I’ve been doing people watching from my limited vantage point. Fifth floor facing the main street, I’m fortunate that I do have a decently sized window. Looking at the floor map in the back of the room door, I wonder what kind of window the rooms facing the back have. Judging by the map, looks like I have a slightly shorter but wider room. I am glad I’m in the corner, less room noise from at least one side.
The Taipei City Motor Vehicles building is diagonally across from me so I marveled at the parade of new high end cars rolling through. The quality and class of cars in Taiwan has climbed up over the years although my perception may have been skewed by the fact that the cars I saw were mostly new. BMWs, Mercedes, Tesla, Jeeps. I cringed and watched one turn a little too close to the light pole and wondered how they didn’t scrape the side or knock their mirror off.
I could tell you that the custodian is out sweeping the DMV parking lot at 8 each morning, working his way to the sidewalks. That kids start walking to school around 7:30. That the government building itself doesn’t open until 9.
Oh the street sounds. I’m a heavy sleeper, but there was no missing the overnight work done right in front the hotel. The first night it happened, I fumbled around the room trying to figure out the source of the sound, whether my phone was going off with an emergency alert or whether there is an alarm somewhere. Grr. Multiple nights of this. How I even got a full night’s sleep, one does wonder.
I usually open the window when I’m awake. While the exhaust fumes is just what I want to breathe in, I want air flow more than anything. After being in a tropical climate for a week and half, I was looking forward to the cooler temperatures here. Boy, did that come with a ton of street noise. Honking, beeping, sirens- SO many sirens- from ambulances and fire engines, vehicle engines, police whistles. There was no quiet except for that Saturday morning. In some way, I enjoyed it. As isolated as I was, I could somehow sense the hustle and bustle below me. It will be so strange once I move onto the next phase of the quarantine, in the countryside.
Most pressing topic is how do I get the heck out of here tomorrow. Looking at the online portal, I saw that a taxi was already assigned to me, time of pickup, license number, and cellphone of driver. Nice that it is all set up. Except I was to be taken from the hotel to a bus station in 台北, where I would board a bus to 台中. At 台中, I would take another taxi to my destination, my grandparents’ place.
Yea..
Nope.
Not with three bags. And not with minimal contact with others.
We preferred to take a taxi direct to our destination, even paying the price for that convenience. I called the Taipei police to request the change. For some reason, that change required “special approval,” which didn’t come through until 8pm. An approval which my parents didn’t need to go through as residents. By that time, my original assigned taxi driver had called to confirm tomorrow’s pick up. Even with the approval, the online portal did not reflect the change. A flurry of chaos and confusion and multiple taxi drivers ensued. For both my parents and me. I’ve thrown my hands up and let my parents handle it. It was clear the taxi drivers were nervous about my poor Chinese and about the changes and how I’m not allowed to unilaterally make changes. Understandably, they are in a position where they come into contact with people who may or may not have covid exposures and they themselves have a highly regulated business.
I’m ready to go. Let’s bust out of here.
(All the hotel lunches and dinners. Yummm, I am going to miss this. Not.)
COVID test prior to departure from the hotel to private residence (the second “7” in the Program C 7+7+7). I thought it would be just one or two of us. It was an entire line of people. I guess it makes sense. The 7+7+7 option went into effect on Dec 14 and many of us arriving that day and after (15th for me) were taking advantage of the ability to continue quarantine in better comfort of our homes. So I guess I should have realized that Taiwan saw a surge of returns starting a week ago.
The 10 minute advance notice was a joke. By the time I got the call, it was and urgent “please hurry up and come downstairs now for the PCR. Oh, prop your door open!” Even though I’ve showered and been sorta ready since noon, I was still in my loungewear for comfort. 12:00 ~ 16:00 is a pretty sizable window! So scrambled to get dressed, grab my passport and documents, mask, and shoes.. jeans, whew, they fit, for now. wait, what are shoes again?
I technically wasn’t handed a room key when I checked in last week. There was a key in the wall slot when I walked in the room but I don’t know if it technically has been programmed to open the door or it is a blank just sitting there to keep the power to the room on. I never had a reason to test it- the whole point was to stay in the room the entire time. The phone call hints that the key isn’t programmed for the room after all. Using the U swing bar to prop the door, I headed out to the elevator for what turned out to be the slowest elevator I’ve been on in a week. As I stood there waiting, I marveled at the totally different view of my quarantine room.
