Question about how to properly thank a Taiwanese individual

Discussion Open Forum
1

So, I am new to the island and for the past 3 weeks I have been staying at someone else house. This individual met one of my friends on a trip they did to another country and shared a couple meals together. My friend put me in touch with this individual and he was gracious enough to invite me to dinner and let me live in his fathers place (with the whole family) for three weeks, for free. He has also helped me with EVERYTHING i needed (paperwork, tours of my uni, tours of night markets). I am still blown away by the hospitality he has shown me. So i need to know the proper way to thank him without being rude.

I have already bought a couple of boxes of candy, and will be giving him a handmade souvenir from my country as well. I will also write him a letter. My question is should i put a couple thousand NT in the envelope or will doing that be taken as a rejection of the hospitality that he has shown me.

Thanks for the suggestions that I hope will follow.

Cheerio…

2

AN old saying, guests are like fish, they start to smell after a few days.

Buy an unexpected gift, just make sure it’s not a clock. Cash gifts are good for weddings.

3

Definitely don’t give money or white flowers or a clock though I’m, not sure anyone really needs to be told not to give a clock.

Take them out to a fancy restaurant. Give them a gift, nicely wrapped so it looks expensive. They won’t open it in front of you as is the custom here.

But normally a big meal that you pay for is a way to thank people.

4

Yep! A big meal, plus that thing from your country, and also those nice big boxes of fruit from the local fruit market are always appreciated.

5

seconded. pls dont give money.

gestures are important but money in this case can cheapen .

gestures means fruit box (nice ones) , dinner at a nice place.

6

Don’t give gifts that are locally taboo: clocks, umbrellas, or shoes (I think the latter is just taboo for an SO). Buy a very expensive fruit box and take them to dinner at a nice place.

7

Who the hell would ever give their host an umbrella, clock or a pair of shoes? :wink: :laughing:

Hey, OP, you should also avoid giving crack cocaine, herpes or PMS medicine. Just in case you didn’t know. :wink:

8

Would the Shida night market have fruit boxes for sale or should i just find a random road stand and buy it from them?

Thanks for all of the help.

And damn it, I thought it would be appropriate to spread herpagonosypholis all over the house. It looks like i was just flat out wrong to think something so personal would be taken as a gift of endearment. Somethings should just be kept to myself.

9

What’s a Taiwanese individual?

10

It was a conscious decision to to write individual after the word Taiwanese. I could have just left the question at “how can i properly thank a Taiwanese” but that sounded a little informal, and considering the topic of my question, I could not allow that to happen.

I also could have added the word “person” after the word “Taiwanese” but for me person sometimes implies an individual who has too many masks, too many personas. Individual, in my head, denotes freedom, clarity, harmony. And for how much he helped me, that was the word I chose. As such, a Taiwanese individual.

Now, where do i get these expensive boxes of fruit? Somewhere around the NTU campus preferably.

Gracias,

Cheerioooo…

11

When my family came over for me wedding, they brought a clock and necktie, and my mother gave my husband a green hat…

12

Weird food in a pretty box. That’s what I always get given as thanks for all my hard work. I’d prefer to just get paid on time, but I guess it’s just a culture thing.

If I ever meet any Taiwanese in the UK I’m going to give them some jellied eels in a pretty box.

13

When my family came over for me wedding, they brought a clock and necktie, and my mother gave my husband a green hat…[/quote]
Hahahahahahaha
Thank you so much, you just made my day so much better…