Today was the second day I hung out with Jessi, Angie, and Kinki. On Friday night Jessi and Angie took me to Rui Feng night market, which I have been told is the largest in Kaohsiung. The market was lined with rows upon rows of stinky tofu (aptly named), all sorts of fried food, meats, milk tea, and other things much more difficult to identify. Our first stop was at a stand with a large iron pot filled divided into three sections: half was filled with an orange-red soup, and one quarter each was filled with two types of large black chunks. I recognized one of them as the coagulated pig's blood that I had already discovered I didn't like, and I thought the other was kidney, which I had also tried and didn't really like, so I felt alright about politely declining to eat both. I got excited when Jessi said she didn't like the pig's blood and asked the woman not to include it in the soup, but my heart sank a little when she asked if I liked duck's blood. I told her I was a little unsure but I promised to try it. Luckily it's one of those things that absorbs the flavor of whatever it's cooked in, and the spicy Korean soup masked any other flavor, but the consistency was a bit weird. I stuck to eating the glutinous rice spears and the Kimchi out of the soup. I also tried the stinky tofu and liked it for the most part, although the smell began emerging in the taste. I think it's definitely a taste I could aquire and even come to miss after I leave Taiwan. I tried a few pieces of fried milk, very much the consistency of fried soft tofu and with a much sweeter taste.
After we ate all of our...treats, we moved on to drinks. Jessi and I ordered milk tea from a stand that used an exceptionally cool method for making the tea. The man poured some milk and flavoring into one large collander and tea into another. He then held them about three feet apart vertically, and poured the contents from one collander to another while moving from left to right. It was by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Usually such drinks come in a soft plastic cup that is placed into a machine that seels a plastic cover on top. A sharp straw is then used to quickly pierce the top, creating a hole just the right size--a great method to prevent leaking. After the mixing, however, our tea was poured into bright yellow bags that were then sealed by tightly looping a strong plastic band around the top. The handles of the bag made it easy to carry, and the unique experience made drinking this sort of milk tea a form of entertainment!
With our milk tea bags in hand we strolled around, stopping to try on oversized sunglasses or take a look at fun toys. I have been very pleased to find that Lilo & Stitch is a big hit here--I see backpacks, purses, phone charms, and everything else in the shape of Stitch or with pictures of Stitch on it. We played a game using a large, plastic Stitch that sat with his mouth wide open, and each person took a turn pressing down one of his teeth. We all shrieked and giggled as we waited for his mouth to clamp down on our fingers each time we pushed one more down. After playing with Stitch we stopped to look at the oh-so-adorable puppies that were for sale and adoption. I was doing great until we came across another stand that had a bunch of teeny tiny puppies, and as I turned the corner, one large 3-month old Bulldog. I pretty much screamed and declared that I had to have her at once. After answering rounds of questions that I fired at him, the friendly stand owner said he would take her out so that I could play with her. He put her on a leash, which she immediately started knawing on, and she was the cutest thing ever! Her pudge moved as I scratched her back, and she put her unbelievable cute face complete with underbite and squishy nose into my cupped hand--she was, in short, the perfect Bulldog! I came home and showed pictures of her to Shana in hopes that she would fall in love too and tell me to get her, but I knew it would be a hard sell. After saying goodbye and taking down the owner's number just to keep my options open, we browsed a bit more. It was a great night, and I was most happy to come home and flop onto my bed after a long long week of orientation.
Today I slept in and started the day with a delicious lunch with Jessi, Angie, Kinki, and their friend Su who also came along. One of the great things about spending time with them is they show me all these great restaurants. For lunch we ate at a small, cozy restaurant that served Italian influenced dishes. The restaurant had a selection magazines to choose from, so we each grabbed one and they filled me in on the Chinese stars they love and the ones they can't stand as we waited for our meals. After lunch we took the bus to the beach near Sun Yat-Sen University. The water was unbelievable warm, a great change from the cold waters of the Atlantic no matter what time of the year, and felt wonderful on such a hot day. We took tons of photos of each other and then turned to shoot the cutest little girl in the world. She was wearing a blue and yellow hamster print once-piece that had a little skirt, and was clearly very happy to be standing in the sand with the approaching waves barely touching her feet. Angie asked her dad if we could take a picture with her, and when she kept smiling even after I approached her, I was relieved. She took Angie's hand and walked closer to the water, giggling like crazy when the waves came, and having so much fun that she asked her dad if she could sit. A few of the waves got a bit too high, and when Angie couldn't pick her up in time she'd look a little startled and wipe her face, but she always wanted more. She was so cute to watch. After we played for a little while, we found Su and Kinki and headed for some shaved ice.
