yellow watermelon?

First of all, let me announce that our finals are over. Finished, complete, done with. We still have our Nan-Jeon classes, though, since there is no Christmas break here. But, that aside, no more eight page papers or mounds of algebra! *cheers* On that congratulatory note, here's the new blog.


A student of mine, Kristy, invited Jake and I to her family's house for lunch last Sunday. Being the food connoisseurs that we are, we happily agreed. Our friends Jennifer and Moss showed us the way via scooter to Kristy's home, which was in a little town near Yanshuei.



(above) The absolute worst road for scooter travel. It felt nearly the equivalent of taking our scooter down a flight of stairs. Note to self: avoid at all costs in the future.



(above) In America, families make homemade lemonade - in Taiwan, its homemade sugarcane juice.

When we arrived, we were met with mounds of sugarcane and sugarcane peelings. In Taiwan, sugarcane juice is very popular - every night markt has at least one vendor for it. As it turns out, Kristy's family makes its own. The juice is either green or yellow, depending on whether the skin is removed first. The taste is hard to describe - it has a mild, sweet taste and is supposed to be beneficial for health (since it contains protein, iron, vitams A, B1, B2, C, etc). To extract the juice, the cane is pushed through a machine that squeezes and siphons the juice into a container.



Kristy's brother and Moss taught Jake and me how to play Chinese chess (known as Xiangqi, or Elephant chess), which is easy to understand if you're familiar with Western chess.

The pieces include the following: King (aka: General), advisor, elephant, horse, chariot, cannon and soldier (aka: pawn).

Jake and I now have our own set.



(above) Moss and Jennifer.



Kristy's mother cooked delicious food - including a mound of noodles that replenished itself whenever the bottom of the platter was visible, and a delicious cabbage and fish ball soup. Her father also brought out fruit after fruit - and we tasted some that aren't available in America.





(above) Ever seen yellow watermelon before? Now you have.



According to Kristy's father, yellow watermelon tends to be juicier, while the red version is sweeter.





starting from front left: Moss, Jennifer, Kristy, Kristy's mom, Lola (Kristy's twin sister), Kristy's younger brother, and her dad.









(above) It was hard to catch them unawares - the Taiwanese like having their photo taken and pose as soon as they spot a camera in the vicinity.






That's all for this adventure.