Everything is starting... again!

Everything is starting... again! Or more specifically, the ending is beginning. It has been a little less than a month but I've already begun to view my small dormitory room as home. I've already begun to view the small city streets of Taipei as home. I've already begun to view Taipei, Taiwan as normal to me.

So. Let's get a bit personal, shall we?

When I first dropped down in Taiwan I was left at my aunts house where I got used to the comforts of family home. So naturally, I was not at all feeling great about leaving my place of comfort to go to an unknown school, full of unknown foreign people, with people a barely knew from the University of Maryland. When my uncle dropped me off in front of NTNU (the place we stayed at), all I was armed with was a couple of Taiwanese bills, a heavy luggage case, and quite a bit of uncertainty. However, what I did have going for me was my own capability to adapt to new environments. But hey, who says that I can't feel apprehensive towards a foreign environment, with a foreign language, with a foreign culture? So this is small glimpse of what ran through my head: what if I didn't get along with my classmates? What if my Chinese is too poor to communicate with others? What if I fail the classes? What if I get sick?

What if? What if? What if?

So long story short, Taiwan has been awesome. There is no what-if nonsense because everything has been great. In our last week I was able to do some fun things before my departure and return to the States. For one, I got to watch Chinese opera.

Facepainting or intense makeup?

This merits a new paragraph. Oh boy. Have you ever seen successive dive rolls and crazy acrobatics that makes you feel like you have an inadequate body? Then yes, you have seen Chinese opera, or more specifically, the Two Monkey Kings. The first step towards creating a dazzling show can only be thing: makeup. Instead of Broadway opera of the States, Taiwan has its own Chinese opera. Its interesting to note that like much how the United States frequently writes story's and plays about its legends sprung up from its past, Taiwan has Chinese opera to remember its past. Moreover, much of the same instruments used to accompany Chinese operas in the past are still used today. I find it pretty cool to see that people on the other side of the world still continue past practices in order to preserve their culture even if its out of fashion. After all, it's extremely hard to wear extreme layers of makeup while doing multiple perfectly synchronized somersaults.

Female acrobatic dancers?!

Overall, Taiwan is pretty different from my home in the United States. People are generally shorter, hair is blacker, but with so many new friends here, food tastes better. I have been asked much to compare Taiwanese culture to United States culture, but how is that possible without comparing to other Asian countries I have been to? Much like mainland China, the people here can be bustling and extremely lively. Like Japan, people are reserved and generally polite when they can. Like the United States, in Taipei, Taiwan there is a confluence of foods, cultures, and religions from all over the world. Despite being a small island at odds with the mainland and at one time left behind by the world, Taiwan is a place that is still hanging on.

So whats next after I leave? I hope to come back, but ultimately what I will take back with me to the States is a new found respect for Asian culture and kickin' fluency in Chinese! There is much to lessons to live out from what I've learned Buddhism and Confucianism. There is much to want, from the many food stands that line the streets of Taipei, compared to my University diner (which cannot compare to food stands). So yes, I am saying good bye to Taiwan. But you can't ever just throw away memories or lessons, can you? One of the best souvenirs, are the fond memories and new relationships with people from around the world. So I'll cut this blog post off with a small personal statement: I look forward to nostalgically looking at the pictures I have from Taiwan this Winter Semester a couple months or years from now. So my time in Taiwan is ending. But my life in the United States is just starting... again!

Thank you for reading!

 Here is a final picture of a maid cafe I ended up going to. Crazy right? They have these kinds of things in Taiwan?!

Maid Cafe?!

January 13th, 2014: 好久不見!

"Is it not delightful to have friends from distant quarters?" - Confucius

Meeting up at Shi Lin night market

After a mildly difficult test on the latest chapter of Chinese vocabulary (which I managed to score decently well on), I had the rest of my night to head to Shi Lin night market (土林夜市) to meet up with a friend who I haven't seen in over six years! Crazy, right? We were friends in in high school (a lot of memories which included goofing off in orchestra class, and creating our own unwritten, often unwanted, harmonies), but he moved to Taiwan at the end of the 9th grade because of his fathers career. He was able to show me around the night market, and show me some craaaazy foods that I hadn't heard about when I previously explored there myself. For one, did you know there is an Oreo flavored milk tea? Well, I certainly know it exists now.

Oreo flavored milk tea?!