On the way there, Kinki insisted on holding my monkey and banana umbrella over me even though I insisted she take it for herself. Since I'm pretty white by their standards (and let's face it, everyone's), they worry about my skin becoming darker. I try to explain that I don't mind being a bit darker and that hardly anyone carries around umbrellas or parasols to protect them from the sun in America. I also really wanted to have her take it for herself since I am quite a bit taller than she is, and as best as she tried, the tips kept catching in my hair. As Shana later pointed out, she must like me a lot if she's willing to share umbrella space with me! Here, women go to great lengths to shield their skin. It is not uncommon to see tights worn under shorts and a sweat jacket combined with a face mask (think of a doctor) and sunglasses and a hat in the middle of a blistering afternoon. I would die. I therefore welcome tanned skin.
When we arrived at the shop I found that it was much different than what I had envisioned. People crowded the streets and climbed up and down flights of steep stairs, checking all three floors for a spot to sit. The walls were covered with writing and graffiti from years of customers. Groups of people circled around tables, waiting for someone to leave and swooping in at the first empty seat, while one person went down to put in the order. Large bowls of shaved ice covered with ice cream and all sorts of fruits appeared from a dumwaite run by a tiny, elderly woman who also bustled about gathering empty bowls and wiping down tables. Hot and thirsty from the beach, the ice was delicous. The five of us quickly finished our bowl, and then headed toward the bus stop to catch the bus back home.
For dinner we ate a quaint little restaurant located next to Pasadena, a famous Italian bakery. The menu was filled with many different options, but after an Italian lunch, I decided on hot pot, a traditional Chinese meal, for dinner. The waitress brought me a pot filled with spicy and sour Korean soup atop a burner, and a plate of vegetables and meat to cook once it began boiling. It was the most delicious hot pot I've had so far, and it was so much fun to laugh and chat with them. They asked if spending time with them was like being with my friends from home except the part about speaking only Chinese, and when I thought about it, it sort of was. They are the type of girls who are so close to one another that they pool their money together for things, share food even when one of them is sick, and can joke about anything. Kinki saw my ID with my birthday on it today when I opened my wallet, and when Jessi asked me when my birthday was, Kinki proudly announced it. I was touched that she could remember from such a quick glance, and even more so when they asked if I would want to celebrate with them or if I wanted to just be with my American friends.
I'm even more excited than usual for my birthday this year...and that's saying a lot.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Fitting In
Living four to an apartment and long days spent at orientation has really pushed me to find time for me and explore the city on my own. Tonight I took a walk around the Cultural Center to do some thinking and relax a little bit. The nights are so lively here that if you wandered around Kaohsiung only during the day or early evening you would certainly miss much of the cultural experiences the city has to offer. Nights are balmy, but much cooler in Kaohsiung than the rest of the day. It's a wonderful preview for what I hope the beginning of fall will be like.
The area next door to the apartment building was set up in market form. There was a main stage on one side which was being used by a Shanghai acting troop that performed some short pieces. I caught the end of one piece and stayed for the next. I was happy to find that I understood the plot and the humor as well. I even found myself thinking about different acting techniques and tools the performers were using, evidence of the great influence the acting class I took during my last term at Lawrence had on me. The set was quite simple, but the actors used their bodies to create the rhythm and movement often felt from a more complex set. It reminded me a bit of the style of an acting student (much more advanced than me) at Lawrence.
People came and went throughout the performances, many of them walking with their dogs. A couple with a poof of a Pomeranian walked up beside me and I tried to snap a few discreet pictures. Unfortunately, I am not very skilled with the night mode on my camera yet, and the pictures were all turning out blury. I tried using the flash, and although I did get a picture, I startled the dog with the flash and drew attention to myself.
