Hello Tim,
This is the week of the Chinese New Year, and some details about how I spent the mentioned festival with my family can be expected.
The weather this week has become tamer and warmer, but still, the occasion low temperature has yet departed.
The Taipei International Book Exhibition 2018 (TIBE 2018)
This was actually an activity I did last Friday, but since I was writing enough for the letter last week and with the fact that I was running out of time, I decided to move this story to the one this week.
Remember last year when I went to the Taipei International Book Exhibition 2017 with Buzz? Well, the people that held the event are doing a splendid job of keeping it as an annual event.
 |
| Vibrant before entry. |
Last year, I was there with a(n) (ex-)friend of mine, but this year I was there all alone; that meant an unlimited time of strolling and aimless walking were made possible!
As to how I would do when entering a bookstore, I blithely skipped the translated Chinese novels, for I have the better option: Reading the original text even if it’s in English.
 |
| The Harry Potter section. |
Being an “International” book as it is told in the name, the exhibition held not only English books, but also books that bore words and sentences in different languages: Japanese, German, French, Korean, Spanish, etc. I took my time, going through all of them (maybe except the Korean department) even though I couldn’t understand a word sometimes.
In the exhibition, I lingered at the French section the longest. I’ve been learning French, and the most delighting thing is I was able to read and comprehend quite a lot of the… children books (what I am a beginner), compared to German, which I have started learning around the same time I’ve started learning French.
 |
| One shelf of the French section. |
One hour into the exhibition, and almost unconsciously, I have spent over two thousand NTD already, and that got me two of the Harry Potter series (I was actually thinking about buying the whole set, but I was suffering from a low budget) two French books (the main source of the cost. Yikes, aren’t they expensive?) and one preordered on the Internet, with a great deal of discount and hardback.
 |
| "The Fathers of Violette", one book talking about a gay family. |
 |
| "My life as a Courgette" in English translated as "My Life as a Zucchini", illustrations are the pictures from the adapted motion picture. |
 |
| Two more Harry Potter books on the shelf! |
 |
| Online receipt of my pre-ordered book. |
I shared with my friends and classmates in my French class group, and it turned out one of the other students, Karlos, was also at the exhibition at the time! We didn’t meet up right away, though, but Karlos and I, we agreed to have dinner and go to the class together with Alice, another classmate who works near the exhibition.
It was an amazing harvest at the exhibition, but I believe that my bookshelf was about to reach his limits of holding books…
New Year, the Year of the Dog
It’s the eve of the Lunar New Year, and my mother and I have a tradition we do each year. People usually go to only one place, and that is the house of the father’s side. But my mom and I are different. Every year on this day, we join the dinner gathering of both sides, my father’s, and mother’s. First, we stay at the house of my grandma for the first dinner. We dine with the brother and sister of my dad, and I will spend some time with my two cousins. Then at about eight or nine o’clock, we would leave first and commute to the house of the brother of my mother (In English, we call most of our relatives uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. but in Chinese they have totally different titles.), where the family on my mother side always gathers. It takes some time and energy, but one thing evident is that Mom always feels happier when she was with her family. Here are some pictures I reminded myself to take for putting in the blog.
 |
| From left to right are my cousin, her father, the sister of my grandma, and her niece. Complicated, I know. Let us focus only on the beautiful and delicious dishes. |
 |
| Me trying to build castles on... in a bowl. |
 |
| Now at the table of my mother's side: Left to right are my cousin (daughter of my fifth uncle), my fifth uncle, fourth uncle, his wife, seventh uncle. Even more complicated, I understand. By the time this picture was taken, not many people had arrived, but approximately fifteen minutes later, Eliza and her family arrived and it added a lot of festivity to the house. |
 |
| Selfie taken by Eliza (left) |
One similarity about both sides of the families is that there is always someone who would be throwing out the annoying/bothering questions: “How is school?” “You’ve been learning French/German? Demonstrate!” “Do you have other things you are good at except languages”, and the most FAQ (frequently asked question) ever: “DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND???” From what I heard from the other classmates, their parents and relatives have been the ones discouraging them to get a boyfriend/girlfriend, but I have no idea why my family’s acting the opposite. Plus some would throw out random opinions like “Why do you do that? You won’t get a girlfriend if you do so” and so on. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just shout out “Why would I want a girlfriend? I like men!” because my mom, my dad, and I secretly agreed that if my grandma knows about this, she would possibly faint (she was conservative. Very.) and also I know that this is not only a rude but a wrong way to come out (shouldn’t be out of frustration or annoyance). Hence, all I could always react was to give a not-so-spontaneous smile and let out several awkward laughs. It works most of the time.
Now there is a myth I have to clear for you, Mr. Maher. Have you ever gotten any complaint from students over here, saying that their parents had taken away all their red envelope money? That accuse made the parents sound like money monsters that unconditionally take all the red envelopes, but that’s not always the truth. While we are receiving the red envelopes from other relatives, OUR parents are also giving out red envelopes to the kids of the relatives, so if they don’t get back the red envelopes we got, they would lose thousands of dollars. My mother was nice enough to let me keep the envelope she gave me and the one from my aunt. Still, I think it unfair for people to say that their parents are taking their money away.
Discovering the Secret Chamber with Harry Potter
After finishing Maurice (This reminds me that I still haven’t finished the reading report I’m supposed to hand in by the 24th) I have moved on to the next book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This is the first sequel to the Harry Potter Series, and this is also the episode I am the most familiar with, for I have seen many parts of it on TV. I guess that not many of the plots in this particular book can surprise me at this point, but I am sure this will still be an interesting read nonetheless.
Last Week of Break…
This dream-like winter vacation is almost over, and I am saddened by the fact. During this vacation, I got to do many things, and though most of the time was spent on relaxing, I like this lifestyle, actually.
I can only live up the remaining days of this winter break since there is no way I can make it linger… :D
Sincerely,
Hugo
No comments:
Post a Comment