The testing was conducted on a city bus converted into a testmobile (I’m calling it that and I’m sticking to that name). Turned out the elevator was slow because where were a good number of us getting our tests done and people were returning to their floors one at a time. As I lined up on the sidewalk waiting for my turn, passersby looked horrified and terrified to walk on the sidewalk between the line of us waiting on one side and the Ghostbuster-worthy PPE-donning test officials on the other side. 😂
Since I exited the elevator, individuals had checked my ID multiple times, on their list of individuals getting tested, on the vial labeling, and on my way back to the elevator. The bus was a standard city bus where they used the space in the middle of the bus normally reserved for wheelchair access for the test stand. It was a table with clear plexiglass trifold. The nurse would sit on the side closer to the driver, and there was a folding chair set up in the opposite facing the table. Holes were cut out for the nurse to reach towards the patient after we seated ourselves and pulled our mask just low enough to expose our nose. If there is any doubt about the quality of the four covid tests I’ve taken since this trip began, this fifth one left no doubt in that nose swab as the nurse not only twirled the swab continuously but even counted slowly to three, in English for full effect, before sending me off on my way. After I got to my room, I ran to watch the bus from the window above. Seems they drove the bus themselves, along with setting up cones for traffic when needed. I wonder if the drivers were also the medical staff and wonder how many of them realized when they signed up for this career that they’d ever have to test for their CDL.
I realized later that evening that I missed a call from the Taipei police. At 5pm. Of course, I was the last call before leaving work. I still called back, knowing full well no one was there just to say I tried. My head went on a brief tailspin. Is it bad news? Did my test come back positive? But I talked myself down off the ledge. If it was really bad news (positive test), they would have tried to reach be before showing up to tell me I have to go to the hospital or quarantine in a government facility. And wouldn’t have left it for tomorrow to address. It dawned on me much later to check the online portal, sure enough, my results were posted. At least I can go to sleep with one less worry. One thing for sure.. if I catch covid, Taiwan can’t blame me for “importing.” Five tests this month , second one in Taiwan. If I get sick, it will be Taiwan’s fault!
Today is winter solstice, time to eat 湯圓 (tangyuan). I asked for my favorite, black sesame filling. It’s bad luck to eat odd numbers, but 4 is an even worse number. So I got six 😋
Today is maintenance day. Yesterday’s sink laundry was just a start.
I pulled out the suitcases to reorganize the contents. I have rummaged for an item here and there. Now it’s time to straighten things up. By now, I’ve also taken stock of what consumables I will finish during this first week. The rest are going back in the suitcase for onward journey.
Time for a quick tidying and spruce up around the room. Am I this neat at home? Pfftth. Hah. No. But I am also not normally confined to a single room where I drop food crumbs just a foot away from where I sleep. And my hair shedding all in the same small space becomes visible quicker. I wipe down my dining surface after every meal, but it’s time to give the whole room an once-over.
I’m sure there is a psychological element to all this organizing and cleaning. Maybe if the act of organizing and sorting my surrounding gives me the sense of having some semblance of control and organization over my life?
Quarantine is an extremely wasteful activity. The level of no-contact that Taiwan has adhered to- items can only go in, but not come out, except for trash- lends itself to a lot of single-use packaging. I’ve noticed other than the initial cleaning I did when I arrived, the majority of my garbage going out are my food, food and drink packaging. I am by no means the truest environmentalist but I am conscious of my consumption and it has been tough to see how much materials are being used. Each meal comes in its own plastic bag, with its own containers for the food itself. And each meal, we are provided single-use chopsticks or straw. In a rare occasion, a spoon would come with, depending on if there is soup. I typically held onto the same pair of chopsticks for each day. Being my mother’s daughter that I am, I too couldn’t help holding onto containers that I thought were reusable. Oddly, one thing they did not ever include? Napkins. Which makes me smug about my decision to pack a partial roll of paper towels.
