One day Formosa is beautiful and the sun casts a golden glow over the island. The next day the typhoon strikes. I wonder if it will follow me home when the time comes to return. I move from Taipei to Zhongli, where I have the chance to eat snake in a soup. It is disappointingly stale, but I hear that in one district in Taipei it is possible to find something a little more special. Fortunately I will go to Taipei again later.
While struggling through the spiny meat, a man I come to know only as the Boss joins my and my host's table. He speaks no English, but my host translates. When the Boss was younger, he went to New Zealand where his lack of language skill was a trouble. However, he met a Chinese-speaking man who showed him around and helped him in many ways. He says that because of this, he wants to give me a similar experience and asks if I am free the following day. I am.
In the morning, however, I have another appointment. My host is a high school teacher, and he asked me if I would like to go speak to his class in the morning. He had already promised I would to his students. I gladly go, of course. The students seem thrilled to have a visitor and ask me many questions. Sadly I was not prepared to ask them anything, so when the time comes when they wonder if I want to ask something, in my mind I only have silly things such as "why do young Taiwanese not drink tea" or "why does every Taiwanese consistently want to 'ax' me a question".
After class, an employee of the Boss, accompanied by two of the Boss's kids, picks me up. We go to a farm to meet the Boss and see lotus flowers, after which we go for lunch in a place that serves Hakka cuisine. Then we go to enjoy tea at the Boss's office. He asks which teas I like and then offers me some of them as a gift, not taking a "no" for an answer. I am left with the feeling that the combined worth of these gifts plus the meals of the day is more than my life, but the Boss wants me to think nothing of it.
In the evening the Boss invites my host and his friends for dinner. My host cannot make it because of his work, but five of his friends join me, the Boss and his family. The Boss orders all kinds of animals for us to eat, frog and turtle among the more interesting ones. It seems I am allergic to turtle meat as well. Oh well. One of my host's friends chats with me in Japanese while the rest speak Chinese among themselves.
Throughout the day I have had fierce stomach cramps, which somehow amplify the surreal feel of the day. After returning to my host, they subside and let me sleep peacefully.
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