Taiwan - Day 2 (Happy New Year's)

The National Theater at Memorial Hall Square

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Unfortunately my sleep didn't get much better this past evening.  I'm probably drinking way too much tea at night.  Steph met me for breakfast near the hotel, for $1 eggs and some pork thingie, which were quite delicious.  We then met up with her mom to walk around a local traditional market.  Supermarkets are not very common, so most people shop at traditional markets, where the food is fresher.  So fresh that there were lots of live chickens in the area.

Ready to slice the head off a duck at lunch

We had a lunch with the family had a well known Peking Duck restaurant in the area, a reservation that had to be made two months ago.  The duck was outstanding.  Other side dishes that we consumed family style included frog legs and fish heads.  We had a ton of leftovers, which ended up being a dinner for the evening too.  After lunch, Steph and I walked back to Memorial Hall Square which we had previously passed through at night.  The area featured the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, a theater, and a concert hall.  There was a huge event going on with stages set up, celebrating the 101st year anniversary of Taiwan.  I really enjoyed this area because the architecture seemed so traditional and stood out from the more standard city landscape I had been exposed to thus far.  We also took a walk through the Botanical Gardens afterward right before it closed, and then got some tea in the museum attached to the Gardens to relax after a long day of walking.

Let the New Year's drinking begin

As mentioned, dinner was mostly leftovers in the family apartment, with a few additional food items added in.  We also had lots of whiskey and ice wine, which were poured into cordial glasses.  Toasts seem to be the traditional way to drink.  Before taking almost any sip, it seemed like you were supposed to raise your glass either for the whole table or specific people, wish them good health and then take a sip with them.  We went through a lot of drinks this way, and it was good times throughout.  It's become customary for me to just repeat things I hear in Mandarin that others say around the table, especially short phrases (I guess I'm like a little kid again), to fit in and also improve my word power.   But after one particular toast, I got a pretty loud reaction of laughter and looks around the table.  I was asked if I knew what I said, and of course I didn't.  But apparently I had said "thanks daddy" to her father.  Emma jokingly commented that this was the quickest for an outsider to be calling him dad, but also informed me that he approved of this comment.  So that's nice.

However, things got a bit more awkward for me in a less pleasant way a little later when her mom asked me how often I drink.  I tried to deflect the question with a joke, and a trip to the bathroom, but the question came up again later, so it seemed to be pretty serious to her.  I really didn't know how I was supposed to respond here.  As my faithful readers probably know, I do enjoy the occasional adult beverage.  From two days in Taiwan, I could tell that her dad and sisters' significant others all seemed to be enjoying lots of drinks as well.  However, since Steph rarely drinks and since probably my biggest goal for this trip is to leave having made a good impression on the family and do nothing to offend anyone, I lowballed the answer with "maybe twice a week?"  This got an angry scowl as she didn't seem to approve of this excessive drinking habit of mine.  The situation seemed extra awkward for me since this conversation was being had in front of the entire family and had to go through multiple interpreters.  The timing also wasn't great as I had both a glass of whiskey and a can of Taiwanese beer open in front of me.  To show that I'm not a complete alcoholic, I decided to stop drinking for the night at that point.  However, that may have  offended her dad, who kept trying to pour me additional drinks.  I was probably making a bigger deal of it this in my mind than it deserved, but it was a really weird situation for me because of the uncertainty from the language barriers, cultural barriers, and parental expectations.  Oh well, can't win them all.

Taipei 101 New Year's Eve Countdown

The atmosphere improved quickly as the family started building a gingerbread house, and then around 10ish, Stephanie and I headed out to New Year's Eve Countdown at Taipei City Center and left all the older people back at home to watch a movie.  Despite getting there only 90 minutes before midnight and there being a ginormous crowd, we found a spot really easily where we were able to sit until midnight, and then get a great view of the fireworks.  A screen was projected on Taipei 101 (at 101 floors, its the tallest building in Taiwan) for the countdown, and then at midnight a spectacular (although fairly short) fireworks show shot off in all directions from the building.  Really cool stuff.  We then had to fight the crowd to get back home.  Many of the large nearby streets were blocked off from car access for the night, so the crowd could get around.  We walked pretty far to avoid the first few overcrowded metro stops, and the whole trip back to the apartment only took about an hour.

I consider 2011 a really good year for me for a variety of reasons, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic that 2012 is going to be even better.  Happy New Year's everyone!