My parents got a call about scheduling their covid test in preparation for departure from the hotel. Which led us to wonder where my call was. I found myself hunting down the limited resources. Taiwan’s procedures for quarantine and movement is extensive, but their English resources and guidance are scarce and rather poorly written. Between talking to people and cobbling translations for my Chinglish, I can figure out just enough. But I can’t imagine much of a maze this must be for most non-Chinese speaking foreigners who may not have a support network. If I had the opportunity and ability, I would have offered by now to rewrite a lot of their websites and paperwork!
I called the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) information hotline at #1922 to inquire about information. Their poor English speaking agent was so uncomfortable speaking English she suggested I ask my parents to ask for me. She did at least provide a phone number for the Taipei health control.
By the way, the CECC sends an automated daily text message at 10am, inquiring about my health status. The system is rather spotty, especially over the weekend when none of my responses seemed to be received and they reverted to an automated phone call, in which I would provide the same dial pad response.
I called the number my Taipei police contact used to reach me and ended up reaching his colleague. He was much more fluent than the CECC lady, pointing me to the online form I filled out upon checking at the hotel. The form was a poorly assembled but after reviewing it multiple times I saw that the covid test date has been automatically populated based on my arrival date. However, no further information was on that form. Take a look and tell me I’m missing something!
I reached out to the hotel, asking if they have insight into the covid test time tomorrow. Bingo. They provided all the relevant information. The test will take place between 12:00 and 16:00, with the nurse calling 10 minutes prior to arrival. Please make sure the hotel phone is in proper working order. The hotel will provide my information for the test administrators’ paperwork.
Relief, in getting details and that I had a test scheduled.
Then dismay. That means I have to put on clothes tomorrow.
I know having daylight mattered for my mental health. Living in the UK taught me a lot about how my body behaves with vitamin D deficiency. I came into quarantine armed with multivitamins. In the previous segment of this trip, I spent a lot of time outside in the sun. I knew vitamin D wasn’t an issue for this week. But it is still striking how much the presence of daylight affects me.
It had been overcast since I’ve arrived and I didn’t think much of it, being confined in a single room in the middle of a bustling city with high rises. Until today when bright daylight was streaming in. My window is northward facing so I didn’t get actual sunlight streaming in, but the brighter light changed the way the room looked. Despite my having five overhead lights and two table lamps, it didn’t compare to broad daylight. Change in light made a lot of things easier and me more efficient. Hovering over the puzzle after breakfast. Reading the a magazines as I walked on the treadmill. Caught up in all my letter writing.
(First puzzle completed)
This weekend, I’ve been in a perpetual state of fullness. Despite the dubious breakfasts the hotel has been delivering, my aunts have supplemented my meals yesterday and today.
In my case, the aunts are my maternal aunts, one apparently lives just around the corner from my hotel. “Auntie” is a honorific that also applies to any older woman (than yourself) who is close to you or your family. Growing up, I wasn’t raised on the concept of differentiating between my nuclear family from my extended. We were literally one big family. Cousins were addressed as brother/sister. Uncles and aunts multiple generations removed were all universally uncles and aunts. And smothering and hovering comes with the territory. As a child, it meant being spoiled and pampered, especially being the American niece who traveled to far to see them. My experience is not unique, though. Many Asian-Americans have similar stories of our aunties’ commentaries about our habits and our Americanized habits all while being shoved delicious foods to eat. Whether my aunts would help send rescue packages while we were confined in quarantine was never a question as much as how much we were willing to ask them for favors.
The thing with our relatives is once you ask for one thing, you don’t stop getting that one thing forever . It’s perfect for satisfying my bubble tea addition over a long stay but, in the case of quarantine, it meant more food coming into hotel than I’d have time or capacity to consume. My compilation of goods sent has me skipping the hotel meals over the weekend.
Today was actually a jackpot day in terms of hotel food. Not the breakfast- let’s not get too carried away here. But dumplings for lunch. And a surprise tray of cut fresh fruit midafternoon.
Today was also sink laundry. Technically, the hotel stay is 8 days, then I move to the private residence for another week. I could do laundry in the second phase..boy, do I plan to. I have actually been traveling for over two weeks. I’ve been washing my clothing as the trip progresses. At this point, while I could wait, I was riding on my productivity high and decided to do a small load. It is right about the halfway mark and there will be plenty of time to dry before leaving. I just forgot until the clothing were being soaked that I didn’t give many option on how to hang the items to dry. Oops.