After the performance I checked out a few of the book stands, found a great gift, and made my way over to the large circlular mall area (think National Mall, not shopping mall). I found a comfy spot on the steps and watched dozens of couples dance in a sync to a recorded tape. The best part is, anyone is really welcome to join, and this sort of group dancing is so common in any park location that just about everyone knows how to do most of them. It's so fun and uplifting to watch because elderly people participate, although the majority of dancers are probably 30-50 or so, and girlfriends invite one another to have a dance. There was one elderly man in particularly who moved in small shuffles and would come to take some of the women out for a spin when their friends alone couldn't convince them. Most of the dances seem to be crosses between commonly known routines like tango and ballroom, with spinning and twirling, and small kicks of the lower leg. I smiled and tried to signal my curiosity by moving my head and shoulders to the beat, hopeing someone would invite me to join. I got a lot of smiles and some bows, but not takers tonight. I could tell I was getting closer, so I'll keep trying. If that doesn't work, I can always move a few feet over to join the section of aerobic dancers or one more section after that to the group of mostly younger women who like to shake their hips.
I did manage to take a few pictures that turned out a bit better after playing around with my camera. I couldn't resist shooting photos when a little girl about 2 years old or so was so excited and happy to hear the music that she ran out towards the circle to dance while her mom sat by beaming at her. I tried to capture a few others of a family of three walking along the steps, and wish I could have gotten one of the mom carrying the boy bucket style as they made their way back. On my way out I also heard a girl giggling and looked over to find her struggling to give her boyfriend a piggyback. It may have been tough, but she defintiely carried him a good ways.
On my way back to the apartment I stopped for a blended ice drink, a very popular snack in Kaohsiung. Last night we tried the mango, so tonight I asked the woman for her opinion and she fixed me the chocolate one. It had pieces of a chocolate bar, Hershey's chocolate syrup, a flavored syrup (which I'm going to say was also chocolate flavored), and some sort of cocoa powder. It was refreshing, and surprisingly not too sweet. I then moved on to what I call "a cutesy store," any store that sells all these different types of hair accessories and other jewerly, purses and cell-phone cases, cute chopsticks and eating utensils, etc. I found a really cute purse for a great price and then chatted with the three girls in the shop. Turns out that young people here also like to have their friends come visit them at work. The three of them do everything together and study at the nearby university. They were really excited to find out that I was the same age as them and agreed to be my friends quickly. They are crazy and fun, and they're such good friends that they just through me into their hilarious banter. We talked about their English names--I had to explain the dangers and strange reactions that would likely be associated with names like Kinki, Jessibettica, and Sorri, and we eventually decided that Zoe, Jessi, and Angie fit their personalities respectively and would go over much better. We have dinner plans tomorrow and I can't wait to see what crazy topics we end up discussing.
This is all I can manage for now, but there's A LOT (just for you, Ms. Seymour) more to write. Don't worry! I am keeping a list of all the things I have to add so that I don't forget!
The area next door to the apartment building was set up in market form. There was a main stage on one side which was being used by a Shanghai acting troop that performed some short pieces. I caught the end of one piece and stayed for the next. I was happy to find that I understood the plot and the humor as well. I even found myself thinking about different acting techniques and tools the performers were using, evidence of the great influence the acting class I took during my last term at Lawrence had on me. The set was quite simple, but the actors used their bodies to create the rhythm and movement often felt from a more complex set. It reminded me a bit of the style of an acting student (much more advanced than me) at Lawrence.
People came and went throughout the performances, many of them walking with their dogs. A couple with a poof of a Pomeranian walked up beside me and I tried to snap a few discreet pictures. Unfortunately, I am not very skilled with the night mode on my camera yet, and the pictures were all turning out blury. I tried using the flash, and although I did get a picture, I startled the dog with the flash and drew attention to myself.
