The cultural migration of my identity I Ting Hsieh

“Can’t you make it 40? I come here every day!” my grandma smirked at the vendor’s defeated face. She looked at me with a victorious smile as she claimed her trophy from the vendor. The vibrant color of the freshest produce, the unforgettable aroma of the fatty broth boiled by the breakfast vendor around the corner, the clamor of local farmers and butchers greeting the shoppers. This is the Zhongyi Market in Taichung, Taiwan, the very place that has forged me to who I am today: a multifaceted student raised with traditional Taiwanese values and an international perspective.

As the kid who lingers around every corner of the market, I am recognized by the vendors as “Mrs. Hsieh’s grandson”. Shopping with my grandma, I have learned her expertise in differentiating the goods from the mountain fruits to picking the and finest part of the pig to make braised pork. This experience, however, is gradually vanishing for my generation as the youngsters nowadays detest such environment, and would rather shop for their groceries in bright, clean, and air-conditioned supermarkets. Moreover, the fact that people go into fancy boutiques to purchase foreign traditional goods, such as Spanish ham and English tea, confused and motivated me. Why...