Greg and I were invited to a small party this past Friday evening. It was dark when we walked there at 7:30, but the above picture shows the general direction we went. For those of you who have visited us in Taiwan, we went to an apartment building on Zhong Cheng Road just north of the Takashimaya Department Store. This is a much larger complex than the one we live in and apparently caters more to the European expatriates. The apartments seem to be much smaller, but they have a pool as well as large entryways and community spaces. The walk took about 20 minutes including stopping for a bouquet of roses and lilies for the hostess.
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People came and went from the party throughout the evening. Most of them were French. The Canadian gentleman and the German couple didn’t speak French either. One of the ladies was born in the Mascarene Islands, just off of Madagascar, but had lived in France. One wife was from Taiwan, but had lived in France and was fluent in the language.
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There was a good effort made to speak English when Greg and I were part of a conversation, but inevitably there would be something they found easier to express in French and not everyone spoke English with equal ease. They were very apologetic about it at first, but we assured them that we understood that when you think in a certain language, sometimes that is just the one that comes out of your mouth. We said in those instances we would just act like we understood and enjoy being there.
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Many of them also expressed regret at their poor English pronunciation. We told them the French accent was pleasant to our ear and not too difficult to understand. However, due to the mixed group, accents were a common topic during introductions. At one point, I was introduced to a woman who was presented as French, but had a distinctly American accent. I commented that she had a very clear American pronunciation and the hitherto loud conversational buzz caused by about 20 people talking in the 2 rooms ceased. There was a quick moment of silence and then everyone began to harass me in a friendly way for making it seem that they had bad accents. I smiled and reminded them of my previous testimony of finding their accents musical. It turns out she had lived in the United States for a while, so my ear was correct. My brief moment in the spotlight ended. Who would have known that 5 different groups engaged in various topics would be so tuned in as to hear that!
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We talked about all the normal things: Business and economics. Family and kids. Who has traveled where. (I think I may have Greg interested in Bali. That destination was rated highly among those who had been there.) Some of us were able to compare experiences with the the Taiwanese medical community. Towards the end of the evening I was even able to comfortably ask some questions about customary French greetings that I had observed.
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Most people there had only begun studying Mandarin within the last few months, so that was a fun topic of conversation. We practiced on each other a tiny bit, me feeling particularly rewarded at understanding a Mandarin sentence delivered with a French accent. A couple of the ladies go to the local university for classes 5 days a week, which makes me jealous of their progress, but even they said that they feel limited because it can be hard to engage much with native speakers to practice. That made me have extra appreciation for going out exploring with a couple of friends here who are fluent in Mandarin. They help with translation, but at the same time, they are usually talking about subjects that I have some clue about, so I can learn a little more.
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But back to the party…
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The hostess, my friend, Stephanie, had spent a few days preparing many wonderful things to eat. This is no small thing, since she is 8 months pregnant. She said she mostly had fun doing it until the last day. I tried the bread sticks dipped in the gourmet cheese sauce, the tuna and tomato appetizers, and even the fancy goose liver spread with fig jelly on toast. Then there were the nibblers of prociutto, the perfectly crunchy cheese and pesto pizzas, the delicious quiche, and freshly prepared fruit drinks. I did not try the red bell peppers in oil or the pasta salad. Nor did I have the lettuce salad or the chorizo especially shipped from Spain. There were also little cubes of some sort of cheese and a red cabbage salad that I didn’t attempt.
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Everyone was free to eat from the buffet set up while we all visited and sipped our wine. Then I was surprised to find dessert being brought out! There was an apple tart, a very moist dark chocolate cake served drenched with English cream, a sweet fresh fruit salad, and tiramisu. Even with select browsing, I was feeling quite gastronomically satisfied, so I could only choose small pieces of the last 3 items. Greg had to finish my chocolate cake! I wish I could have at least taken pictures, because it was also lovely to look at.
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Greg and I seemed to be the ‘most mature’ attendees, but we weren’t the first or the last to leave. I would have liked to stay longer, but the hostess was showing signs of needing rest. I was feeling tired, too. Our new knowledge of French customs was put to use and received warmly as we said good-bye and expressed our appreciation for being included in the evening. We were home by about 11:30 and asleep by 11:40. Pleasant memories have been made.