A Day at Wulai

Today, we traveled to a nearby nature and hotsprings area called Wulai with Harriet, Jessica, her husband, and eight month old baby! Just as a reminder, Harriet is the teacher supervisor (not ours) at school, who we live with. And Jessica is the school secretary, who picked us up from the airport and has helped us book a lot of our excursions. When they asked us if we would like to go hiking, I pictured the Cleveland Metroparks and anticipated full-nature immersion. I should have known better than to get what I expected!

Wulai is famous for its hot springs, so there are many, many resorts and spas lining the roads. While it was beautiful and natural, we did not do any hiking. And, being Taiwan, of course there were food stands that lined the roads along the way! So, it was a day of walking, AND eating...and we were feeling pretty adventurous! Jessica insisted that we try a grilled sausage on a stick with a special sauce, her favorite food. They were DELICIOUS!

We took a train up through the mountains that dropped us off near a beautiful waterfall. There were restaurants nearby, and we sampled some more native foods. First, we had sticky rice in bamboo shoots. I really liked it, and the bamboo flavor soaks into the rice, too. Then, they ordered a couple dishes for us all to share. The first was pork with peppers, carrots, and onions. It was good, but the texture of the meat here still kind of freaks me out! Second was a plate of a green vegetable in a sauce. I tried it and said "Mmm, good!" Harriet said, "well, you didn't get any of the little fish!" Alaina and I looked back at the plate again and realized there were the little fish mixed in we had been so afraid of when we saw them on the streets previously. I am pretty sure they are like minnoes, or similar to them. But, we knew what we had to do.  So down went my chopsticks and I snatched up a little fish, skin and all.....chewed, and swallowed. Nothing I would choose to eat, but I survived. I was really worried about Alaina, though, since she was more freaked out than I was. She put the little fish up to her mouth then froze. Before I knew it, Harriet was nudging her chopsticks and shoved it in her mouth! She sure does push us to try new foods. She was pretty grossed out by it but thankfully managed to swallow.

We walked around that area and looked at the natural stuff and some little shops, then made our way back up the mountain. They wanted Alaina and I to pay to put our fingers in this fish water where the fish clean your skin, very famous....but there was a long wait. I have never heard of such a thing! We also tried a couple other foods, including one of the hardboiled eggs that always look so scary to me. Tasted pretty much like a normal egg, though. We were so full already, but we still had plans to go to Jessica's mom's house for dinner.

We had such a nice time at Jessica's mom's house! They have an apartment not too far from where we live. It was really neat to see another house, and the layout. It had two floors and you could take stairs from outside to the second floor. Jessica's mom lives there with her younger brother and sister, who were also there. Her brother hopes to study in the United States, so he was eager to practice his English with us. Jessica's mom didn't speak English, but I wish I could've communicated with her because I would tell she was very nice and funny, too. She said something to Jessica, who spit out her rice and laughed in embarassment, then said, "My mom wants me to tell you that you both have pretty eyes and you look like Barbie Dolls." Hahaha.....we laughed out loud, that was a first!

The meal was a traditional Taiwanese meal, and it was delicious! We were so nervous to try it since we hadn't found too many appealing meals on the streets thus far, but it was not at all like other foods we had seen! The Taiwanese style meant that we each had a dish of rice, then her mom placed four different dishes on the table. Everyone just takes a little bit of this or that and adds it to the rice, then grabs a little of something else, and after that is gone, another bite of the first thing, etc....so everyone is sharing the same four dishes the entire meal. I thought it was a really good idea and rather enjoyed it. Except for the fact that I am still HORRIBLE at chopsticks. They all laughed at me and tried to fix my chopstick skills once again, but I think it might be hopeless. I am still trying, though, and refused to eat with a fork and spoon!

After dinner, we took a big picture with Jessica's whole family and then headed to the night market down the street with Harriet, where we picked up some soybean and pearl dessert to bring home. I had tried the same dessert when we arrived, but didn't like it. This time, I thought it was good! It just shows that I am getting more and more adjusted to the foods, smells, sights, and sounds of Taipei. I can safely say that my "culture shock" is finally gone. It may have lasted three weeks, but this past week I have finally begun to embrace the culture and have a running list of everything I will miss once I go home. It's really funny how that starts to change, and don't get me wrong, I will still be happy to be home, but at the same time, there are pieces of this culture that I am beginning to enjoy!

Bamboo Sticky Rice

Our Traditional Homecooked Meal!

Us with Jessica's Family