A: Hey, can I mail instant noodles overseas?
B: You can’t send the kind containing meat, whether it’s in those aluminum foil soft pouches or as dried meat in the flavoring packet.
A: Will they actually open them up to check?
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者蕭玗欣
B: I wouldn’t chance it if I were you. I once sent tea leaves to Australia, because I know that tea leaves are OK, but in the end customs destroyed them, because there were dried fruit inclusions mixed in with the tea leaves.
A: What? That’s not allowed? Their quarantine is so strict!
B: Every country has its own regulations. It’s best if you check which things are forbidden and not allowed to send.
A: 欸，泡麵可以寄到國外嗎？
B: 好像那種裡面有肉的不行，無論是鋁箔包的「軟罐頭」，或是調味粉包裡有乾肉塊的都不能寄。
A: 他們真的會打開來檢查嗎？
B: 我覺得你還是不要抱著僥倖的心態。我有一次寄茶葉到澳洲——因為我知道可以寄茶葉——結果還是被海關銷毀了，因為茶葉裡面有水果乾。
A: 什麼？這樣也不行？這檢疫也未免太嚴了吧！
B: 每個國家規定不同，你最好先查一下什麼東西是違禁品、不能寄。
(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱)
Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.
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