After the performance I checked out a few of the book stands, found a great gift, and made my way over to the large circlular mall area (think National Mall, not shopping mall). I found a comfy spot on the steps and watched dozens of couples dance in a sync to a recorded tape. The best part is, anyone is really welcome to join, and this sort of group dancing is so common in any park location that just about everyone knows how to do most of them. It's so fun and uplifting to watch because elderly people participate, although the majority of dancers are probably 30-50 or so, and girlfriends invite one another to have a dance. There was one elderly man in particularly who moved in small shuffles and would come to take some of the women out for a spin when their friends alone couldn't convince them. Most of the dances seem to be crosses between commonly known routines like tango and ballroom, with spinning and twirling, and small kicks of the lower leg. I smiled and tried to signal my curiosity by moving my head and shoulders to the beat, hopeing someone would invite me to join. I got a lot of smiles and some bows, but not takers tonight. I could tell I was getting closer, so I'll keep trying. If that doesn't work, I can always move a few feet over to join the section of aerobic dancers or one more section after that to the group of mostly younger women who like to shake their hips.
I did manage to take a few pictures that turned out a bit better after playing around with my camera. I couldn't resist shooting photos when a little girl about 2 years old or so was so excited and happy to hear the music that she ran out towards the circle to dance while her mom sat by beaming at her. I tried to capture a few others of a family of three walking along the steps, and wish I could have gotten one of the mom carrying the boy bucket style as they made their way back. On my way out I also heard a girl giggling and looked over to find her struggling to give her boyfriend a piggyback. It may have been tough, but she defintiely carried him a good ways.
On my way back to the apartment I stopped for a blended ice drink, a very popular snack in Kaohsiung. Last night we tried the mango, so tonight I asked the woman for her opinion and she fixed me the chocolate one. It had pieces of a chocolate bar, Hershey's chocolate syrup, a flavored syrup (which I'm going to say was also chocolate flavored), and some sort of cocoa powder. It was refreshing, and surprisingly not too sweet. I then moved on to what I call "a cutesy store," any store that sells all these different types of hair accessories and other jewerly, purses and cell-phone cases, cute chopsticks and eating utensils, etc. I found a really cute purse for a great price and then chatted with the three girls in the shop. Turns out that young people here also like to have their friends come visit them at work. The three of them do everything together and study at the nearby university. They were really excited to find out that I was the same age as them and agreed to be my friends quickly. They are crazy and fun, and they're such good friends that they just through me into their hilarious banter. We talked about their English names--I had to explain the dangers and strange reactions that would likely be associated with names like Kinki, Jessibettica, and Sorri, and we eventually decided that Zoe, Jessi, and Angie fit their personalities respectively and would go over much better. We have dinner plans tomorrow and I can't wait to see what crazy topics we end up discussing.
This is all I can manage for now, but there's A LOT (just for you, Ms. Seymour) more to write. Don't worry! I am keeping a list of all the things I have to add so that I don't forget!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Getting to Know the City
When we aren't completely exhausted from our days of training, ETAs get together to explore the Kaohsiung for a bit. Yesterday, Dani from Pennsylvania took Vicky from Ohio, Dan from California, and me to see the cute little cafe that her Taiwanese friend had taken her to the night before. We ordered yummy oreo latte frapps that seemed to be a favorite among the locals too, enjoying the cool breeze brought in by rain clouds. After chatting for some time, we decided to explore the streets nearby to see what we could find. We weren't disappointed.
We first stumbled upon a pet store with the cutest little puppies. The great thing about places selling animals here is that you're free to pet and play with them as you like. I walked in and immediately fell in love with one of the larger dogs, a light chocolate brown female puppy with short, curly hair and floppy ears. Although bigger, she was most certainly still a puppy and almost climbed out of her cage trying to lick and chew me. There was also a little dog right beside her, a male puppy who looked like a chihuahua with a more square snout that made him look almost puggish. He wasn't as vocal as many of the other puppies, but his look said it all, and when I went to put my fingers in his cage he just walked by, making sure I pet all of him. He seemed like he was in heaven, and sat with his back against my hand and his head turned back, slowly blinking his eyes; he was absolutely adorable. If I did happen to stray from petting him he'd give me one substantial bark to let me know it was his turn. I almost bought a puppy that day, thinking that surely my allergy-ridden roommate wouldn't mind all that much. I figure I'll just go back to visit and maybe even ask if they need help caring for the dogs.
