My students are my favorite part of living in Taiwan. I get a lot of my best insights into Taiwanese culture and language from them. I work with over 700 students across my two schools in Taiwan! Just like students in the U.S., they each have their own unique stories and backgrounds, but they also have similarities that connect them. To demonstrate this, I interviewed eight students: Gaby, Sherry, Andy, Luca, Selena and Zoey are in fourth grade, and Lydia and Sophia are in sixth grade. I know them by their English names because that’s what we use in English class, so that’s what I’m going to call them in this article. And remember, just like in the U.S., kids' experiences in Taiwan can vary a lot depending on where they live. My students live in Fangliao, a town of about 23,000 in the south of Taiwan, best known for its agriculture and fishing.
For Gaby, Andy and Sherry, toast with toppings is a common breakfast in Taiwan -- Sherry said she usually eats pork toast. The toast can be normal or thick in size. Thick toast is about the width of two regular slices of toast and Selena loves it. Lydia and Zoey have omelets, and Luca has yogurt.
For lunch and dinner, most of the kids mentioned noodles. This is a really common staple in Taiwan. Gaby also eats rice, and Sherry eats clams with rice.