(treadmill timer)
I have found the treadmill timer can’t count past 99:59. At which point it ends the workout. This walking steadily is turning out to be an effective approach for me.
Daily care routine
I’ve stuck to a pretty consistent routine. Cold shower in the morning to wake up. Take my daily vitamins. Hot shower at night before going to bed so I climb into bed clean. Applying face lotion morning and night. Applying hand lotion regularly though out the day, especially with all the handwashing.
It would have been easy to wear PJs and lounge all day but I think the consistently and movement helps keep my body on a routine, especially when it comes to sleeping. The daylong walking makes my body tired; the bedtime routine triggers the mind to go into rest mode. Unlike my parents, I don’t have jetlag, having already been in Asia for a couple weeks.
I don’t have an extensive beauty routine. For this trip, I bought and brought some facial sheet masks on whim. Totally impulse buy. Why not? I’m not going anywhere. It would be a way to try out some beauty products for the fun of it. It’s not like I’m rinsing and dashing like I normally do in my daily life. First mask tonight and I spent more time googling what the point of these masks are…
Speaking of having no idea which day it is, I noticed the street noise was different this morning. Vehicles drove faster. Peeking out the window, I realized all the businesses around the hotel were closed. It’s Saturday. Well, that’s one way to tell what day it is!
Today, food.
The quarantine hotel provides meals with the rate. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Not a menu to pick from; they just deliver to your door.
I was pleasantly surprised when the hotel asked if I had any food allergies or dietary restrictions upon check in. Nope, I eat everything. I’m actually lactose intolerant but I suspected that was not going to be a problem here.
Subjective opinion: Taiwanese food is some of the best food in the world. And I have eaten a lot of different cuisines from the questionable item on a stick off a street stall to the Michelin starred establishments. I always gravitate back to traditional Taiwanese fare. Could the fact I grew up on this food influence my opinion? Sure.
Taiwanese breakfasts are best from alleyway food carts. Warm soydrink in rubber band sealed plastic bag with straw sticking out. Scallion pancakes with egg, doused with magical red sauce, rolled up and wrapped in paper. Warm fluffy steamed buns that are pillowy to touch. My uncle laughed at how I gravitate towards “peasant” food. He’s right.. peasant food that has been perfected over four thousand years.
I set my expectations low coming into quarantine. I knew the meals are packaged in carryout containers en mass, and likely will be lukewarm at best by time of delivery. I was going to have to wait until at least the second phase of the quarantine to get better access to the fresh breakfasts.
By day 3, though, we had a niggling suspicion I was being served the hwan-a (foreigner) breakfast. I haven’t seen any rice porridge or buns. Instead, I got sandwiches that resembled attempts to mimic Western fast food. The sandwiches have been atrocious.. criminally atrocious. The coffee is foul, but I knew that already and brought my own press for a reason.
In my grandmother’s obit, I fondly referenced a time Ah-ma went out to buy a hamburger for me to take to the airport. The “burger” had some mysterious unidentifiable patty that makes a McNugget look like fresh meat. It was also doused in some red sauce and shredded pork jerky. It was… disgusting.
In the three plus decades since that memory, Taiwan has advanced and progressed immensely as a society, in technology, in social liberalism, in education, and in food. I’m sorry to report their Western fast food has not progressed since.
Take a look.
Day 1: Egg sandwich “panini”? Pork floss (dried shredded jerky),cheese, bacon, and shredded cabbage.
Day 2: Almost identical to the sandwich my grandmother gave me ages ago. Unidentifiable fried pork cutlet, egg, strange red sauce, and single pickle slice.
Day 3: There’s no other way to describe it other than calling it a Filet o Fish with cheese.
Day 4: I’ll throw it in here anyway. Another sandwich with mince pork, single lettuce, more red sauce, ok, I just can’t anymore. Enjoy the view
Meanwhile, my parents were eating rice porridge, true Taiwanese sandwich, tunip cake, and scallion pancake!!!
What.
The.
Heck.
My faith in Taiwanese food is fading fast. The suggestion that I may be given the foreigner menu was a lightbulb moment. It explains so much. It is classic Taiwanese attempt to cater to foreign palettes with their misconceptions of what Americans (or anyone else) eat for breakfast.
