耶誕快樂 Merry Christmas from Taiwan

Christmas is not celebrated in Taiwan so it was a very strange holiday for me, and the first I'd spent away from my family.  Multiple family members getting COVID cancelling holiday traditions dispelled all my FOMO though.  Here, there is no time off from work or school, so I had class on Christmas Eve (Friday).  Later in the evening, I attended a Christmas party hosted by my department, which is all international.  It was the most festive I'd felt all season, with a Christmas buffet, gingerbread house-making, and a white elephant gift exchange.  

At midnight, my friend and I went to Catholic mass in Chinese.  There had been an English mass earlier in the evening, so the entire congregation at midnight mass was Asian.  All of the prayers and lyrics were projected onto the wall behind the priest so I could follow along reading the characters.  We sang all the same Christmas songs but in Chinese.  I could read characters fast enough to sing most of the words, except for Joy to the World which turned out to be too complicated in Mandarin.  I was very happy to be able to understand the entire homily.  During the sign of peace, in a very Japanese fashion, we bowed at the people next to us and said "平安！" peace!

Note how Taiwanese people wear hats indoors

Saturday morning I went for run in the 65 degree sprinkling rain typical of Taiwan winter (my Taiwanese friends were aghast anyone would be outside in such cold), had a Christmas Day breakfast of sushi, and then spent the day at an American friend's party.  I managed to find a casserole dish and all the ingredients (including baked-and-ready-to-eat white sweet potatoes from a convenience store) to make a sweet potato casserole in a toaster oven.  It was lovely to eat homemade food, exchange a couple presents with friends, and play mahjong on my new set.  My claim to fame is how many Taiwanese people I've taught to play this traditional Taiwanese game with which I'm obsessed.

Teaching a Taiwanese friend to ice skate while it's 80 degrees outside

A worker carries a sign reminding crowds to wear a mask

Earlier in the week, a friend and I went to New Taipei City (it is fairly large and surrounds Taipei on all sides) to check out Banqiao's Christmasland, of which Taiwanese people are quite proud.  There were many lights, but it was overall very small.

Greeting and photo from university

礁溪老爺酒店 Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi

This Tuesday through Wednesday, some very generous family friends took me to a hot springs resort in Jiaoxi, about an hour from Taipei.  It is such a sought after escape from the city that it’s nearly impossible to book on the weekends.

First, we waited in a line around the block for the most delicious 蔥油餅 from a street vendor.  Scallion pancakes are a staple snack across Taiwan and China but are famous in Yilan thanks to the locally grown three-foot long scallions.

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The resort was incredibly luxurious, and the staff all knew the family with whom I was traveling.  I stayed in my own hotel suite that was about three times the size of my dorm room (minus a roommate, plus a private bathtub).  The best part was the hot springs pools.  I got to swim laps in an infinity pool fed by water from the natural springs.  Then there were a variety of hot pools at precise temperatures in which to soak or 泡湯.  Some of them were scented for aromatherapy stress relief, like vanilla and blueberry.  One of them had fish that would nibble the dead skin on your feet.  They even had individual pottery baths where you could control your own temperature.  Hot ginger tea was provided poolside.

 

We ate dinner as a family all in the matching pajamas provided by the resort. I had to wear the larger size, so while all the Taiwanese women were wearing the red yukata, vest, and matching slippers, the Taiwanese men and I were walking around in the green set.  It was an incredible high-end organic meal (vegetarian for me) that started with sipping vinegar made from local kumquats to “open the stomach” or whet the appetite.

Dessert was eaten from right to left in order of increasing sweetness.  What I was hoping was chocolate soup was actually sweet bean soup with red beans and peanuts—the only nuts or beans of the entire meal.

The next morning, the matriarch of the family and I ate breakfast together before anyone else woke up (her in her red pajamas, me in my green pajamas).  It was the largest breakfast buffet I can ever remember exploring, featuring Western and Asian breakfast options.  I liked the almond milk, which is common in Yilan, and reminded Mrs. Tsai of her childhood.

After a couple of classes attended virtually from the super king bed, I went for another swim and then joined the family at the lounge where they ordered endless amounts of snacks, hot cocoa, teas, pastries, cookies, and cake.

Mrs. Tsai and I went to the all women’s sauna together, which is in the style of Japanese nude baths (not-pictured).  We chatted, naked, on large rock features under dappled shade in an extremely hot outdoor hot springs pool.  I loved hearing her speak in Chinese about various topics from cross-cultural dating to using Traditional Chinese Medicine to deal with infertility in in the 1980s.  Her family is spread between the United States and Taipei, the Taipei contingent being present at the resort: her husband, her son, his German wife, and their 5-month old baby.  As a family, they speak exclusively Chinglish, because everyone is fluent in both English and Chinese.  There were no other non-Asian foreigners in the entire resort.

After emerging from the naked sauna (Mrs. Tsai assured me the sweating was a healthy activity), we covered ourselves in rose-scented toiletries, drank rose mint tea, and lounged in a full-body massage chair—it even massaged the fingertips!  The very non-American experience reminded me of being with my own grandma at the traditional baths in Istanbul.

We drove back to Taipei through the mountains.