Sunday April 14th, 2013
No church today because it was swapped for another
engagement, lunch with my temporary host family! Or should I say most of my
temporary host family. Pi Nan (eldest host brother) is currently living in
China for his work and Chen father was at the Rotary 3480 District 26th
Conference (the second day that didn’t require exchange students to attend). So
the lunch was with Chen mother, Allen, Yavanna and Xiao Di baby.
Together we went to a Chinese restaurant with the rotating
table style. Numerous dishes were brought out and we had a merry feast. According
to Allen, restaurants like these are cheap to eat at. It makes me wonder if
they’re also inexpensive in Texas. To be found out when I go exploring in
Chinatown when I get back. ;) Anywho, details time!
Our cheery family!
The majority of our dishes save for a couple already
consumed. ;) Things here range from tofu, cabbage, soup, cooked garlic egg
pancake and DELICIOUS fish. Whoa, I absolutely LOVED the fish. Soooooo
gooooooood. The meat just fell off the bone and had a good watery sauce(?) to
accompany it. Fish, another food over this year Taiwan made me realize I enjoy
despite my childhood dislike of it. Thanks Taiwan. ^_^
Curious little upward circling things, they were just bread
with a crispy outer layer. It was impossible
to pick up properly with chopsticks! You had to stab it in order to lift
it. No that was not just me, my host family had to do the same. It was a light
bread neither sweet nor sour. Enjoyable.
Dessert was a small bowl of this, some kind of sweetened
soup with rice bits inside and sort of flavorless balls. An interesting
characteristic was that you could clearly detect an added alcohol flavor in the
broth. It wasn’t very strong but you could definitely tell there was alcohol.
But since the alcohol was probably boiled out and only left the taste (just
like making rum balls or other similar things), I had no problem with it and
actually liked it. The twist of a taste was really interesting and pretty
nummy.
After lunch we went by a nearby building that is still under
construction. Its future purpose once completed is to be a multi-leveled mall
topped with a domed church. The church is functioning right now though the
facilities are still full of unpainted walls, elevators with the bubble wrap
still on, empty halls, cardboard laid out, etc. Today they had a very small
sale of donated items that would go towards helping students pay for a trip to
Korea. Apparently there’s an international gathering in Korea at a mountain for
prayer and other things of the sort. So Chen Mama and Yavanna shopped a bit
there, browsing through many extremely cheap items. Chen Mama sweetly bought
and gave me a pretty stone cross necklace. Very thoughtful of her. ^_^
Next we walked...wow, I almost used “home”…that’s just how
accepted I feel when with the Chen family. ;) But yes, we walked to the house
and chatted for a couple hours there while drinking tea. When we arrived, a
feeling of returning home bubbled up inside of me. After all it indeed was my
home in the past, same as my current house is my home as well. It was nice
revisiting it. ^_^
Wow, the more I’ve been speaking Chinese lately, the more I
seem to realize how much it has indeed improved. Today with the Chen family and
last Wednesday with Joren are prime examples. During my first encounter with
each, my Chinese was ok at best but still lacking quite a bit with constant
need to use English. Now I can speak to the point where they understand me and
my listening skills are good enough so I can understand them, hence flowing
conversations with significantly fewer breaks in between. THIS IS AWESOME! My grammar
or pronunciation may not be 100% correct but at least Taiwanese understand me
well enough. SCORE! Andrea is happy! :D
Fun fact: According to Chen Mama, in Taiwan you can bargain
at department stores. And not only things like clothes but also items as renowned
as Apple products. You can bargain for an iPad! Oh shiz-nick-its that’s
awesome! If I were searching for an electronic product like that right now, I
would so buy it in Taiwan. XD
Before I headed out, Chen Mama gave me a heavy bag
containing two Ghirardelli brownie mixes leftover from our Costco trip so long
ago, a hefty Taiwanese tea box, Tokugawa symbol Japanese do-dad and a photo of
when we saw each other during our Rotary club Anniversary party a while back.
All were really caring gifts, like how the brownie mixes are meant to be baked
for my current host family. Sweet, sweet lady!
A subway and bus ride later I was back at the house and
immediately conked out from fatigue. An hour later I woke up, had dinner and
went on with work. Overall today was certainly pleasant with having a jolly
good time with my temporary host family. I love them and they seem to enjoy my
company as well. Whoo-hoo! ^_^
See y’all next time. Bye-bye!
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