Cue in Taiwan aunties to the rescue. I will own my being spoiled. I had been babysat by almost every single aunt at some point on both sides of the family in my toddler years. My aunts know what I like. Since Day 2, I haven’t eaten the provided sandwiches. I would take a bite just to confirm it is bad but say I tried it. My breakfasts consists of fresh seasonal fruits and fresh bakery goods like 菠蘿麵包 (bolo or pineapple bun), finished off with strong black coffee.
The other meals are more or less expected 便當 (lunch box) fare. It’s kind of been a game of whats-in-the-bag at meal delivery time, comparing pictures of our meals between our two hotels. There is a protein, usually chicken or pork, a couple of vegetable sides, a few pieces of tofu, and a TON of rice. By lunch on day one, I started forgoing the rice altogether. Between being confined to a room and the volume of food coming in, I just don’t need that many carbs.
One thing lacking in the hotel meals that is critical to this family’s nutrition. Fresh fruits. The quarantine approach is minimal contact and minimal handling. I suspect fruit didn’t fit neatly in this category, even though it is a huge part of Taiwanese diet. Our uncle and aunt network have been dropping off seasonal local fruits since day 1. Guava, Asian pear, wax apples, oranges, bananas, apples, cherry tomatoes, so on.
For those who don’t have the same robust family network, Uber Eats, Food Panda offer food delivery. The hotel would drop off at our door for us. On the morning of day 1, I started researching the options in case. It isn’t necessary anymore, but Dad’s curiosity was piqued. He wanted to order food delivery to just experience it. Why not, right? May as well have fun with the experience.
The only meal that has been accompanied by a drink consistently has been breakfast. The hotel provided a whole case of water bottles in the room. The first two days I got coffee. Day 3, milk tea. I far prefer the milk team, lactose intolerance be damned. It is a popular drink here in Taiwan and please give me what the Taiwanese make regularly.
My fav is bubble milk tea (“boba” in the US).. I’ve been drinking that since before Americans can handle looking at seaweed without making a grossed out face. My uncle thinks my name is synonymous with bubble milk tea and usually had at least one cup sitting the car whenever he picked me up upon my return to Taiwan. And I got bubble milk tea with Day 3 dinner! Yum. Breakfast sandwiches forgiven and forgotten.
My parents asked if I got a care package? Eh? No? Taipei City had sent care packages to Taiwanese residents going into quarantine. As a foreigner, I have no such gift. Their package consists of the following: three-pack of ramen, bag of face masks, crackers, oatmeal, etc. One each per person… my parents have six packs of ramen between the two of them. I’ll stick to the Auntie network, thanks.
(Care package, courtesy of Taipei City)(Puzzle progress on Day3)
Day 2 and I switched to to-do lists. I tend to do things in spurts and hate being disrupted when I’m in a zone. So an hour chunk is not my style. I’ve got two lists going. Yes, that is tucked on the TV frame, where I see it all day.
Fitness The treadmill was an unexpected bonus. Day 1, I tried to do one hour cardio and it was just uninspired. Day 2, I just did 2000 steps walk after each meal and throughout the day. Watching a show? Walk and watch? Browsing through a magazine? If it doesn’t have tiny font, flip the pages while getting my steps in.
The stretching, it’s been something I’ve slacked on at home and I am using this time to reset and resume. I am quite flexible and am feeling the stiffness creep in lately. Time to resume some good stretching habits. Besides, I brought a yoga mat around the world, might as well put it to good use.
10/20/30? 10 push ups, 20 sit ups, 30 squats. That is my minimum that I do daily when I travel. I am capable of more, but I kept this as the standard because some trips are so busy I either already got plenty of walking in or I was so swamped with work that I would be too exhausted to do much more.
But where are the books? I bet some of you noticed not a book in sight.. nor on my list. I am a voracious reader.. I easily read the minimum of a book a week. I didn’t need a reminder to read; it is something I will do no matter what. While I would have loved to bring some paperback books, they were the first items culled out of the suitcases when packing. The weight plus the fact I would have circumnavigated the globe by the time the trip is over made them not worth bringing, not when I already normally read ebooks.
