Last Sunday, my conversation partner Ana invited me to join her for lunch at an Asian restaurant down Thomasville road. Francis, Jee, Jee’s husband and their son Eric, and Ana’s boyfriend were also there. The food was wonderful and the conversation jumped around as it is apt to do when you put people from four different countries together at a table. After lunch the guys left and we made our way to the Governor’s square mall.
Ana expressed interest in high-quality make up so I showed her Sephora, although make up is not really my thing, for that matter neither is shopping. Ana enjoys shopping and we talked about the malls in China and Taiwan compared to the ones here. I told her about my Beijing days and was surprised to watch her shudder at my tales. Although both countries share parts of culture and history their perspectives are rather different- we broached the subject a bit. Ana mentioned that her mainland friends that she meets in CIES will often ask her about what she considers the current political situation of Taiwan to be. She says she doesn’t want to talk about it that she’s not here to talk about it. Instead she tells me bits and pieces of history of Taiwan and the many different peoples who have come to live on this island. Ana’s family was native to the island long before 1949 came along.
While at the mall we got Ana’s watch fixed, toured some shops, and at the end I took her home.
It's great how you are trying hard to incorporate her interests, even if they are not your own, and that you are learning about her culture as well!
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