Today, the last of the nail polish I had painted on my nails in DC pre-departure rubbed off. As of yesterday, it had a two-month run! I must clarify that Taiwan does indeed have nail salons; I was holding on to the last light blue splotch on my left thumbnail because, well, it was the last tangible part of me that hasn’t changed ***. This nail polish has existed alongside me for the entirety of this massive life change, and now I ***
Reflecting on these last two months, I realize this blog has not yet served its intended purpose; I’m hoping today—about 1/4 through this program–marks a significant turning point for my blog activity. That is, I hope I’ve sufficiently settled to the extent that I can now learn how to accommodate blog-writing in my daily/weekly schedule.
So I guess I’ll start by reporting on today’s festivities!
I woke up in the dorms at 9:30 today (my one opportunity each week to sleep in!), and I walked to a nearby breakfast place with a classmate. Cultural difference #1: food prices. I haven’t paid more than $4 USD for a meal in recent memory! My host father informed me that two things in particular drive up the cost of living: rent and cars. All other costs—food, clothing, public transportation, activities, other miscellaneous expenses—are comparatively extremely low. (And with an impeccably convenient subway/bus/bike system, living without a car is extremely easy!) Today’s breakfast was a green onion pancake with a fried egg (葱油饼加蛋) and an accompanying radish cake (萝卜糕).
After breakfast, I walked back to the dorm to finish up my homework, and I then packed my weekend bag to head to my host family’s apartment. Though I spend the weekdays living in a dorm (more on dorm life later), I commute to my host family’s house every weekend. There, I am carted around to various sight-seeing spots and activities, restaurants and parks, family gatherings and one-on-one walks, you name it. I have only spent five weekends thus far with my host family, but I have grown to appreciate the balance between dorm living and homestay. I cherish time spent with my host family for a wide range of reasons—unique insight into Taiwanese life, lifelong bonds with people across the world, enjoying family camaraderie, etc.—but speaking exclusively Chinese for 48 hours is also exhausting, and I find myself hit with a grand wave of relief every time I re-enter my dorm room on Sunday nights.
Back to today’s schedule, I took the bus 50 minutes inbound to my host family’s apartment in Shilin (just outside Taipei), where I arrived in the early afternoon and quickly prepped for a hike with the parents. My host siblings are 17 and 14, which means they spend the majority of their Saturdays at “cram school” (more on that later, too!). As a result, I spend lots of quality time with my host parents every weekend, and when the weather is nice, we often go hiking.
The breaking news of the day is that my family actually owns a car! I had no idea. We’ve spent the last few weekends taking buses, trains, and bikes (oftentimes, I ride a bike while my host parents ride alongside me on their moped, per program rules that prohibit me from hopping on). So, much to my surprise, I walked out of the apartment donning athletic clothing and a hat, prepared to bike to the base of a nearby mountain, when instead I was led inside a parking garage and escorted to their car. I’ve ridden in a car thrice now since arriving in Taiwan, and I enjoyed ogling at the narrow streets. (Seriously, if all it took was one narrow alleyway for me to dent my car after five days of having a driver’s license, I have no clue how I could possibly navigate these streets.)
The hike was unbelievable. At approximately 805 meters above sea level, Yang Ming Shan presides over Taipei, promising some of Taiwan’s most beautiful views. In fact, views from 中国文化大学 (which sits atop the mountain) offer views above the clouds, quite literally where the sun meets the mountains meet the sky. Much to my shock, a plateaued portion of the hike also featured monkeys; I had previously assumed monkeys (macaques to be exact) only lived in the south of Taiwan, but I guess not.
At the hike’s conclusion, I walked to dinner with my parents and met my host sister for a classic assembly of Taiwanese foods: fried beef strips, corn, rice, steamed vegetables, iced mango drink. As I’ve discussed with my host parents, the most unassuming restaurants oftentimes sell the most high-quality food. Other assets of high-quality restaurants: unlimited refills at the communal iced drink machines (often flavored with mango, grape, dragonfruit, etc.), a large TV broadcasting the news, and speedy service.
After dinner, the four of us commuted into Taipei to meet our brother at the conclusion of his cram school (9:30pm on a Saturday night!), and we stopped to pick up bubble tea before heading home.