Magazines, on the other hand, I can toss as I finish, lighting the load as the trip goes. I also like magazines for the shorter reads and wider variety of topics. I don’t read magazines at home, usually throwing them in a stack for my next trip. Before the pandemic, I used to also grab all the magazines I found minimally interesting in the business lounges and they would last the trip. Now, you can’t even find any reading material for grabs, in lounges nor on planes. For this trip, most in my stack are Time and Washington Post Magazine I get, supplemented by lifestyle magazines gifted by my neighbors.
(Shelf at home of travel journals over the years)
Journals x 3? I keep travel journals. I’ve noticed my tendency to not finish the last couple days’ entries coincided with the appearance of a smartphone in my life. I’ve taken to using the winter holidays as a time to finish up all the journals I started that year. I’ve been fortunate.. I’ve taken three personal trips this year, this current one being the latest.
Social Interaction There is some kind of a reverse psychology going on here. As an introvert, I can go days without interacting with people. But now that I’m physically confined.. I crave more interaction. While sites like Facebook, Instagram keep me entertained for quick browsing, they serve more consumption than interaction. Thank goodness of messaging apps.
So how did my day 2 end up looking like?
15k steps dispersed through out the day
Two magazines finished and tossed in recycling
Blog entries caught up
Jigsaw puzzle progress
1 hour Pilates, following Move with Susan n YouTube. This is not an endorsement- I just did a search online for videos. I don’t think I’ll be following any other workouts from her.
One letter started… I’m one behind now.
I’ve lost all sense of calendar awareness. I knew dates by travel. Arrival date, 15 Dec. Since then, I’ve lost any bearing. We had a family call and Mom said something about talking to Bro on some day of the week and as the voices droned on, my face is all scrunched up.. what day is today?!
One night down. Yesterday was about settling in physically. Today was all about the orientation and bureaucracy. Going through the airport, I was expecting a lot more scrutiny, and other than checking the fact that my health form was updated with my Taiwanese mobile number and taking a covid test, it didn’t feel like they were monitoring closely. Today, that impression got corrected.
I woke up with grand plans. I had in my mind, broken the day into one hour chunks. One hour for each meal, one of each set of activities including working out and doing a jigsaw puzzle, one each for writing and remote work, etc. The whole plan was put into motion at 7am when breakfast was delivered and lasted until 10am.
Breakfast was *huge*. A bento of fried pork cutlet on rice. A “panini” of sorts with a bag of six French fries and bitter coffee. Sigh. Anyone in the know knows that Taiwanese breakfasts are DA BOMB. And this was my first meal in Taiwan? By dinner, I figured out that the bento was probably from last night. I checked in minutes after dinner was delivered and assumed I missed out. They must have sent it up later and I just never checked.
(Yes. 7 fries.)
The hotel dictated the following schedule:
Report body temperature every 9am/9pm
Daily meals served 07:00~07:30, 12:00~12:30, 18:00-18:30
Trash collection at 16:00~16:10.
We love our boxes in Taiwan. This is what the view from my door looks like. A box for the garbage drop. And a box for the delivery pick up. I guess it’s better than putting our food on the ground. Notice the plastic covering in *everything.* Pre-pandemic, Asians also have the tendency to cover things they care about with plastic. Many of us remember our thighs sticking to some plastic cover to a leather couch on a hot day. Pandemic? Easier just to show the pictures. In the room, my light switches, phone, tv remote are similarly covered. I’m surprised they didn’t figure out a way to wrap the treadmill panel with plastic wrap.
I started so well:
7 ~ 8am: breakfast
8 ~ 9am: break out a jigsaw puzzle
9am: record and report temperature
9am ~ 10am: research food order options for fresh fruit
10am ~ …. : one hour stretch routine, courtesy of Jana Webb on YouTube.
At 9:30am, I missed a phone call. And in the middle of my stretching is when I got completely sidetracked. As if the YouTube ads weren’t enough to throw my rhythm off.
First contact was from a Taipei police officer. He introduced me as my Taipei monitor, welcomed me to Taiwan, confirmed my information. The call I missed was from him, so while he didn’t mention the missed call, he was very explicit in his instructions. Keep my phone on at all times. Do no turn it off, do not put it on airplane mode. And please contact him if I experience any COVID symptoms. Yes, sir. Time to check the volume on my ringer!
