Fieldnote Apr 12 2023 - 1:34pm

For this visit, Juanjuan and I were grouped with five grandmothers, three from the previous visit and two new grandmothers due to the absence of our classmates. My inability to communicate well in Chinese has cost me the opportunity to learn more about the new grandmothers. I had to rely on Juanjuan to converse with them.

While I got lost halfway in the conversation, Juanjuan explained to me after the conversation about the grandmothers' lives from Taitung to Hsinchu. All five grandmothers knew each other from their time in Taitung, and they took a train to Taipei then to Hsinchu. One of the grandmothers were mimicking the sounds of the rail train, making comedic and exaggerated facial expressions of how they were like on the long ride; they were trying their best to keep themselves awake in the fear of missing their station. Their journey must have been so memorable for them to vividly remember the sound of the railway tracks.

They spent their time in Taipei doing odd jobs, constantly switching industries to earn a living. They prioritised earning enough to send back to their families in Taitung. I was surprised to find out that one of them worked as a chef, and even knows how to cook Italian noodles!