In Pingtung, Paiwan and Rukai are the most common indigenous languages. I actually have several students who are Paiwan. However, I’ve been told that it’s not common for young people outside indigenous towns to speak their tribe’s language, so I don’t hear it spoken at my schools.
It’s called the New Taiwan Dollar (NTD). One American dollar is worth about 30 New Taiwan Dollars. There are coins for one, five, ten and fifty dollars, and notes for 100, 500 and 1000. The 100 note is red, the 500 is green and the 1000 is blue. The colors make digging through your wallet pretty easy!
About 20 - 30 NTD, so a little less than one U.S. dollar. No excuses for staying hydrated in Taiwan!
Lunar New Year barbecue, for sure. Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year) was on February 17th this year (it changes every year because it follows the moon cycle). It seems like whenever there is a holiday or special event in Taiwan, families always have a barbecue. Barbecue here is a little different from barbecue in the U.S. There are no hamburgers and hot dogs. Instead, there's duck, lamb, steak and sausage. It’s very tasty!
When I ride my scooter, I usually prefer podcasts to music. However, because its Lunar New Year, pretty much every business has been playing Gong Ci Fa Cai (恭喜发财, pronounced gong - see - fah - ts - eye). It's the most famous Lunar New Year song, and it's an earworm!
