By Aida Lo and Chelsea Cui:
This morning we woke up with filled with some uncertainty about going to volunteer at the Zenan Homeless Welfare Foundation Charity Fair from 9:00am to 1:30. While we were exited to contribute to a great cause, we were slightly apprehensive about working in 90 degrees Fahrenheit for so long. However, we soon found the seemingly daunting task very enjoyable. Each of us were assigned to a stand to help sell products at. Our exchange group worked at a wide variety of stands selling things such as meat balls, cake, ice cream, iced cold drinks, Starbucks, and boba tea! The peaceful environment quickly turned fiery, when our innovative tour guides arranged a competition between our stands. Whoever made the most sales got a prize! The experience turned out to be not only a way to connect with our peers but extremely educational. We were introduced to the different Taiwanese bills and coins on the bus ride and learned to communicate, market, and sell our products to Taiwanese locals. We also learned the very important distinction between 买(in the 3rd tone) meaning “to buy” and 卖 (in the 4th tone) meaning “to sell”. It was a perfect start to our day!
After a quick history lesson and trivia season with our lively tour guides, we arrived at the national palace museum: an institution with the worlds largest collections of artifacts from the Forbidden City. After a short guided tour of a few artifacts such as the renowned jadeite cabbage, we got to explore the museum freely! Despite our high anticipation for the visit, our expectations were blown out of the water with the stunningly beautiful and rich contents of the museum. Particularly the use of 毛笔 (calligraphy) to create extremely detailed images inside pottery. The museum offered an incredibly wide range of stunning sights and culture to experience. From statues, calligraphy, paintings, and carvings made from a variety of stones. We even got to enjoy a cafe and gift shop where we personally enjoyed some cheesecake and bought our family members gifts.
After the museum we headed to 洪楼小馆 for a delicious dinner with a variety of dishes, from miso soup and shrimp.
Shortly after our very nourishing meal, we hopped on our bus and arrived at the Shilin Night Market, Taiwan’s largest and most famous night market. At Shilin, there was an incredible assortment of Taiwanese street food, such as stinky tofu, sugar glazed fruits, boba tea, and even fried scorpions. Aside from the very many foods, there were also stands selling graphic t-shirts, watches (which were a very popular purchase), bags, keychains, legos, and wire statues just to state a few examples. While it was extremely exciting to shop and play the claw machines, our visit to Shilin put our language skills to the test. In order to navigate our way through the market, we had to know how to ask things such as, how much something was or if something came in a different color. Whether we were shopping or wasted some money playing the claw machines, we all had an amazing time at Shilin.
