#EatingOurWayThroughTaiwan

My husband and I both have family in Taiwan. After we got married, we wanted to visit the extended family there who weren't able to make the trip to Florida for our wedding.

The trip was planned around the our company's annual Shareholder Meeting in Taiwan, and we were able to persuade every single family member in the States to make the trip with us! Twelve people (my dad, my stepmom, my brother, my sister, her new husband, my aunt, my grandma, Jason's parents, his sister, and her husband) journeyed over from Orlando, Miami, Los Angeles, and Denver to meet up on the little island of Taiwan.

Both of our brother-in-laws had never been to Taiwan, so this was a perfect opportunity to experience the home country of what they married into... and eat the delicious Taiwanese food that we can never stop talking about. Nom nom nom!

It was basically a 2 week vacation + some family time + a little bit of work mixed in. Let's just say #eatingourwaythrutaiwan was our most used hashtag on Instagram...

    

This trip gave me some insight into how opportunistic we have it in the States. I never noticed how evident it still is today, but the majority of the Taiwanese are still very old-fashioned... the women are expected to be obedient and care for the household, the family inheritance often bypasses elder daughters and passes down to the first-born son, the ancestry tree only archives the marriages and kids of the sons, and it's rare to see women hold positions of power (though it does happen).

I'm grateful to have grown up in America, to have been encouraged to discover who I am as a person, and to be taught that my worth is the same as the person sitting next to me, regardless of gender. Of course, we're not entirely there yet, but I'm proud that a woman can become the President of the United States, and that we're evolving with the times, trying to put a woman on the $20 bill. 

On the flip side, growing up in old-fashioned Taiwan does have advantages. Kids seem to have a healthier, more wholesome childhood compared to those in America. They still fly kites every weekend, run around on the playground, and play games with other kiddies on streets. None of them are playing video games or watching TV shows on their smartphones. I really don't know how parents are able to raise privileged but well-rounded children... it must be the challenge of a lifetime, whew!