。だって、普通に長袖のセーターを着れば、暑く成る。でも後ろ前に着れば、背中は覆われていないから、割と涼しい。
でもなんで台湾人がするのに、日本人はしないのかな？日本人にとっては後ろ前のセーターは格好が適当過ぎるのかな？
もちろん、人間は皆それぞれ違う、皆には個人的な性格が有る。でも基本的に日本人は割と格好をちゃんとするという傾向が有ると言っていいと思う。私の長崎での経験によって、近所で犬の散歩をしているおじさん達以外、皆は凄く衣服に力を入れていた気がした。週末に、生徒のキャジュアルな服を見た時でも、なんか、皆ちゃんと自分の姿を考えてから着て、出かけたと言う印象が強かった。アメリカ人はよく、何も考えずに、めちゃくちゃの服を着て出かけると思う。ぼろぼろのTシャツとサイズが合わない格好悪い半パンのアメリカ人を見掛けるのは全然珍しくない。
台湾人はアメリカ人の程汚い服を基本的に着ないと思うけど、やっぱり日本人よりちょっと抜けている気がする。（こういう事は本当に説明しにくい。全ては「感」で判断している。「これだ」という例はないからね。しかも、こんな話は全部「傾向」の話だ。先程も書いた通りけど、やっぱり人間は皆それぞれ違うから、国問わずに、凄く綺麗な服を着る人も、ぼろぼろの物を着る人も居る。）
日本人は単に後ろ前のセーターを日焼け対策にする事を思い付いていないのかな？

また、面白い話聞いたけど、バイクに乗っている人の多くはマスクをしていると気付いて、なぜかと聞いてみたら（インフルエンザーはもう流行っているかなと思った）マスクも日焼け止めに成っていると教えて貰った。これも日本で見た事有る覚えがないけど、もしかして私が見たけど分からなかっただけかも。

こういう日常的な習慣は面白いなぁ！