The aunt and uncle will be with us until next Wednesday. It will be good to just get back to the house having just me, my wife, and two cats. I really don't know how Taiwanese (and Chinese in general) manage to have two or more generations living in the same house. Having my wife's aunt and uncle with us for the last few weeks has had its share of troubles because the two generations have very little in common.
Older folks (60+ years old) never want to just sit down and relax. They always have to be doing something. On the good side, they always try to help my wife and I (sweeping the floors, doing dishes, and so on). However, on the bad side... the dishes aren't actually that clean (bad eyesight... foodstuffs still stuck on the utensils) and the sweeping causes more harm than good. :(
Hi there Kevin, this is Dane from http://dstaiwan.blogspot.com/ . Thank you for checking out our blog! It sounds like you really loved your time here in Taiwan. I haven't read through your archives yet, but where did you live on the island? Taipei? Were you an English teacher (like so many of us!)?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's nice to meet you!
Dane
I hope to one day live in Taiwan (preferably in one of Taipei's suburbs).
ReplyDeleteMy wife is originally from Keelung (基隆), but later moved to Yonghe (永和), outside of Taipei. Since getting married 11 years ago, we've taken 6 trips there. So, my time on the island has been limited to 2 to 3 week vacations. Just long enough to get a sense of the culture (and pollution).
One restaurant you may want to check out for a good laugh and some memorable pictures is the Modern Toilet (http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/) a toilet-themed restaurant. Time magazine articlet: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1882569,00.html. My wife and I were going to eat there (they have several locations) on our last trip but were already too stuffed.
When we're in Taiwan, we typically stay most of the time at my wife's parents' house in Yonghe. Then, each day we ask her dad to drive us to Gongguan (公館), the nearest MRT station and only about 20 minutes away.
Some of the your experiences that made me laugh:
1. Trip to McDonalds where the person that speaks English isn't there and the employees are trying to decide who will take your order. My wife said all employees are supposed to be able to speak English (at least the menu). I went to McDonald's twice. The first time I just said, "#3 and pointed to the bored". The young girl looked up at the board to see what #3 was and then told me how much it would cost in English. Not bad.
2. The recycle bin pictures from the fast-food restaurant. I was a little shocked the first time I had to separate all my trash, so much effort.
3. The picture of the Durian fruit (the spikey one that hurts to pick up). It's actually nickanmed the king of fruits and it's often featured in comedy movies because that is one very stinky fruit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian). I've never tried it but have heard horror stories about its smell.
Cheers,
Kevin