I’m going to have dinner with my Taiwanese friend’s father. What should I do?

Celeste Wu
Jul 18, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Mar 18

One day, a lively girl seemed somewhat distracted during class. During the break time, I asked her if she hadn't slept well last night.

The girl looked at me and said, "Teacher, I'm going to have dinner with my Taiwanese friend's father. What should I do?"

First of all, we need to figure out how to call your friend's father. Generally speaking, unless it's obvious that he's "grandfather age" (around the same age as your own grandfather), it's safest to call him "叔叔 shú shu （Uncle）" when you first meet him if he's around the same age as your father.

When greeting, you can say "叔叔好 shú shu hǎo（Hello, Uncle)" or "叔叔你好shú shu nǐ hǎo （Hello, Uncle）

Next, after the meal, you can express your thanks by saying:

謝謝招待這麼豐盛的晚餐！

Xiè xiè zhāo dài zhè me fēng shèng de wǎn cān!

Thank you for hosting such a lavish dinner!

2. 太感謝好吃的晚餐，不好意思讓您破費了！

Tài gǎn xiè hǎo chī de wǎn cān, bù hǎo yì si ràng nín pò fèi le!

Thank you so much for the delicious dinner. I feel bad for making you spend so much!

3. 感謝盛情款待，下次換我請吧！

Gǎn xiè shèng qíng kuǎn dài, xià cì huàn wǒ qǐng ba!

Thank you for the warm hospitality. Next time, it's my turn to treat!

Occasionally, I hear people say that Taiwan is a place full of warmth and hospitality. However, I often feel that if this "warmth" doesn't create a "cycle of kindness," even the warmest places can lose their passion.

This girl is taking her dinner invitation very seriously, and we also had a serious discussion about how to make the dinner enjoyable for both the host and the guest. Here are some of our "strategies" to share with you. If you want to know more about this kind of topics , feel free to leave a comment and join the discussion!