Shortly after our puppy play time we found a cong1you2bing3 stand. Congyoubing, which many of you have probably heard of as scallion pancakes, is a delicious snack that many of us ate during our time studying abroad in Beijing and we were most happy to find one more thing that reminded us of all the amazing things we ate there. If you're thinking scallion and pancake don't seem to go together, just know that the pancake part isn't a western style pancake. It's basically like eating a fried flatbread with green onions in the dough. A salt and pepper mix is sprinkled on top to make it even more delicious. Eating our pancakes, we ventured down a smaller road, find a ping pong center and a little girl sitting outside eating dragon eye fruit. She seemed shy, but much less so than many other of the kids I meet here, so when the others stopped to watch the boys play ping pong for a bit, I talked with her. She was 7, still too young for learning English at school, so we used Chinese. She told me that the ping pong instructor was her father and the boys playing were her cousin and brother. She showed me her mom's house just down the street and asked if I'd like some of her fruit when I asked what she was eating. I was very touched by her offer, so I took one and offered her some of my pancake. I chuckled a little bit when she said she had tasted it before, implying that she didn't need to try it again. I didn't tell here that I had eaten dragon eye fruit before. I thanked her for talking with me and caught up to the others who were watching a food and money offering ceremony.
Every year between July and August is ghost month. The gates of hell open and people everywhere lay out an extensive spread of food on tables with incents and pray to the spirits. Alongside the tables they have tins filled with hot coals where they burn special paper money used solely for these kinds of offerings. We had seen many of these ceremonies throughout the week, participating in one ourselves at our base school, but this was the largest one we had seen yet. There must have been about 20 people participating and 10 eight-foot tables piled high with crackers, cookies, fruit, rice, water, and other items. They had cardboard boxes full of paper money, and the tin they used for burning was about 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall. It was placed in the center of the intersection, and cars and scooters simply drove around it, navigating through the smoke. Not only did they pray during this ceremony, but they also chanted for about 15 minutes, something we hadn't seen done before. It was very calming and absolutely beautiful to listen to. When they burned the money after they had prayed, they were careful to retrieve every piece of money that slipped through the bottom of the tin or floated out of the top. When Vicky went to pick up two runaway pieces of money, one of the men signaled her over and gave her a red piece of money. He would wait a bit and then signaled the rest of us one by one, each time saying that what he gave us represented good luck and fortune. Soon after we were invited into what we learned was a temple by another man to eat and drink. We chatted with a soft-spoken woman carrying a baby on her hip while they served us a cold, sweet soup filled with tapioca and other jelly-like things. They gave us each a bottle of what they said was the best water, and tried to send us home with a newly-opened tin of shortbread cookies, the kind you get in the blue tin that come in different shapes with the granulated sugar sprinkled on top. We thanked them immensely for welcoming us and assured them we would visit again when they told us to come back sometime.
On our way back home we talked about how we couldn't help but think of the story a Fulbrighter from last year told us just last week. He had been walking home from his school after teaching when he stumbled upon a temple. There were a lot of people outside talking and mingling so he was hesitant to walk up and join them. Finally someone caught his eye and signaled him over. They told them about the temple and talked with him for a long while. He told us how close he had been to missing all of this if he had just continued on his way home instead of sticking around for just a few minutes.
The four of us were certainly glad that we stuck around.
We first stumbled upon a pet store with the cutest little puppies. The great thing about places selling animals here is that you're free to pet and play with them as you like. I walked in and immediately fell in love with one of the larger dogs, a light chocolate brown female puppy with short, curly hair and floppy ears. Although bigger, she was most certainly still a puppy and almost climbed out of her cage trying to lick and chew me. There was also a little dog right beside her, a male puppy who looked like a chihuahua with a more square snout that made him look almost puggish. He wasn't as vocal as many of the other puppies, but his look said it all, and when I went to put my fingers in his cage he just walked by, making sure I pet all of him. He seemed like he was in heaven, and sat with his back against my hand and his head turned back, slowly blinking his eyes; he was absolutely adorable. If I did happen to stray from petting him he'd give me one substantial bark to let me know it was his turn. I almost bought a puppy that day, thinking that surely my allergy-ridden roommate wouldn't mind all that much. I figure I'll just go back to visit and maybe even ask if they need help caring for the dogs.