After some catching up on how we both have been, I got to ask him about how different his experience was between Taiwan and the United States. First and foremost, the language and education: although people might generally know some bits and pieces on English, but in order to actually study in Taiwan as a native student requires a extremely high level of Chinese proficiency. Actually, the education in Taiwan is generally extremely grueling; students are given vast amounts of work to do, while having to go to cram school (補習班). If you are someone who has never heard of cram school, it is exactly what it sounds like: many students crammed in a small room crammed around small tables, cramming more and more information into their heads everyday. Cram cram cram. As a student who was used to the United States educational system, he was caught off guard and had to suffer quite a bit while adjusting to a new culture. 

Taiwan is also a more conservative society, although social norms of younger people change with each generation. This may manifest itself in many ways, according to my friends, such as neatly defined gender roles and ways to act, being more reserved and quieter in public, and more modest clothing. One comparison one may make, is that while some girls in the United States would wear a tank top in public, that would be seem as a bit indecent in Taiwan (although this trend may be changing because I often see some quite daring skirts).

However, the general people seem more reserved and conservative perhaps due to being a country that is formed by an odd conglomeration of Chinese, Western and Japanese culture. Yet the largest connection between Chinese and Japanese is that they both have roots with Confucianism. As we are learning in Class from our very own Professor Liu, Confucianism speaks much to being a gentlemen, such as being truthful, respectable, a good example, and a wealth of positive qualities. Therefore perhaps the conservative is an underlying way to remain true to Confucius philosophy.

Showing off our piano riffs to each other!

Perspectives and analysis aside, from my friend's point of view, getting used to Taiwan as a true native is difficult! On a side note, one of the finer points he told me were that ladies here generally are more interested in foreigners rather than natives, which I thought was quite funny. And a bit odd. Ah well. 

After talking for a bit we went to a guitar shop and jammed for a bit (like learning duets or showing each other what kind of things we learned over the years), finally returning to my aunts house to play piano, much like how we used to hang out after high school. 

It's definitely fun to hang out with people who you haven't seen for many years. Oi! I'm not that old though! At any rate, I've entered my last week in Taiwan and I hope to soak up as much Chinese I can before I leave. The native people who we've been with are all pretty funny and so far even the worst moments of this trip have been easily bearable.

Until next blog!

January 9th, 2014: 每天坐捷運!

Do you have a special affinity for dumplings (水餃)? Well in case you do, I have just-as-special news for you: I had the wonderful opportunity of making dumplings (and eating them) twice in one day for lunch and dinner. As you can see to the right side, I have picked up the wonderful skill of making beautiful dumplings, as taught to me by my fellow Chinese-fluency-seeking Japanese students. According to my teacher (老師), dumplings are eaten when crossing into the new year because they look like ancient gold ingots.

However, according to history, this type of food that I had the pleasure of masterfully wrapping (perhaps if masterfully was a connotation for messy), is the forefather of many other cultures' foods such as Italian ravioli.


It is always interesting to learn about Chinese food, because I often hear of the pride that Chinese people have in the Chinese culture being far more advanced in ancient times than other peoples. Often, evidence of such progress can be found through influences in other countries such as the story of Marco Polo bringing back new culinary arts back from China.

Other things that have survived from ancient times that can be found in Taiwan are temples dedicated to Daoism and Buddhism. Despite the density of buildings in Taipei, within nooks and crannies one can find temples where people visit and appreciate; some to worship and some to admire the intricate architecture. Throughout our study abroad programs we often come across many of these beautifully created temples, as I mentioned last post, but I have failed to elaborate on my main mode of transportation: the MRT (捷運), or as I would say back in the States, the metro rail.

If there are any of you out there who believes we can brag about the New York metro rail, please give me a call quick, because the Taipei MRT is nothing to scoff at. They are automated, quick, clean, and even English accommodating!
However what is most impressive are the social expectations of the MRT that I have not seen in the metro rails from New York, Washington D.C., to mainland China. People know to line up when boarding the metro car, which allows for organized and efficient leaving and boarding of the metro. Also, people are not allowed to eat or drink on the MRT in order to keep metro clean. Furthermore, people are encouraged and know to to keep the volume of conversations and cell phone calls quieter so the MRT is not rowdy and other people are not bothered. The overall impression that one gets from these layers of social expectations is a clean, updated, and efficient method of transportation that makes you want to use it.

