Once a grandma, always a grandma
When Tsung-Tai “Amos” Tu, who spent a year in Minneota as an exchange student from Taiwan, was about to board his plane to return to his homeland last June, he handed Brenda Swoboda an envelope before heading off from the airport security area.
Swoboda was Amos' host “grandma”, as he always called her during his time here, during the 2017-18 school year.
“I opened the envelope and there was a note with 500 dollars in it,” she said.
“The note thanked me and said the money was for me to come and visit him in Taiwan.”
After Amos graduated from high school in Minneota last May, his father, Jimmy, and sister, Dudu, came here from Hsinchu to take part in the commencement ceremony and graduation party.
Unbeknownst to Swoboda, Amos had asked his father to take money out of his savings account and bring it when they came to Minneota. “That’s the kind of kid he is,” Swoboda announced.
“The whole family is very giving. They brought me a lot of gifts when they came here.”
Swoboda initially planned to take the trip by herself to Taiwan, but decided to ask Lori Head, her best friend of over 25 years, if she would be interested in accompanying her. “I thought that was a long trip to take by myself,” she later thought. “And I thought it would be fun if Lori went with.” When he was an exchange student in Minneota, Amos often spent time at the home of John and Lori Head of Ghent. “He would come over with Brenda and swim in our pool,” said Head. “He called me grandma, too. He called us Grandma Brenda and Grandma Lori.” So the two “grandmas” went off together to one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Taiwan has 23.6 million people in an area that is one-third the size of Lake Superior. It also has a high income advanced economy with a highly skilled workforce. Before discussing their trip to Taiwan with this reporter, the two personable “grandmas” contacted Amos on Swoboda’s Smartphone through Facetime. Hsinchu, which has a population of 435,000, a 10-hour difference from Central Standard Time (CST) in the United States. When asked about anything unusual or humorous that his two American “grandmas” encountered during their trip, Amos flashed a big smile on screen. “They had to walk a lot and they were exhausted. I don’t think they walk enough in Minneota,” he joked. Amos and his American counterparts often needle each other just for laughs; one reason why they enjoy each other’s company so much. Actually, it was easy to understand why the local “grandmas” were exhausted. Their trip was 19 hours, starting started with a 90-minute flight from Sioux Falls to Denver, followed by a 12-hour flight to Tokyo, a four-hour ride to Taipei, and then a 90-minute ride to Hsinchu to Amos’ home. Swoboda and Head went on the trip to Taiwan from Jan. 11-23. They arrived around 11 p.m. at the home of Amos parents, Jimmy and Jennifer, in Hsinchu on the west side of Taiwan. Amos’ 94-year-old grandfather lives with them. Amos attends a college in Taipei and lives in a dorm. He is studying Social Psychology. “It worked out well that we arrived so late,” said Brenda. “We were exhausted from the long trip and went right to bed.” The next morning, Amos’ mother cooked a huge traditional Taiwanese breakfast, consisting of such items as eggs cooked in tea, white radish cakes, pickled lettuce, fried gluten with peanuts in soy sauce, pickled cucumbers and rice porridge.
Swoboda had a little trouble adjusting to the “high” thresholds at the Tu’s home. “Many homes have higher thresholds than we are accustomed to,” said Swoboda. “They feel they ward off bad spirits, while keeping in the good spirits.”
The first day, Swoboda tripped over one of the thresholds, fell against the door frame and came away with a souvenir – a large black and blue bruise up and down her arm.
Each day, Amos and his two “grandmas” toured the small island country of Taiwan, staying in hotels in various cities so they could continue their travels the next day around the island. They eventually traveled the entire island, which is only 842 miles by vehicle.
Amos’ uncle Terry, Jimmy’s brother, is a tour guide in Taiwan and took Amos and his American “grandmas” around the island.
“We saw a lot of interesting things there,” said Swoboda. “My favorite was when we went along the east coast. There are no big cities, there, but there are mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. It was beautiful there.” There are temples of various sizes located in many places throughout Taiwan.
“And there are schools everywhere,” said Head. “They are very conscientious about school over there. They work very hard in school and study for many, many hours.”
The “grandmas” also visited Taipei 101, a World Financial Center, located in Xinyi District. At 101 floors high, is the second tallest building in the world. And the elevator the visiting grandmas rode inside is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest elevator in the world at 38 miles per hour.
“You couldn’t even tell it was going fast,” Swoboda remarked.
“It was such a smooth ride.”
Because the large cities are so densely populated, the buildings are built several stories high, and because the streets are narrower than we are accustomed to, scooters are much more prevalent than vehicles.
“There is one scooter for every two people.” Swoboda said. “Not too many people own cars. Jimmy (Amos’ father) owns a car. But when he drove us all to a restaurant, he had to make two trips. There are no ‘junker’ cars or mini vans over there either.”
There is also a high-speed rail system along the west coast from Taipei, the capital city, to southern Keohsiung and travels 186 miles per hour. The food in Taiwan is also vastly different than American food and takes getting used to.
Swoboda and Head enjoyed some of the foods and others … not so much. “They have the best fruit there that I’ve ever tasted,” said Swoboda.
“I just can’t believe how good they taste. They are nothing like the fruit here. And I really like the spicy pickled cucumbers.”
“The worst thing they had were glutenous rice balls in a red bean sauce,” Swoboda added.
“I just couldn’t eat it. One thing that’s different with meals there is they serve the soup at the end of the meal.”
“We tried just about everything. I even ate a chicken foot; actually a toe,” said Head.
“We both liked the fried dumplings and the tomato beef noodle soup. I didn’t like the tea eggs at all. They were rubbery and the yolk had a weird color.”
The ladies said the food in Taiwan tastes nothing like the Asian food that we eat in around here. “And you never know if your food is going to be hot or cold at a restaurant there,” they both said.
But if the two ladies craved some good old junk food, there were traditional fast food places such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
“They have a ton of 7-11’s in Taiwan, too,” Swoboda noted. “It seems like they are on every street corner and you can get anything you want there.”
Many households in Taiwan don’t come equipped with microwaves or ovens. Everything is cooked on stoves in small kitchens. Amos’ family was extremely hospitable to their guests.
“They treated us like queens,” said Head. “They would always help us in and out of the car. They are such gracious people.”
One of the things Taiwan is noted for is its Night Markets, which are located in many areas. They are generally packed with people looking for fun and late-night snacks; especially on holidays.
Fruits, vegetables and seafood are among the items being sold.
There are also carnival-like games and rides at some locations. The ladies were excited to see Amos and his family again, and the trip was very memorable. But they are glad to be back home.
“It was the most amazing thing we’ve ever done together,” said Head.
“It’s so much fun to travel with Brenda.” “It really was a lot of fun,” said Brenda. “It was so interesting seeing all the different things.”
But they both found it difficult to acclimate themselves to such different food and culture.
“And it’s just way too crowded there,” they both said. Amos’ father insisted on paying for everything for the ladies during their stay, such as meals, motel stays and more.
When they were ready to leave, Swoboda slipped an envelope under Amos’ pillow; much as he had done to her when he left the United States to return home last year.
Amos discovered the envelope after the ladies left Taiwan. Inside was cash and a note explaining that it was to be used for a return visit to see his American grandmas.