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!