Although I have seen the less squeaky-clean parts of Taiwan, I will always have admiration for the way that Taiwan has decided to educate its people. Though every person has differing levels of empathy for other people, they have managed to make the MRT generally a peaceful and quiet place where the average population respects the space as a public space instead of their own private living room. Perhaps this is due a long-term investment of education of younger generations of good public manners. Perhaps, this is also due to being a metro rail that was built relatively recent, which gains the advantage of newer updates and lessons learned from other countries' metro rails. In very specific analysis, because people display good practice of good habits while on the MRT, the product is a presentable MRT. However, I can only hazard that the underlying perspective of why people follow this practice is because Taiwan has made it a point to educate its people in values that show a cultivated and enlightened people. In other words, when compared to mainland China, a unique culture built with respectable values. Whatever Taiwan has done to make its MRT have social expectations of respect, it works and only speaks good of its people.

Chinese studies are going well, but still quite difficult! Next time I plan to write about meeting with a friend from high school, of whom I have not seen for more than 6 years! I had the pleasure of asking him much about adjusting to Taiwanese culture and having the opportunity to compare Taiwanese culture to culture in the United States.

Until next time!

January 6th, 2014: Education Shrines?! Weekend Excursions?! Foreign Fruits?!

On our weekend excursion to Tai Nan (臺南), we visited many different Dutch forts and religious temples. Specifically, I will focus on Fort Provincia: a destroyed Dutch fort with a Chinese Temple built over it. Out of the many different attractions and historical spots, a main point of interest is the Wenchang Pavillion which is dedicated towards education. In ancient China, people would come to worship at a shrine dedicated to Lord Kuixing, a deity in charge of academic achievement and job promotions in the heavens, before taking examinations and tests.

When asking Lord Kuixing about whether they will have success, people preformed a ritual of dropping two  double-sided wooden Tao's, in order to see how the deity will respond to requests. If the Tao's end up being opposite sided, the deity approves, otherwise he disapproves. Perhaps not many people seriously preformed this ritual, however many students would still come to pay their respects and leave their test examinee notices!

To this day, many students leave small gifts and representations of their entrance exams to college or schools in hopes that the deity will listen to their pleas and show favor towards good results. I find it interesting that people are still willing to follow through such rituals and even put their personal pictures up. Perhaps then, this is a sign of people desperately hoping for a good score, as a mark of a people that really care about their educational prowess. Or, perhaps it is the mark of a latch ditch effort towards any source that might bolster their odds for success. At any rate, it is unique to see this practice carried out in Taiwan because it is a completely foreign action to me. Growing up in a Protestant, suburban United States, I was never much exposed to any rituals or practice of polytheism. When I compare these rituals to the religions I have been exposed to in the United States, although it seems like an odd action to put up your own picture on a wall, it is much akin to praying to God in hopes of doing well. Overall, the continuations of these rituals may suggest that Taiwanese people aren't so different from those in the United States in the way that they are just as worried and conscious about their own academic success (even willing to reach to higher powers for help).

After our weekend excursion to South Taiwan, we finally returned to Taipei to resume our language studies and cultural practices. I currently have a test on Tuesday on long list of Chinese vocabulary and fruits I have never seen before, some of which do not have English names. I mentioned earlier that I was excited to learn Chinese in order to apply it to my daily life in Taiwan. To be honest, I am still quite excited but a little uneasy as there is a dearth of Chines vocabulary that I have not once seen in my life! I look forward to, as the Chinese say, "Chi Ku" (吃苦), which means to eat your bitterness and tough it out! Good luck to myself!

January 2nd, 2014: Cheers, New Years!

Cheers to the new years! Or as they say in Chinese speaking countries, "新年快樂!" Contrary to my younger days and due to my current placement in Taiwan, I had the interesting experience of celebrating the crossover into the next year at Taipei 101. I'll say it now plain and clear: when you gather over two million people and stick them within a small radius around a giant skyscraper, you are bound to find out the true colors of the city's people.

To be clear about what I'm getting at, is that although I previously talked about about how well-mannered Taiwanese people can be. Within the claustrophobic crowds and tightly packed lines of people squishing their way towards a closer vantage point of Taipei 101, people were pretty polite. As our group of abroad students and company waited for the fireworks and the turning of the decade, we happened to be sitting near the edge of the crowds where many people would try and push through to get a better view. Overall, people would try to squeeze through the globs and circles of people sitting, and form tightly packed traffic jams. So here's a small quiz for you: guess who was the first to try and break through our small group to skip the lines?

Think of anything yet?

