The Daily Game

The Mosquito Challenge

Ever since I arrived in Taiwan I have been accustomed to playing (more like forced to play) this game “find the mosquito”.

Here is how it works:

I go into my room at night usually noticing a few obvious mosquitoes flying around, so I either smash them on the wall or in mid-air flight if I can.  The game begins, the object of the game is to find where the mosquitoes like to hide.

Just when I think that I have found all the possible places that I think a mosquito can hide, I find a new hiding place; it keeps me on my toes for sure.  I have come to a point where I know where their favorite places are, so I check them first.  But, it still boggles my mind when I see a mosquito fly into a “non-visible” area and I can’t find where it is hiding.

If I have not succeeded in smashing all the mosquitoes before I go to bed, they make sure I know it…anywhere from 1:00am to about 5:00am I hear buzzing in my ear…If I don’t wake up, turn the light on and kill it/them, I will be reminded for the remainder of the night with a sweet buzzing melody and a bunch of red spots all over my face and hands the next day.

I’m still a little confused by how they always seem to find my room, how they get in and why they choose my room as a dwelling place…can’t they see and smell all of their friends on the walls?

Things to know about mosquitoes in Asia:

 -Mosquitoes are bold and strong, they can bite you through your clothes, wow!

-I am convinced that they like foreign blood more than local blood, is it sweeter?

-The bites last for two weeks instead of a few days.

-After they have eaten (full of blood) they are much slower and easier to kill than when they are hungry.  When they are hungry, they are probably a little irritated and they are super fast, sometimes it’s hard to get them.

-They are smart…they wait until the lights are out to come out of their hiding places…but they don’t just wait for 10 seconds, they wait for 5 to 10 minutes, until they think you are sleeping.

-If you don’t kill them when you hear them at night, they will sit on the wall right next to your head.  You are the unsuspecting victim, they dive bomb attempting to bite when they think it is safe and they will do this all night long.

Am I bitter?  Yes, maybe a little.  I have bite marks all over my hands, arms and some on my face! 

You might ask, “Why have you not done anything about this yet,” good question!  I don’t know why.  I have thought about using the plug-ins that repel mosquitoes, but I don’t want to be breathing that in all winter, I could use a mosquito net…I have been thinking about getting an electronic plug-in that makes a sound to repel them.

Side note:  I did hear that when the weather gets warmer, the mosquitoes disappear, this gives me a lot of hope and something to look forward...I'm getting tired of this game.

Phil