I thought that was that. Nope. Fifteen minutes later, I got another call from another police officer, this time based in Taichung, the jurisdiction in which my residential quarantine address falls under. This officer had more specific questions. He asked for a local relative contact information. He was worried the relative remote location of my grandparents’ home meant lack of access to food, especially when I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the residence. He also was confused by the two family members I listed as residing in the residence with me during that quarantine, my parents. Reading between the lines, I think he was looking for their paperwork. I passed him their Chinese names and the lightbulb went off in him. He explained he handles foreigners; Taiwanese residents fall under a different department. I found out later he called my uncle to express my concern about my being able to eat while in quarantine. I can already imagine my uncle making it clear I was under the Taiwanese family treatment.. I will never go hungry.
Let’s talk language. I speak what I call “never-go-hungry” Chinglish. My vocabulary is elementary at best and topics I can cover first-layer basic everyday casual conversation and that is it. In social interactions, I would be polite and endear myself just enough to get plied with food and I can shut up and just listen. 😜 In interactions on the street, in stores, at restaurants, I can get by. I don’t understand 100% but I’ll cobble enough words to fumble through transactions. And sometimes I can keep the interaction to the bare minimum to not even alert the other person I understood way less than they realized.
I got the message loud and clear the Taiwan is not joking around on their covid prevention measures. I went from a country where people can barely follow simple instructions of how to wear a mask properly, let alone actually wear one, to a country where I haven’t seen anyone’s nose since boarding the plane for the flight here. No one here is complaining they can’t breathe. Every single person I’ve interacted with not only wore masks and face shields but also gloves and a good number even wear protective gowns.
Besides the fact that I entered on an US passport already flagged myself as a foreigner, I decided to keep most interactions with officials to English. I will offer a words of Mandarin in acknowledgement or in thanks. There is a reason for my choice. While it subjected me to the foreigner treatment (more on that!), it ensured I was assigned police officers who spoke decent English. Words like “quarantine,” “health check,” “covid,” I can learn. But as they start talking faster about procedure, reporting requirements, monitoring, and so on, I want to make sure I understand 100% what is going on. Any misunderstanding may come from their side, but they would know it is a result of honest communication challenges, not any deliberate attempt from me to obfuscate responses or to ignore instructions.
Taiwan’s app of choice is Line, very similar to WhatsApp that we Americans use. My communication with the hotel staff and the Taichung police office is primarily through Line, once we established the initial exchange. With the hotel, my check in was in Mandarin so between Google Translate and Line, I do wonder, while they knew my Chinese isn’t great, if they realize I’m functionally illiterate. Yup, I’ve been using GoogleTranslate to supplement my texting. Thank goodness for remembering enough of the traditional alphabet from Chinese school and pinyin from college to reread any translation before sending. Less change of inappropriate words slipping in!
So somewhere between all the phone calls and listening to Jana Webb yammer on about exhaling and neuromuscular simulation, it was already lunchtime. And right then, I abandoned any pretense of maintaining a schedule. The schedule from the hotel was all the structure I needed.
We are required to report our temperature twice a day. I text my recording to the hotel staff and report on a sheet of paper they left in the room for us. The hotel also left a thermostat… cool. I can’t remember where mine at home went. This will be useful to take back 😁 I need to figure out how to convert to F for future use though! I admit I had to google the body temperature in C for my own bearing.
The whole family is on Line. My parents arrived Taiwan about five hours after me the night before. We were calling each other nonstop all day. What else do I have to do, with most people I stay in touch with me being 13 hours behind! They are staying in a different hotel, so we found ourselves comparing our meals and the differences in room. I won jackpot with the treadmill. They have a nice large balcony to extend the amount of space they can spread out.
We also called in reinforcements. My aunt took requests for things to drop off. And, boy, did she come through the the below care package. Taiwanese aunties for the win!
I abandoned my attempt to schedule the day by lunch. I don’t know how I ever got it in my head I’d stick to a schedule. I never follow regiment, ever. The hotel room door isn’t so magical that I suddenly develop the ability to focus on any one activity for that long. For my puzzle, I didn’t get all the edge pieces in that first hour… so of course I’d keep drifting back to the box to rummage until I could find all the pieces. That would go all day. Tomorrow, I’ll use the approach I normally do a home- a to-do list.
Without Strings Tied 