Shortly after our puppy play time we found a cong1you2bing3 stand. Congyoubing, which many of you have probably heard of as scallion pancakes, is a delicious snack that many of us ate during our time studying abroad in Beijing and we were most happy to find one more thing that reminded us of all the amazing things we ate there. If you're thinking scallion and pancake don't seem to go together, just know that the pancake part isn't a western style pancake. It's basically like eating a fried flatbread with green onions in the dough. A salt and pepper mix is sprinkled on top to make it even more delicious. Eating our pancakes, we ventured down a smaller road, find a ping pong center and a little girl sitting outside eating dragon eye fruit. She seemed shy, but much less so than many other of the kids I meet here, so when the others stopped to watch the boys play ping pong for a bit, I talked with her. She was 7, still too young for learning English at school, so we used Chinese. She told me that the ping pong instructor was her father and the boys playing were her cousin and brother. She showed me her mom's house just down the street and asked if I'd like some of her fruit when I asked what she was eating. I was very touched by her offer, so I took one and offered her some of my pancake. I chuckled a little bit when she said she had tasted it before, implying that she didn't need to try it again. I didn't tell here that I had eaten dragon eye fruit before. I thanked her for talking with me and caught up to the others who were watching a food and money offering ceremony.
Every year between July and August is ghost month. The gates of hell open and people everywhere lay out an extensive spread of food on tables with incents and pray to the spirits. Alongside the tables they have tins filled with hot coals where they burn special paper money used solely for these kinds of offerings. We had seen many of these ceremonies throughout the week, participating in one ourselves at our base school, but this was the largest one we had seen yet. There must have been about 20 people participating and 10 eight-foot tables piled high with crackers, cookies, fruit, rice, water, and other items. They had cardboard boxes full of paper money, and the tin they used for burning was about 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall. It was placed in the center of the intersection, and cars and scooters simply drove around it, navigating through the smoke. Not only did they pray during this ceremony, but they also chanted for about 15 minutes, something we hadn't seen done before. It was very calming and absolutely beautiful to listen to. When they burned the money after they had prayed, they were careful to retrieve every piece of money that slipped through the bottom of the tin or floated out of the top. When Vicky went to pick up two runaway pieces of money, one of the men signaled her over and gave her a red piece of money. He would wait a bit and then signaled the rest of us one by one, each time saying that what he gave us represented good luck and fortune. Soon after we were invited into what we learned was a temple by another man to eat and drink. We chatted with a soft-spoken woman carrying a baby on her hip while they served us a cold, sweet soup filled with tapioca and other jelly-like things. They gave us each a bottle of what they said was the best water, and tried to send us home with a newly-opened tin of shortbread cookies, the kind you get in the blue tin that come in different shapes with the granulated sugar sprinkled on top. We thanked them immensely for welcoming us and assured them we would visit again when they told us to come back sometime.
On our way back home we talked about how we couldn't help but think of the story a Fulbrighter from last year told us just last week. He had been walking home from his school after teaching when he stumbled upon a temple. There were a lot of people outside talking and mingling so he was hesitant to walk up and join them. Finally someone caught his eye and signaled him over. They told them about the temple and talked with him for a long while. He told us how close he had been to missing all of this if he had just continued on his way home instead of sticking around for just a few minutes.
The four of us were certainly glad that we stuck around.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Try Everything
Almost two years ago exactly when I left to study abroad in Beijing, China, a very wise professor of mine encouraged me to “try everything.” I loved my time in Beijing, but most of it was far from adventurous. I spent most of my time studying, which seemed necessary due to the four hours or so of class everyday and about another four hours of homework, not to mention the daily quizzes and weekly tests. I did go out to tons of restaurants with my friends, find new places to test my bargaining skills, swim a couple of times a week at the nearby gym, and go on the class trips to Shanghai and Xi’an, but I never went anywhere by myself and I never really made any goals for myself. So when I was packing for my year in Taiwan as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) and received a graduation card that ended with “Remember: try everything,” I was amazed. It was as though my professor knew that I had so many more goals for myself this time around and just needed that extra push.
