Day 14 - Kaya Jam!

After trying different types of onigiri (三角饭团) every day during our 7/11 ritual breakfast, I've come to realize that the tuna salad flavor reigns supreme. If anyone disagrees, they can meet me at the Tsinghua track at 18:00 on 27th July. After my epiphany, I hurried to General Building II, hoping to catch the next elevator with the rest of the group.

As our classes progressed to cover topics like hospital stays, agriculture, and Taiwanese tourism, we settled into a comfortable rhythm. To start the class, 欧老师 shared a bag of 韭菜盒子 (fried chive buns) from the local farmer's market. These hot and savory buns were filled with chives, vermicelli, and eggs – a breakfast heaven.

During our class discussion, we talked about the recent law passed in Taiwan to protect pedestrians on crosswalks. Taiwan, often referred to as a "pedestrian hell," has numerous moped/scooter drivers who disregard pedestrian safety. Every crosswalk (斑马线, meaning "zebra lines" - yay vocabulary!) used to raise a critical question: "who is stronger? Me, or a hunk of metal hurtling at 60 mph?"

As we learned, many laws passed in Taiwan are reactionary. 欧老师 shared examples like the scarcity of public toilet paper due to theft, the removal of public trash cans in Taipei after the rise of trash dumping, and the introduction of timers on stoplights to prevent mopeds from revving their engines to "jump the gun." Tomorrow, we will be presenting on the pros and cons of online shopping.

After class, we visited the Hsinchu New Immigrant Family Service Center, where we engaged in dialogues with Ms. Huang Yu-Jie (the Supervision Officer of the center) and Ms. Chen, Ai-Mei 陳鑀枚. Ms. Huang talked about "new immigrants" in Taiwan – immigrants connected to the country through marriage to a Taiwanese citizen – and the resources available to help them integrate into Taiwanese society. She particularly highlighted the challenges faced by non-Mandarin speaking immigrants in building a life for themselves, seeking childcare support, and dealing with domestic violence. However, Taiwan provides a strong social network for these immigrants, offering community building opportunities, technical and business skill development, and crucially, language classes.

Ms. Chen shared her life experience as a "new immigrant" from Malaysia and the discrimination she and her children faced. Nonetheless, Ms. Chen channels her energy into the community by hosting podcasts, classes, and community events where culture and business opportunities (商机) intersect. HNIFSC emphasizes the value that each "new immigrant's" cultural heritage brings to Taiwan's cultural diversity and business landscape. To conclude our dialogue, we enjoyed a classic Malaysian "PB&J" using margarine and Kaya jam (a green coconut-based jam that is sweet and nutty).

After the dialogue, I went to the NYCU outdoor pool with Derrick, Ryan, Karyna, and Grace. The warm summer air and palm trees lining the pool gave me a California vibe. Derrick and Ryan hit the track for a quick workout, while Maria did laps for some cardio. We truly are an active and athletic Dialogue team, making 董老师 and 夏老师 proud.

   Below are some cute animals we saw on our way back from the HNIFSC