The Story of Albert & Anira

Probably the most heartwarming experience I had during my visit to Taipei, was the day I met Albert and Anira.

It was a hot rainy day and we had driven over an hour through the mountains to arrive at our destination and catch the train to the next town.

We stood on the platform surrounded by young children, who I presume were on summer excursions with their school. There were a couple of children standing by me with whom I exchanged a few smiles.

Then one little boy, named Albert*, who was about seven, with a blue shirt and glasses came up and started talking to me in English. He just knew I spoke English! It’s funny how all the rest of the while that I was in Taipei, adults would start to speak to me in Chinese and continue even when I gave them weird looks. Albert on the other hand, just knew to speak to me in English! We spoke briefly and he asked me whether I liked pigs and if I could swim. (What are they teaching in English classes in Taiwan?)

All this while, there was a girl, about seven, who kept on smiling at me. Then just at the last moment, she finally found the courage and came up to me and said “Hello, My name in Anira*”, before smiling and running off to hop on the train. They both gave me big waves and that’s the last I ever saw of Albert and Anira.

But I had a great day that day and will always remember Albert and Anira on the train station platform in Taiwan!

* With their cute little Taiwanese accents, it was a bit hard to make out what they were actually saying, but I interpreted their names as Albert and Anira.