The first night we arrived and had a group dinner with our advisors, my meal came with a soup that appeared to be pork and winter melon soup. When I went to fish out the meat, however, I realized that there was no bone that would normally be in pork, and that the meat actually looked like a soft strip of something with bubble-like circles. I asked what it was and the consensus seemed to be cow stomach. I gave my infamous eye roll, dropping my head for a second, before I took a deep breath, counted 123 and popped it in my mouth. It actually wasn’t all that bad. Since the first plunge I’ve tried smoked plum juice (which I actually thought I’d like and didn’t—it tasted like having a bonfire in my mouth), kidney, barbequed squid (whole) on a stick, and—here comes the real kicker—rice cubes with coagulated pig’s blood. Now I usually ask what I’m eating so that I can prepare myself for the worst and be pleasantly surprised, but in the last case I’m grateful that I didn’t know what I was eating when I tried it. If some of you less adventurous eaters are thinking that people eat horrendous things in Taiwan, it’s certainly not the case, it’s just that I’ve chosen to write about the…less conventional things I’ve tried. Kaohsiung, the city in which I live, is Taiwan’s largest port, so seafood is also really popular. I haven’t really been able to find anything comparable to the food I ate on a regular basis in Beijing with the exception of the amazing dumpling restaurant we found just behind our apartment.
I find myself talking about Beijing a lot. This is only my second time out of the States, but Beijing feels like my home abroad. I met a lot of really wonderful people and saw some amazing things there (it’s also where I learned my everyday Chinese, something I never really considered that important until I came here), and it was really the first place where I began to test myself. Since arriving in Kaohsiung I’ve been trying really hard to push myself out of my comfort zone. I do realize how much I’ve grown from when I first went to Beijing two years ago, but I’ve still got a long way to go. Probably the most difficult aspect is language, something that played a big role in my decision to come to Taiwan. Most ETAs in my group have had only a year or two of Chinese, so we all use English to communicate. I am trying to make the decision to speak Chinese at all times unless English is absolutely essential for communicating with the group. I’ve learned that I’m going to have to look for alternative methods for really improving my Chinese, probably taking individual classes instead of classes with the others, and finding language partners and new friends willing to speak Chinese. The other day I ventured off when we took a trip to the Dream Mall and met my first local friend, Show Show (yes, this is how she spells it). She seems just as excited about being my friend as I am about being hers, and it’s perfect because she’s already got tons of stuff planned for us to do together and I can’t wait to do it! Show Show also speaks a little bit of English but has had trouble learning in the past because her English-speaking friends don’t speak Chinese. I am really excited to have this sort of mutual language exchange since I was only allowed to speak Chinese when studying in Beijing and missed out a bit on sharing my culture and language with the friends I made.
In addition to taking Chinese classes outside of teaching, I’d really like to help out at a local animal shelter while I’m here. Animals are very popular in Taiwan, and dogs and cats roam freely on the streets. Already the other ETAs know that if I disappear from the group when walking down the sidewalk it’s because I’ve wandered off to play with some dog that I’ve spotted. Apartment C has two dogs that are always outside the front gate; they often follow the ETAs who live there around the city. The other day the dogs escorted them to the bus stop, which involves crossing quite a few busy busy streets! We also saw two really cute, fluffy bunnies in a cage sitting beside a street vendor. I have been seeing all these adorable animals and have wanted to take them home even though I know I probably shouldn’t, but when I saw these bunnies and thought they were about to be dinner I immediately stopped and was reaching for my wallet. I was assured by my roommates that they were not, in fact, dinner and were instead pets since they had such a homey cage. I almost wanted to ask just to double check. I’ll have to start taking pictures so you can understand just how cute they are; you’ll want to take them all home too!
I realize that I’ve said very little both in my emails and here about what orientation has been like and the details of teaching, which will start September 1. I’ll save all of that and stories about all of the places I’ve been so far for my next entry. For now I should get to work on my mission statement for teaching. To reflect on what we believe to be the most important aspects of teaching, we must each write a statement that explains our individual views on the role of education in today’s society, how children learn, the way we as teachers can promote their learning, and our personal teaching goals for the upcoming year. I have lots of thoughts that I’m eager to get down on paper, but it’s been a long day so I may put it off until tomorrow. I promise to write more soon about everything else I’ve left out and to add all the pictures that go along with it.
In the mean time I hope you are all enjoying the Olympics and had a chance to watch the spectacular opening ceremony!
Take care!
