My parents traveled to Taiwan and had a wonderful time. I was completely taken a back about a month ago when my Mom, after not having talked to her in a couple days, asked me for hotel and flight recommendations. My parents came to Australia last summer for nearly three weeks, and we had discussed the possibility of them returning this year but thought it was unlikely. With that being said, I figured Taiwan was even more unlikely because I would only be here for a couple months before heading back to Australia and my parents had several ski trips planned for the month of February. Nevertheless, my parents arrived in Taipei and stayed for 10 days.
My parents arrived late on a Thursday night. They were delayed out of Minneapolis and this was going to jeopardize whether they made their connecting flight in Tokyo. I checked on the Delta website to see the status of their flights and saw that their plane had landed approximately a half hour after their connecting flight to Taipei took off. The information for the Taipei leg of their trip showed that flight being on schedule – thus I figured they missed their flight and would be spending the night in Tokyo. I called them a couple hours later to see if they were situated or if they had any information regarding their flight for the next morning. To my surprise they answered and said they were checking into the hotel down the road.
The first weekend we had games in Taipei at the Taipei Gymnasium, where to that point we had played all of our games. We faced off against the Dacin’ Tigers and Yulon. Both teams sit ahead of us in the standings at the #3 and #4 spots respectively. At that point we were 5-9 (3-3 since I joined) and sitting in sixth place. Wins against either or both teams would help us tremendously. Unfortunately we played quite poorly over the weekend and we were unable to deliver a win in either game.
I was excited to have my parents in the stands and this may have resulted in me trying to do too much on the court. I pride myself in that I always play hard; sometimes I play too hard.
The players, coaches and management of the team were all excited to see and meet my parents. When they walked into the arena everyone, even those not associated with the team, knew who my parents were. The only other white people! The players’ initial comments were, as flattering as it was to my parents:
“Wow, your parents look so young.”
“Your father looks like Richard Geere.”
“Your mother is so beautiful.”
“That’s not your father, that’s your brother.”
And finally, my favorite: “Your father is so handsome, but you…”
During the second game the sportscasters from one of the Taipei stations interviewed my Dad at halftime. They asked him a couple questions about traveling to Taipei, had he ever been before, what he thought of the game, etc. He figured he could just ramble on and that they would edit the interview. He was just “giving them material.” Unfortunately or fortunately (since I have a copy of the interview) they did not cut or edit the material. Sorry Dad, they needed to fill those 15 minutes of halftime. It will be voiced over in Chinese anyway!
Saturday night after the game we attended the Pingxi Lantern Festival for the Chinese New Year. Pingxi is a town outside of Taipei in the mountains and it is the site of one of the three lantern releases during the CNY. People release these gigantic lanterns with a wish for the upcoming year written on them. Over a three hour period there are 10 separate releases that consist of hundreds of these lanterns. It is truly a beautiful site as these glowing lanterns rise in unison into the dark sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEAIdbBwQGM
Fortunately, for my body and to spend some quality time with my parents, we had Sunday off – kind of. We started the morning by heading to the Taipei Zoo before taking the Maokong Gondola that afternoon. What was kind of a surprise for my parents was that we had some guests joining us for the day. It was a TV crew that was going to be following us as we walked around and then they were going to interview my parents and myself for a story they were doing on the imports in the league. It was “their moment” in the spotlight. The TV people asked if I would mind, respecting that I might want the privacy with my family, but I figured how many opportunities in life do you have where a television crew follows you around. Leave it to my parents to start planning to stage a physical fight or a fake argument. At least that was left in the planning phase, but my mom did not fail to disappoint as she took it upon herself during the interview to answer the question, “what other talents does John have?” with, “he’s a great singer.” Completely straight faced. This answer could not be further from the truth as I am tone deaf and monotone. Later I was asked to sing in front of the camera. My Mom never relinquished her answer.
During the week I was very busy with basketball practices and such so my parents took it upon themselves to venture out and see the north part of Taiwan. The subway system here is fantastic and my parents were able to get out each day to different spots and not have to worry about driving or trying to arrange transportation. After their days of adventure and my days in the gym we would get together and head out to a late dinner either at a restaurant or the night markets. The night markets provide the widest assortment of foods and often the most entertaining sightseeing. The night markets, scattered throughout the city, are long streets filled with shops, vendors and restaurants. You can find anything you want or don’t want at one of these markets.
The last weekend with my parents we traveled to Kaohsiung, a city in southern Taiwan. We played 3 games in 3 nights and needed to play well. We faced Kinman Liquor, Taiwan Mobile and Yulon for the second time in as many weeks. Fortunately, I was able to send my parents off having watched us win all three games. The first was a comfortable win, where the other two were down to the wire. In the three victories I had 3 double-doubles (23-13, 15-13, 23-12), but more importantly we got the wins and I know my Dad appreciated that more than anything. With the three wins we moved ourselves into 5th place and a game and a half out of the playoff picture.
During the time in Kaohsiung my parents were treated very well by the team. It was almost like they were on the team. They were set up at the hotel, rode on the team bus and came to the team meals. It was a really fun experience to share with them.
In my time here, I have eaten a lot of things that I have never seen before or even would have considered eating had they not been presented to me. I’ll try anything once, and thus 1,000 year old eggs, pig intestine, tofu etc. have all been tasted. Now, it is not like these are the only food options. There is plenty of fried rice, fish, chicken, pork, etc. to feast on. When eating with the players and not at the fast food restaurants, these traditional foods tend to appear.
The dining experience is quite different from the US style where food is paced around the table and you serve yourself the helpings you desire. The format of dining in Taiwan is that everyone sits around a large, round table and the food is placed in the center. Each table setting consists of a pair of chopsticks, a small plate (about the size that you would set a coffee mug on) and a small bowl (the size that a serving of salad dressing or dipping sauce would come in at a restaurant).
After each person is seated the first plate of food comes out and is set in the middle of the table. At this point it is every person for themselves. With the chopsticks you eat with, you reach to the food and grab what you want. Usually you take a bite or two and place it in your bowl – maybe on top of white or fried rice. There are several vegetable dishes that are served, an assortment of meats and seafood and to conclude a big pot of soup. Throughout the entire meal you use the same bowl and the dishes of food come out as the previous is finished.
Most of the time I know what the food is, but there are many times when I ask, “What is that?” Sometimes I get the actual answer right away – chicken, duck etc. Other times the guys will talk amongst each other and if no one knows the translation they will get on their iPhone (which everyone has) and translate it. If the previous is too much work, they will give me the general answer – vegetable, seafood etc. My favorite is when something, usually meat, comes out and I ask them what it is. If there is already something similar on the table, for instance clams served prior to oyster soup, they will point between the two and say, “brothers” or “cousins.”
Time continues to blow by. I am having a fantastic time here and am very thankful for the opportunity. The players on the team are great guys and we have a lot of fun. They have started to teach me some not so choice phrases in Chinese, but I am picking up some appropriate things too. Sometimes I feel like they are taking advantage of me when they teach me a phrase, don’t tell me what it means and then point me in the direction of someone to say it to. I usually refrain, but there have been times where it has been fun.
I am also very thankful for having the parents that I have. I am truly blessed. I love you both!
Can't wait to watch that TV show.
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