Entering into my last week here, I reflect on all the experiences that I've had. I've come to realize the impact that being billingual and crossing difference cultures has influenced me. Coming to a country that I had been to before and speak the language of brought me peace and a sense of safety when coming to Taiwan again. Though I haven't been in about eight years, the familiarity of the place was instant, espeically as I stepped off the plane. While in Taiwan, I tried to use Chinese whenever I can. It was something that I tried to do both as language practice but also to feel like I'm blending in. Speaking in Chinese to locals especially when I was with the rest of the group, lead to surpise from the locals and also answering common questions. Most of the questions were where are you from?, why are you in Taiwan?, and why do you speak Chinese so well? The last one always makes me laugh. They are almost in shock that a forienger can speak Chinese. My favorite interaction about my language speaking skills was at the Yingge Pottery Museum.
I went to the front desk to grab a map of the museum. The lady at the desk introduced the museum and showed me to the maps. However, she mentioned that they only had the printed maps in English and Japanese, if I wanted the Chinese one I would have to use the QR code. I mentioned that I actually can't read Chinese so the English one makes more sense for me. She responded with surprise that I could read English and told me about how impressive it was that I could read English. I laughed and told her that I was born in America, yet that didn't seem to make her fully convienced. We talked for a couple more minutes as she kept mentioning how impressive it was that I was in college in the US and able to read English.
This week in Tainan, I got to eat a couple things that were from my childhood or my time living in Taiwan. First, was the hunt for Uncle Mochi. When I was little and living in Taiwan, my parents took me to the night market from time to time. There was a stand in the night market that sold mochi. They would let you pick a couple flavors and you watched while they wrapped the filling or rolling the mochi in the topping. There are flavors like green bean, coffee, peanuts, and chocolate. The mochi is one of my key memories that my time in Taiwan. One of the first things that I did when I got to Tainan was ask my mom where I can find that mochi stand. I finally had the time to swing by to the Flower Garden Night Market this past Saturday. I didn't know where to find the stand so I walked down all the food aisles of the night market. However, at some point, I hit the end of the night market and decided to give up. However, just by luck as I cut through an aisle of the night market, I saw something that looked like mochi and walked up. There it was, Uncle Mochi sixteen years later.
Something else that I forgot about was dragon beard candy. This, along with mochi, is one of my sister's favorite snacks. Dragon beard candy is long strings of maltose pulled around a filling typically of peanuts of seasame. This stand was an accident. We were walking around the temple as we got there a bit earlier then our meeting time. I saw this stand out of the corner of my eye. There looked to be a women pulled a white string. I thought it was mochi at first but upon closer examination it was dragon beard candy. It probably has been about 10 years since I last saw it in person. I was excited and got a box. I chatted with the owners as they created my box.
I also got to try a couple of more foods that are more accessible in Seattle but also foods I ate as a child in Taiwan. I got pudding and boba, something I don't reach for often nowadays. Also, sushi is something that I have been eating a lot here. Sushi has become very epensive in Seattle and a lot more affordable in Taiwan. If there is a chance to get cheap, good sushi, I go for it. I went to this place for dinner that my dad recommended that had a delicious salmon donburi.
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