Madeline Andrews

The first few days that Maddie and I have spent in Kaohsiung, Taiwan have been a whirlwind. Thus far, we have explored the district that our hotel is in and the area around the school, which are only about fifteen minutes apart, and spent several days in class at the school both meeting people and observing classes. I think that the most unique experience that I have had in Taiwan up until now was in the night markets on the first night that we arrived.

We were fortunate in that one of the teachers from the school, Bob, generously offered the show us around the market. Without him we would have been at a complete loss as to how to even begin exploring the area. The night market is about a half square block filled with rows upon rows of vendors standings selling anything from food to tea to clothing organized into aisles. Each aisle was lined with vendor carts, each selling some type of food. There was such a wide variety of options that it was nearly impossible to even know where to start. These markets happen every evening from around 5pm to about 10pm. They are quite common in Taiwan and there are multiple scattered across Kaohsiung. This one that Bob brought us to was one of the main markets that many tourist come visit. During the day they are seem like ghosts towns, with each cart stripped to its bare metal structure. At night however, it is a completely different story. They are well lit up and packed with people just about every night. They seem to be a common place for people to stop by and grab dinner on their way home from work.  

Almost all of the products are fried, which means that it is very hard to tell what it is exactly. Something that looks like a piece of fried chicken could actually be a mushroom, or something that appears to be strip of beef could be a piece of mystery meat. Given that our Chinese is basically non existent, everything we chose to try was a risk. Bob expressed that in order to fully experience the market, you had to be willing to throw things out if they weren’t to your liking, otherwise, you could miss out on many local delicacies.

With guidance from Bob we managed to avoid the duck bills, octopus tentacles (sometimes with suction cups and all), and other unique choices and tried some of the best dumplings I have ever had. I have no idea what was inside them, but they were unbelievably delicious. Maddie and I have since returned to the market to get more. We also tried duck, which is quite popular and common here, pork ribs, and fried mushrooms. All of which were delicious.

Another interesting nuance of the night market was the smell. A popular item in Taiwan is a food called “stinky tofu”. You can smell the stinky tofu carts from at least thirty meters away. It has a strong odor that is unmistakable for anything else. I have been told that if you can actually eat it, it takes pretty good, but getting to that point can be quite difficult for people not accustomed to that powerful smell. Bob told us that some students used to eat stinky tofu for lunch in classrooms, but the smell would linger for so long that they had to ban it.

There is one station t that greatly intrigued us on the first visit that have yet to visit. It seems to be a make your own stir fry station where you can fill a bowl which whatever ingredients you like and then tables are set up with a wok where you can cook it yourself. I think that will be our next adventure into the chaos that is the night market. We may have to watch a few people do it before we do so we understand how it works.

Overall this was a fantastic experience for our first night in Taiwan. These night markets are quite common and are an important part of our cultural education. I am very looking forward to seeing and experiencing so much more in the next two weeks!

It’s official: my friend Emily and I are traveling to Taiwan in January! In a matter of weeks, we’ll be interacting with the students at Takau English School, collecting additional observation notes, interviewing teachers and administrators, and taking photographs to contribute to the arts-based component of this much larger “Globally Elite” project. In addition, while we’re there, I’ll be completing an education practicum. I know I can speak for Emily when I say that we are both beyond excited!! However, I can’t lie… I’m also incredibly nervous. Without further ado, I present to you:

Why I’m Freaking Out About My Trip to Taiwan

• Neither Emily nor I speak Chinese. While the students and teachers at Takau English School are required to speak English at all times, the rest of the country predominantly speaks Mandarin Chinese. Emily and I plan to spend the grand majority of our time in Taiwan at the school, so hopefully this won’t be a problem. However, if we want to explore at all, we’d better be feeling adventurous, because of this next reason…

• We have no idea how to navigate Taiwan. Although Emily has done quite a bit of world traveling herself, neither of us have been anywhere in Asia before. We’re not particularly familiar with the culture and we don’t know what to expect in terms of the city structure. On Google Maps, the streets look as though they are reasonably easy to navigate. In addition, I’ve heard that Taiwan is generally considered a “nice country;” if Emily and I ever get lost, I’m hoping that we might be able to find some friendly people who would be willing to point us in the right direction. During January, I’ll keep you updated on how often we get lost.

• We have no idea how to find our hotel, either. We found the bed and breakfast through a travel website; it has excellent reviews, and it looks beautiful in the photographs. Unfortunately, however, the reviews also suggest that the hotel is extremely difficult to find, because its entrance isn’t well marked. Furthermore, the residence owners don’t speak English. But – fortunately – Emily and I have heard that their son does speak English, and quite well! If this is the case, he will probably be our new best friend and saving grace during the month of January. If we can just find the hotel on day one, I’m hoping we’ll be set for the rest of our stay.

• I’m not sure what the food will be like. I am not a picky eater, and I love to try new things. However, in spite of this, I’m nervous about eating in Taiwan. For one, neither Emily nor I will be able to read the food labels, so we won’t know exactly what we’re eating. For another, foreign food preparation methods can cause illness if your body is unfamiliar with them. When I traveled to Costa Rica for my January term last year, I experienced horrible food poisoning. While it is possible that the food was prepared incorrectly, it is more likely that my body was simply unsure of how to handle the foods it had never been accustomed to. In consequence, I’ll probably tread pretty lightly with regard to eating new things in Taiwan – the last thing I want is for us to get sick!

• Emily and I may be the main attraction while we’re in Asia. On top of the fact that both of us are English-speaking, fair-skinned, pale, and freckled, Emily’s hair is stunningly red while mine is shiny and blonde. I’m sure that any time we get lost, it will be blatantly obvious to the people around us. There’s going to be no way of hiding how foreign we are to the Taiwanese city. Again, we can just hope that Taiwan is as friendly as we’ve heard, and we will try to avoid getting lost too often.

• What if the students at TES don’t like me? I am incredibly excited to meet and interact with them. Over the course of January, the school might allow me to get involved with the students’ academics, co-curriculars, extracurriculars, and athletics. I’m hopeful that the students will become comfortable enough with me that we can speak informally; this will give me the opportunity to get to know them much, much better. I am already confident that I’ll love the students… I just can’t help but worry that they might not like me!

• I hate to say it, but I’m bad luck when I travel. I have a tendency to fall victim to horrible snowstorms and long delays at the airport. In my past two January terms abroad, the countries I traveled to experienced some sort of panic within my first week there. For example, I went to Paris my sophomore year, and the Charlie Hebdo attacks occurred on my second day there. My junior year, the Zika outbreak promptly began after my arrival in Costa Rica. I’m praying for Emily and the country of Taiwan that my “bad luck” is just coincidental!

Stay tuned! There will be more to come about our trip to Taiwan soon!