Well, it was the American (who loudly notified us of our inconvenience to him), as he stepped on some toes and some nerves as he trudged through an ocean of people. This is in comparison to the average Taiwanese who would accidentally bump into me and would quickly say excuse me first in Chinese, then upon realizing I was with a foreign looking group, then in English. Of course, this was not every Taiwanese, but on average when comparing the different representations of the different counties, the Taiwanese were more polite.

Another comparison I can think of was when our group went to a soup dumpling store, which had some dumplings with a kick of flavor!

  I noticed that the Chinese (or those with the thicker accents) mainlanders often spoke louder than the general populous. This pretty much lines up with what I noticed, when I was an intern in China a few years back: people are generally louder, less mannered, but just as vibrant. 

I look forward to eating more kinds of foods and seeing how the culture differs in Southern Taiwan compared to Northern Taiwan!

December 30th, 2013: Everything is starting!

Hello, if you've stumbled upon on this blog then welcome to the beginning of my study abroad program in Taiwan in the winter term of 2013! Although I have only been here for three days, I've already had a mountain's worth of culture thrown at me (in a good way) while still adjusting to another time zone (in a bad way). I am currently in a study abroad program through the University of Maryland with a group of eleven other students, where we will be studying in the Tamkang university while staying at a guest dorm at the National Taiwan Normal University. While we will be studying throughout the week, who knows what kind of crazy things we will get ourselves into?

 So, how would you like to get a little glimpse of the experiences that I've already gone through?

One of the first things we did was explore the surrounding area of our dorm. Although I have already been in Taiwan before, I didn't have the chance to explore all the nooks and crannies of the city. Man! There are so many things going on the city and there are so many different shops. Although the color of asphalt and the buildings are the same as back home in Maryland, United States, everything feels a bit different. Although the most prominent difference is the language, just the feel based on the personality of the Taiwanese people is different. Perhaps even the slight tackiness that is able to be pulled off (such as the fun cultural sidewalk pillars as shown below) owns to the fact that culture of Taiwan may be a little less hard-edged as downtown United States.

 On our exploration of the city one the more unique places we saw was the many different markets. While in the United States I would go to a grocery store to buy fruits, vegetables or edible foods, it seems that the cheapest and freshest way to get your groceries is to head to the markets on the side of the streets. The closest thing that I can compare these side markets to are farmers markets. However, the Taiwanese take these farmers markets to whole new level: the famed night markets.

Ah, the night markets, or specifically, the Shi Lin Ye Shi. As our whole group exited the jie yun (Chinese for the metro rail), I was hit by the sheer sight of lights and people. Down the whole street, lights filled up the sides of the road calling for your attention with store names in Chinese and interesting English (one clothing shop was called King Burrito). Yet this is just the beginning, the surface shall we say? All long the side of this one road there were small side alleys and roads filled with people brushing shoulder to shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of the things to the sides. In fact, the flow of too many people walking in a narrow alleyway caused our group to lose each other multiple times (although we agreed to meet at a decided time in the event of such separation). Ah, the sight of such vibrant life! Yet it doesn't stop there, the smells of the multitude of foreign foods fill the air with its sweet, salty, spicy, and sometimes odd aromas permeate the cramped alleyways of the night market.

Perhaps this is a tourist draw to real in people to the few unique spots in Taiwan. Perhaps this is the cliche thing to talk about when talking about Taiwan. Well folks, this place has me hooked. I got to try a flavorful blast of fried chicken unlike anything I've had in the United States. I got to try stinky tofu with a smell that kicks unlike any other food I've had in the United States. I got to try some green-tea flavored Yakult (a yogurt drink) unlike any drink I have had in the United States. But aside from the food, I'm surprised by the people that filled the streets.

I'll be upfront and honest about my own country: it's quite a big place and it's filled with people that have sub-par manners. If you want to stick a whole bunch of Americans in a cramped place there is bound to be someone who hates their personal bubble space being invaded and will make it clearly known about this breach of space. However, even though these Taiwanese people are packed, they form neat single-file lines naturally because the width of the alley has space only for about two shoulder lengths. From what I can observe, the local people are well-mannered and polite (anyone who bumps into me says 'excuse me' in Chinese).

I could rant on forever about the new experiences that I have, but I would sitting at my desk forever typing away! But a student needs to eat and prepare for the next day of classes! I cannot wait for the next meal just to see what kind of delicious and/or experimentally new foods that awaits my next meal. Tomorrow we will be finally beginning our language (written and oral) and I can only wait (excitedly) to learn the language of the land in order to finally speak fluently with the locals and local students!

Thank you for reading this far! Time to go eat crazy foods!