The first night we arrived and had a group dinner with our advisors, my meal came with a soup that appeared to be pork and winter melon soup. When I went to fish out the meat, however, I realized that there was no bone that would normally be in pork, and that the meat actually looked like a soft strip of something with bubble-like circles. I asked what it was and the consensus seemed to be cow stomach. I gave my infamous eye roll, dropping my head for a second, before I took a deep breath, counted 123 and popped it in my mouth. It actually wasn’t all that bad. Since the first plunge I’ve tried smoked plum juice (which I actually thought I’d like and didn’t—it tasted like having a bonfire in my mouth), kidney, barbequed squid (whole) on a stick, and—here comes the real kicker—rice cubes with coagulated pig’s blood. Now I usually ask what I’m eating so that I can prepare myself for the worst and be pleasantly surprised, but in the last case I’m grateful that I didn’t know what I was eating when I tried it. If some of you less adventurous eaters are thinking that people eat horrendous things in Taiwan, it’s certainly not the case, it’s just that I’ve chosen to write about the…less conventional things I’ve tried. Kaohsiung, the city in which I live, is Taiwan’s largest port, so seafood is also really popular. I haven’t really been able to find anything comparable to the food I ate on a regular basis in Beijing with the exception of the amazing dumpling restaurant we found just behind our apartment.
I find myself talking about Beijing a lot. This is only my second time out of the States, but Beijing feels like my home abroad. I met a lot of really wonderful people and saw some amazing things there (it’s also where I learned my everyday Chinese, something I never really considered that important until I came here), and it was really the first place where I began to test myself. Since arriving in Kaohsiung I’ve been trying really hard to push myself out of my comfort zone. I do realize how much I’ve grown from when I first went to Beijing two years ago, but I’ve still got a long way to go. Probably the most difficult aspect is language, something that played a big role in my decision to come to Taiwan. Most ETAs in my group have had only a year or two of Chinese, so we all use English to communicate. I am trying to make the decision to speak Chinese at all times unless English is absolutely essential for communicating with the group. I’ve learned that I’m going to have to look for alternative methods for really improving my Chinese, probably taking individual classes instead of classes with the others, and finding language partners and new friends willing to speak Chinese. The other day I ventured off when we took a trip to the Dream Mall and met my first local friend, Show Show (yes, this is how she spells it). She seems just as excited about being my friend as I am about being hers, and it’s perfect because she’s already got tons of stuff planned for us to do together and I can’t wait to do it! Show Show also speaks a little bit of English but has had trouble learning in the past because her English-speaking friends don’t speak Chinese. I am really excited to have this sort of mutual language exchange since I was only allowed to speak Chinese when studying in Beijing and missed out a bit on sharing my culture and language with the friends I made.
In addition to taking Chinese classes outside of teaching, I’d really like to help out at a local animal shelter while I’m here. Animals are very popular in Taiwan, and dogs and cats roam freely on the streets. Already the other ETAs know that if I disappear from the group when walking down the sidewalk it’s because I’ve wandered off to play with some dog that I’ve spotted. Apartment C has two dogs that are always outside the front gate; they often follow the ETAs who live there around the city. The other day the dogs escorted them to the bus stop, which involves crossing quite a few busy busy streets! We also saw two really cute, fluffy bunnies in a cage sitting beside a street vendor. I have been seeing all these adorable animals and have wanted to take them home even though I know I probably shouldn’t, but when I saw these bunnies and thought they were about to be dinner I immediately stopped and was reaching for my wallet. I was assured by my roommates that they were not, in fact, dinner and were instead pets since they had such a homey cage. I almost wanted to ask just to double check. I’ll have to start taking pictures so you can understand just how cute they are; you’ll want to take them all home too!
I realize that I’ve said very little both in my emails and here about what orientation has been like and the details of teaching, which will start September 1. I’ll save all of that and stories about all of the places I’ve been so far for my next entry. For now I should get to work on my mission statement for teaching. To reflect on what we believe to be the most important aspects of teaching, we must each write a statement that explains our individual views on the role of education in today’s society, how children learn, the way we as teachers can promote their learning, and our personal teaching goals for the upcoming year. I have lots of thoughts that I’m eager to get down on paper, but it’s been a long day so I may put it off until tomorrow. I promise to write more soon about everything else I’ve left out and to add all the pictures that go along with it.
In the mean time I hope you are all enjoying the Olympics and had a chance to watch the spectacular opening ceremony!
Take care!
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