Family over Comfort, anyday

Christmastime, 2007. It was the first time I was going to visit my relatives who lived in Taiwan. I had only been out of the country to Cancun, Mexico, and I was at a nice resort where everything was high class and I was shielded from the impoverished areas of Mexico. When I went to Taiwan, I was expecting the same thing when I went to my aunt’s home in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. However, on the drive from the airport to my aunt’s home, all I saw were trees, trees, and more trees.

I am used to urban areas, not the countryside. Little did I know that I was being thrown into the poor area of Taiwan. When I arrived at my aunt’s home, I was in shock. Her neighborhood was full of overgrown weeds, peddlers on the street, and stray dogs wandering around every now and then. The exterior of her home was old-fashioned, made of stone walls and having metal fencing to protect the windows. When I entered, it looked like a decent home, but it was nowhere near the comforts of my home. My aunt had strict rules: conserve the clothes you wear because we conserve water and don’t use the washing machine too often, don’t take showers more than ten minutes long, and lights out by 10PM. I hated these strict rules in her home, but as time went on, I grew to understand why she was so conservative.

We went to different points of interest in Taiwan, and occasionally wandered through poor towns. We passed by a temple where I saw many people just sitting on the floor, some missing limbs, while others looked emaciated. I saw now why my aunt was being so conservative: she wanted to be as efficient as she could in the way she lived her life. I realized now that I take so much for granted living in New York, and that I have it so good compared to my aunt, as well as other people who live in underdeveloped areas in the world. The longer I stayed in Taiwan, the more I grew to love my heritage. Featured above is a picture of my family eating at one of the road stands where they sell fried tofu. I know I’m not the focal point of the image, and the rest of my family is in here, but I wanted to emphasize how much I appreciate my family over the luxuries I have here in New York.