Here in Taiwan, two or three times a year Typhoon walks directly across the island causing mayhem, speechless tragedy, unrecoverable loss to the economy, and … holiday. Schools are out, offices are closed, but 7-11s are open. Hallelluyah Haleluya Hareruya Harrelluyah (the spell checker reminds me of my 5th-grade math teacher).

So we have a few more holidays as unexpected gifts from heaven (Sometimes they hit the weekend. Maybe we did something that deserved to be cursed,) but there is a downside to having extra vacations: fewer national holidays than any place I have been. Taiwan has only four or five national holidays per year. Definitely fewer than ten. So the result is, most people (at least in Northern Taiwan) speak of typhoon with a smile, sit quietly in Starbucks or movie theaters until it goes away, enjoy the precious little freedom, and go back to work/school with a refreshed attitude. All after a supposedly (and realistically) catastrophic disaster. The Taiwanese government does know how to manage people.