The last two summers my family has hosted the same high school students, Mia/米雅 and Selena/得得, from Kaohsiung. They come to Portland to race in the Rose Festival dragon boat races and dance in the parade.
Mia’s family drove five hours to come see Nathan, Hadley, Eli and myself (Nathan and Hadley also hosted students from the same group)! On Sunday we met for lunch.
Mia’s sister, mom and dad came, too. At first they brought out 4 or 5 dishes and I thought that was lunch.
Then JJ (her dad) said “these are how you say ‘appetizers’”. There were 7 main dishes to follow, and dessert!
It was really great to meet her family, and catch up with Mia. JJ’s English was pretty good and he told lots of funny stories. He gave me some tips on local beer to track down, and places to visit on the island. They were so generous to treat us to lunch and brought us each a bag of gifts, too. It was sad to say goodbye, but I look forward to returning and staying in Kaohsiung someday in the future 🙂
