Hi there, you’re listening to an all-new episode of News Bites.

I’m Jacob Ingram.

And I’m Paz Bueno.

In today's news: Salmon Chaos makes a return, and an Australian woman becomes the queen of Denmark.

And in today’s tasty tidbit: The country that eats the most chocolate!

Stay tuned for those stories, coming up next.

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鮭魚之亂再度回歸

Salmon Chaos Makes a Return

In March 2021, something strange happened in Taiwan.

Lots of people changed their names.

You are probably wondering why.

It has to do with conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain Sushiro (壽司郎).

In March of that year, Taipei branches of Sushiro ran a promotional campaign (優惠活動) on the 17th and 18th.

They said anyone whose Chinese name sounds like 鮭魚 (“salmon”) can get a 10 to 50 percent discount.

And anyone who had the word 鮭魚 in their name could eat for free.

If only Sushiro would have foreseen the chaos!

但願…壽司郎能預測那次優惠活動會引起多大的混亂！

According to reports, over 300 people changed their name just for the event!

People got creative with their names.

One person named themselves “Liao Salmon (廖鮭魚)”, another was “Zhangjian Salmon (張簡鮭魚)”.

Sounds like they had a “fin-tastic” time.

In Taiwan, people can change their name up to three times.

That meant lots of people changed their name to get free sushi, then changed it back.

But some people ran into a problem…

For example, a medical student changed his name to Zhang Salmon Dream (張鮭魚之夢).

But because he had already changed his name twice before, he was unable to change it back.

因為他已經用掉兩次改名機會，所以他後來就用完改名額度了。

That meant he ended up being stuck with his “dream” name.

The whole ordeal made quite a splash.

But Jake, isn’t this old news?

Why bring up something that happened almost three years ago?

Well, recently Salmon Chaos made a surprise return, just before Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election.

The Taiwan Design Research Institute and the Central Election Commission teamed up to design new election materials.

【台灣設計研究院】與【中選會】合作來設計關於選舉的嶄新材料。

This included ballots (選票) and voting notifications (投票通知單).

But they ran into a problem.

I think I see where this is going…

They discovered some people still had very long names, containing the word "salmon".

This meant the name field (姓名欄位) in the form had to be enlarged (擴大).

This is inconvenient for those with normal-sized names.

Remember folks, always think twice before changing your name for free sushi.

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澳洲平民女變身成為丹麥王妃

Australian Woman Becomes Queen of Denmark

Get ready for a royal story that's like a fairy tale but real.

Meet Princess Mary from Australia…

She's all set to become the Queen of Denmark soon!

Before becoming a princess, she was a marketing executive (行銷專員).

It all started during the 2000 Summer Olympics.

She met Prince Frederik of Denmark inside a Sydney pub.

Can you believe it?

A pub meeting turned into a royal love story!

Can you imagine them telling their kids the story of how they met?

“Daddy, how did you meet Mummy?”

“Och, we met in a pub, wee laddie.”

How unroyal is that?

真不像皇家的故事!

Before moving to Denmark, Mary took a special course on being fancy.

The course was called deportment (儀態) and etiquette (禮節).

甚麼東西?

It's like a crash course in being super confident, having great posture and being magnetic.

這門課程叫做美姿美儀；這是一門讓你具自信、有良好儀態並具有魅力的速成班。

Magnetic, eh?

Mary paid the equivalent of around 25-thousand NT for this course.

That’s a lot of money.

Mary’s teacher had no clue Mary was dating a prince.

Mary kept it a secret.

Mary and Frederik got married in 2004 and now have four kids.

That’s a lot of kids.

On New Year's Eve, Frederik's mom, Queen Margrethe II, surprised everyone.

She said she'll step down after being queen for 52 years!

丹麥女王瑪格麗特二世在新年夜宣布退位，令人震驚。

她已經當女王五十二年！

Mary's teacher, Teresa Page, is super proud of her.

Teresa said Mary was a top-notch student, always smart and engaged.

Now, the pub where they met is flying the Danish flag.

So, that's the magical journey of Princess Mary … from an Aussie pub to the grand Danish palace!

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So, in today’s news…

Salmon Chaos resurfaces in Taiwan!

In 2021, Sushiro's promotion campaign led to lots of name changes.

Three years later, some people still have lengthy names containing the word "salmon".

This has caused issues in the redesigning of future election materials.

And,

An Australian marketing executive is set to become the new queen of Denmark.

Princess Mary met Prince Frederik inside a pub during the 2000 Summer Olympics, and they married four years later.

This chance encounter blossomed into a royal love story.

Recently, Queen Margrethe II announced her retirement after a 52-year reign.

Princess Mary is now set to ascend the Danish throne.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

And in today's tasty tidbit…

The country that eats the most chocolate per year is Switzerland.

The Swiss are not only renowned for their fancy watches, but also their love of chocolate.

This is also reflected in the country’s chocolate industry.

Switzerland is famous for producing some of the finest in the world.

And that's it for today's episode of News Bites!

If you have a fun fact or joke you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty tidbit to [email protected], and you might hear it at the end of an episode.

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!