Landlords in the United States are not known for being especially nice. But here in Taiwan, ours is the absolute best. Our landlord and her daughter came over a few nights ago to check on us and make sure everything was going well here in Taiwan. They even brought us bubble tea! They then invited us to dinner. So, last night we got to go out for Thai food with our landlord, her daughter and her son.
Her son is 22 and her daughter is 25. Their English is amazing so they are really easy to talk to and get to know. They found all the vegetarian dishes in the restaurant and bought them all! Plus a lot of other stuff. It was SO much food. And all so good. It definitely pays to eat out with locals….best meal I have had so far. I ate spicy tofu, green curry, spicy onion salad, basmati rice and my new favorite veggie, morning glory! It’s an East Asian vegetable that tastes a little bit like spinach, but all the stems are hollow! If you directly translate the Chinese words, it’s literally open heart/hollow vegetable. Delicious!
We gave the family gifts for taking us out (since they would not let us pay), so my first goat milk soap has been given away!! I gave them a poppy seed bar and explained how it was made right in my home state!
The dinner was so much fun and really delicious! I am so glad we are becoming close with a local family, because that’s really what this experience is all about. Cultural exchange. I felt that was my first step in the cultural exchange. We sat for almost two hours just talking about America and Taiwan and things we liked and what we wanted to see here and everyone’s traveling experiences. It was awesome and it made me even more excited for this experience to really begin. The Taiwanese people I have met have been some of the kindest I have ever met and I cannot wait to immerse myself even more in this wonderful culture.
T-12 hours until I find out what school I will be teaching at for the next 10 months!!!!!!!!! Next blog post as soon as I know!!! (:
PS: In case anyway finds their way to Luodong, Taiwan:
Here is the name of the restaurant: 泰錝泰式料理 羅東店
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