The Final Stretch November 18, 2008

It’s Tuesday of my last week in Taiwan. I’ll be sad to say good-bye on Friday morning, but at the same time, I’m really ready to come home.

 

Here are a few pictures of recent events:

 

My new graduate student friends. MinChien, Amanda, and Justin are psychology students at Fu-Jen. I was introduced to them through a professor in the Child and Family Studies department, who also supervises graduate students in psychology. She hooked us up to get together for a language exchange so we have been meeting once a week. I practice Chinese and they practice English. This particular day was Justin’s birthday and he skipped class for our meeting. He loves watching American movies and had been trying and trying to figure out one line in the movie, “Good Will Hunting.” We looked it up on You-Tube and for his birthday, I gave Justin the gift: “That boy’s wicked smart.” (Wicked was the hang-up word).

 

 

I have now been invited to be one of the investigators on a study they are conducting examining the parental and family influences on college student career choices. They have been interviewing Taiwanese students and wanted to make a cultural comparison. Two of our OSU students agreed to be interviewed and they were blown away! They commented on how well our students were able to express themselves logically and maturely. They were also amazed by our students’ lives. The graduate students (and the professor) all said that interviewing these two students was a life-changing experience for them. 

 

You may remember pictures of straw flowers from a previous post. Since that time, I have graduated to dragons, seahorses, and shrimp. The “straw master” and his daughter, Donna (a graduate student here at Fu-Jen) invited Sharon and I to their home to see his artwork (he is one of the few traditional artists in Taiwan and creates incredible art, as well as painting drums, temples, etc). 

 

 

As a thank you, we took Ivy (College Dean), Emily (Fu-Jen faculty in charge of our program), Pauline (Child and Family Studies faculty), and Jo-lin (Child and Family Studies Chair) to the restaurant with the lanterns. None of them had been there before. 

 

 

 

Last weekend, I returned to Hsinchu to visit my mom’s three very close friends. They took me to many beautiful places that I had not yet seen , which was a pretty tough feat considering that over the last ten weeks, I have traveled the entire island and seen more than many locals. I should also mention that when I visit family or friends in Hsinchu, I experience complete Chinese immersion. No English. My comprehension is getting much better and I’m getting better at communicating in Chinese though sometimes I agree to things that I don’t realize! 

 

   

 

 

 

Saying good-bye to family: 

 

 

Eating a traditional Taiwanese breakfast:

 

 

I love the food in Taiwan. Not all of our students do, but most have found food that they really enjoy here. Those who haven’t, eat at Subway. I eat lots of mushrooms, leafy green vegetables, and other USUALLY healthy dishes. As always, there are exceptions. The picture above is a traditional Taiwanese breakfast. It is two deep-fried sticks, wrapped in a fried shell (notice the oil on the napkin). This is not my typical breakfast in Taiwan. I usually eat oatmeal and fruit in my room, but the friends wanted me to try their favorite breakfast!

 

 

On one afternoon, we ate lunch in a monastery (and Buddhist education center). I wish I had taken a picture of the “No non-vegetarian food” sign, but it was posted right next to the “No pictures” sign. 

 

An aside: There are many different types of vegetarians in Taiwan. The strictest (usually Buddhists) do not eat meat, garlic, or onions. I’ve been told this is because of the smell, but I’m not sure how that relates to vegetarianism. Others do not eat meat, but will eat vegetables or tofu out of meat dishes or even pick it out of chicken stock soup. My preference is not to do this, but many non-vegetarians do not realize this is even an issue. “Just pick out the tofu!” I have to say, I have broken this rule once accidentally. While eating dinner with family one night, they put dou-gan (tofu cakes) on my plate and it wasn’t until I was finished eating that I realized the dou-gan was coming out of a large vat of pigs feet. At that point, there wasn’t muchdo about it, but smile externally and throw up a little internally.  

 

Lunch at the monastery: You walk into the dining hall and pick up a bowl of rice porridge with an assortment of vegetables. Quietly, everyone walks in line and sits at long row tables. They are narrow so people only sit on one side. To your front, you see the back of the people sitting at the next row of tables. People put their hands together in prayer before eating and then sat looking down in their bowls while eating silently. I imagined this is how the monks ate everyday, though I didn’t see any monks in the room. After finishing, we wiped out our bowls and put money in the donation box (there was no charge for lunch, only donation). 

 

     

 

Making tea in a Hakka village: 

 

     

 

 

Manchu and her sisters: 

 

 

Saying good-bye at the highspeed rail station: 

 

Advertisement