The first time I went to Taiwan a few years ago, my godfather asked me on the first day, "How do you feel about Taiwan?"
"It's not so different from China." Spoken like a true white person.
On the last day of the week we spent there, I made sure to tell him that I was very wrong about what I'd said before. Because Taiwan is clean and orderly, and the people are friendly and hospitable. Sorry, China. I'm sure some of you are great.
On this trip, I went to Taiwan with two colleagues from Japan. We will call them M and K for ease of conversation. M has always lived in Japan and has excellent English, and K grew up in Korea but she is Japanese and Chinese by heritage. K's English is good, but not as good as her other languages. So between the 3 of us, we spoke a mix of Japanese, English, and Chinese in various orders:
A: English -> M: English to Japanese -> K understands
K Chinese -> A Chinese to English -> M understands
M English -> A: English to Chinese -> K understands
K Japanese -> M Japanese to English -> A understands
and so forth.
Anyway, despite our varied backgrounds, we all agreed that Taiwanese people are very hospitable and it seems like they genuinely want to talk to you. And they have a lot to say.
From the day I arrived, I eyed a 大餅 "da bing" stand that was across from my hotel. I thought about it every day until I finally went to go check it out. The pieces they served were MASSIVE though, so I asked if she could sell me a smaller piece. She didn't even pick up her head and snarled a terse, "No. Cannot." So I just got a giant piece of 大餅, but I only got one variety instead of two.
When I realized that I was in Taiwan and this giant piece of bread cost me pennies, I went back and got the other variety (pumpkin). When she saw that I'd come back, she launched into a monologue about how this was a company policy to only sell huge pieces of bread and that it made sense because if they sold smaller pieces then people would buy smaller pieces and then they would have smaller profit and that the company has changed a lot and it used to be different and now the owner says that...
I didn't actually understand most of what she was saying between the street noises and her Taiwanese accent and my poor comprehension, but I got the general idea. I couldn't help but thinking, "Could I have that bread now?..." as I pretended to understand, nodding and staring at her missing teeth. She just needed someone to talk to. I just needed that piece of bread.
On my last night in Taiwan, I left M and K and got into a taxi. In one simple sentence, I asked the taxi to take me to the hotel and the name. "Where are you from?" he asked. "Your Chinese doesn't sound like you're from here."
I explained to him that I'm an ABC and apologized for my Chinese being so bad (this is my best conversation in Chinese). He said it wasn't bad, but it sounded like I just don't use it very often. I told him that he's right.
When I told him that my parents are from Taiwan, he warmed up a lot. "Welcome home! Oh it's so good you came home." This is a reaction I get a lot from Taiwanese people. They seem glad that I've come to my senses and returned to my true homeland, a place I'd never visited. Still, I do feel connected and I'm glad they'll still consider me their people.
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| The nice taxi - you can go into any convenience store and have them call a taxi for you. |
We made arrangements for him to pick me up from my hotel in the morning (early flight), and then he gave me his card and told me to call him if I needed any help getting around. He got off work later and he could accompany me to one of the night markets if I wanted to go eat. This would be creepy in a different context, but he was genuinely concerned for my well-being.
His concern for my well-being continued in the morning.
"Did you get breakfast?"
"No, I didn't."
"You can ask the hotel to make you a breakfast! Did you ask the hotel to make you a breakfast?"
"No, I didn't ask."
"Because you didn't know you could ask? Do you want to ask now?"
"No, it's okay. I think I'll be fine."
"Well...okay...I guess you'll know for next time...You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine! No problem!"
"Okay...guess you'll have to eat breakfast in the airport..."
Skipping meals is not an option. In fact, skipping meals between meals is not an option. When I was with my colleagues, the host Taiwan office kept bringing us giant snacks in case we were hungry. We weren't hungry, but the snacks were always welcomed.
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| Egg scallion pancake, the size of my hand and folded over several times. |
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| Just a GIANT fried chicken quarter on top of everything. |
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| I had to save room for the best part of Taiwan - Taiwanese breakfast! That rice stick on the left was actually the most surprising. So good. |
It's a little island country filled with little people with big hearts. Who walk around the park hitting themselves to strengthen their meridians. I guess they are my mother's people, after all.
