“When we were in the Philippines, we had one week training of Mandarin. I remember when the driver from the [labor] agency was really mad at me for something. But I didn’t know if he was talking to me or the other girls. It was a real culture shock for me.”

Dex is a Filipina woman living in Taiwan. She came for economic opportunity to support her family as a domestic worker. Some family members, including her mother, also work in Taiwan. Others, like her son, remain in the Philippines. She dreams of one day owning a business or becoming a primary school teacher.

“We call it adobo in the Philippines, but here they call it “hong shao rou”. It’s like a marinated pork. It’s the same as adobo! The only difference is that adobo’s kind of sweet, but the texture and everything is the same. The one ingredient we both use is always soy sauce.”