A Day in Taipei

Here I am. Another hot and humid night here night in Taiwan. The z’s are a little harder to catch tonight because I took a nap earlier in the day. Hence I’m sitting here on the top floor, the muggiest level of the entire building, typing because everybody else is sleeping and it’s too tiring to try to understand what people are saying in chinese on tv.

I know some people back home are wondering what I’ve been doing in Taiwan for the past month so I thought I’d spend sometime capturing it now.

My godmother (mom’s older sister) and my cousin (godmother’s son who we’ll call Jacob), own a 便當, or fast food, restaurant. The menu is mostly traditional home cooked type of stuff, but they also sell fried rice, fried mi-fun, fried-noodles, and other rice/noodle plates. Most of the orders are to-go and packed in lunch boxes.

Since I live at my godmother’s place, Jacob typically wakes me up @ 8:30 in the morning to go to work. We hop on his scooter and we get to the store by 9. From 9 till about 11, I’m washing and cutting all sorts of vegetables such as bitter melon, cabbage, bok choy, carrots, winter melons, pumpkins, bean sprouts, etc. I’m also making sure that the tables are clean, that the tables have utensils, and that the floor is swept. Around 11, I start prepping the lunch boxes. I start by packing the soup, usually 32 to 36 containers. Then I start prepping the lunch boxes by filling them up with rice and a hard boiled egg. Around 11:15, the madness starts as I help fill the lunch orders: three vegetables, one meat per order. I’m also taking orders from customers who eat in.

On a really busy day, I help pack about 40 lunch boxes during rush hour which lasts for about an hour and a half. During rush hour, I also bus the tables and restock the rice, plates, lunch boxes, etc. I also tend the “cash register”, which is basically three buckets of coins and bills. Next to taking orders from a customer with a thick Taiwanese accent, making change is the hardest thing to do because of my unfamiliarity with how much things cost and the NTD currency. A couple of times, I’ve given more back in change than I’m supposed to. Thankfully I can’t be fired from this job.

Around 2:30, we head back home and take a break. After a much needed shower and nap, we’re back at the store @ 6 for the night shift. The night shift is never as busy as the day shift. Sometimes I wonder why the store is even open at night. We close shop at 8. It takes us about an hour to wipe everything down, wash all the things that need to be washed, and restock the supplies. Unless family is over, like when Big Uncle comes over sometimes for dinner, we’re usually out of there by 9:15.

I’m usually at the store 4-5 days out of the week. Why do I go? Well, first, it gives me something to do. There’s only so much shopping, eating, and relaxing to do in Taiwan. Second, it gives me an opportunity to practice Chinese, not just with my godmother and Jacob, but with customers, some of who are entertaining folks. Third, talking to my godmother also gives me a chance to hear stories about my mom’s childhood and other memories my godmother has about the old days, all of which is golden. My cousin, who is pretty much the older brother that I’ve never had, also has a bunch of stories to tell, mostly of family gossip and sage words on life. And fourth, having worked in restaurants before, and having both my dad and grandpa worked in the restaurant business all their lives, I know how tough restaurant work is. Having an extra set of hands lessens the burden for my godmother and Jacob, a temporary relief from their tiring daily grind. I don’t collect a salary, just lunch and dinner and the sense of satisfaction of putting in a hard days worth of work.

I’ve got some lessons learned from this internship at the restaurant, but I need to go find those z’s. Thankfully I’m only at the store for a couple of hours tomorrow. I leave you with my script for dealing with customers.

來！在這裡吃還是帶走？什麼菜？什麼肉? 75! 謝謝你，再見！

Come! Eat here or to go? What vegetable? What meat? 75 dollars! Thank you, bye bye!