I was able to meet up with my Taiwanese buddy today. His friends call him “Xiao Ji (小雞)” so I just refer to him as Chicken. We originally met two years ago, while I was doing the TTT internship at Hsinchu Science Park. Over the months we kept in touch from time to time. I let him know I was coming back and was pretty glad to hear that he’d be back in town as well. After chilling with him, I gotta say it’s such a boon to have a few local friends:
For one, it makes it less likely for people to rip you off. Sure, skin-wise I may look native, but just one glance at my attire is sure to raise red flags.
Secondly, I’m spared from experiencing just the tourist parts of Taiwan, at least before I really start to get integrated. For example, I got to check out Chicken’s old hangout spot, located up some secret road near his middle school.
Chicken's old hangout spot. The view blows Jewel Park out of the water.
Chicken’s parents heard I was visiting and treated me to lunch. We had some good ol’ Japanese food.
lunch with 阿雞
They were such gracious hosts; they even let me stay over when it was getting quite late. Chicken’s relatives happened to be over and a few of them played mahjong into the night. They were definitely a fun bunch. I wonder where they get the energy from. They reminded me of college kids, staying up for no reason. Chicken’s dad offered me beer. When I respectfully declined, he brought out the scotch. No thank you sir. Then came the bottle of Kao Liang 高粱 (sorghum wine). If you ever had it before you’d know it’s spicy as a mo’fucka. Thankfully one of Chicken’s aunts took the shot for me. A few minutes later the dad started to show off by doing pushups, while everyone else was focused on mahjong. Then Chicken’s mom took notice and punched him in the ass. I couldn’t stop laughing. The next day the parents were worried I had a bad impression of them but I assured them it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Awesome family.
I think the lesson of the day for aspiring travelers is to really put yourself out there, make an effort to befriend people- and not in a douchebaggy, social-climbing way.
The Chronicles of Greg 