There are nice people all over the world, and here it’s no exception. The first person we met was one of the professors at the English Dep’t, her English name (everybody has an English name) is Josephine; she goes by Jo. She met us at the airport with a van, took us to our place, and went out of her way to make us welcome. She brought sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, plates, some silverware, rice, paper napkins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc., so we could be O.K. that night. Something very interesting: she gave us a little bag with a big chunk of Taiwanese bills and said “this is a loan from me so you don’t have to worry about banks, etc.”
Also, unexpected, she gave us a working cell phone (they buy prepaid cards, and only residents or citizens can acquire both, cells and prepaid cards) with all the phone numbers of the other teachers in it! She also took us shopping for the basics the next day and calls us often to see if we need something. Then, there is nice person number two: Finn, a (female) student who was hired (by the hour?) to help us when Chinese is a barrier, in other words, very often! She has taken me to downtown (by bus), gone to the bank with us, to the post office, etc, etc. with us. There some other professors who have taken us to the supermarket (by car) and who have helped us with the different bureaucratic processes. Once you go to a store, or office, the people who can speak English are polite and helpful.
Interesting traits: people here like to talk a lot about nothing. Example: “Where is the bus stop?” you ask two Taiwanese. They speak for about five minutes to each other. Answer: “We don’t know”.
Most women look at Ignacio. Young women just smile, or one asked “Is it natural?”(referring to his curly brown hair). Older women get closer, touch him, give him treats, talk a long time about …not sure what, but something about him being cute and how Mike and I should be having more children.
