School

I've never been a trouble maker but I feel like stirring things up for some reason. I believe it is the lack of rebels and instigators. From what I've seen in school there has been no insubordination. At the beginning of every class students stand up and say "Lao she hao" which means "Good Teacher". As they say this they bow. Each class has a group leader and everyone follows his instruction. After lunch there is a twenty minute nap time and most everyone sleeps. School is from 8:00 to 5:00 and I don't hear a single groan or even a tired face. Most everyone is filled with child like glee. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are assemblies where students are called to attention and follow instructions to stand up, sit down, stand up, place their hand on their hip, stand at ease, stand at attention, and salute in the blazing sun. Everyone complies to the blaring voice over the microphone and everyone sings the national anthem. I would expect complaining, refusal to follow orders and maybe a mumbled half sung national anthem. It could be argued that this is just what the students expect but i believe its more than that. There is an emphasis in being part of the group and fitting the mold. This attitude contrasts greatly from the American "Rebel without a cause" and "Stick it to the man" way of thinking. This is not to say that the students are perfect or like robots by any means. Students still fall asleep in class and pull out their cell phones when they're not supposed to. However when its pouring rain and the lady with the microphone tells everyone waiting to be dismissed to either sit on the wet black top or squat on their haunches, I don't hear any moans, groans, or whispered curses.

Dress is also quite different. In Taipei school uniforms are the norm rather than the exception. Uniforms range from t-shirts and sweatpants, purple sweat shorts, to button down shirts. Teachers on the other hand don't wear uniforms, they dress extremely casually. Some apparel teachers wear include t-shirt and short sport shorts, t-shirts that say "I'm just a girl" (on a male teacher), or a t-shirt that says "Funk You". This is different from what I'm used to considering my high school gym teacher dressed in khaki shorts with a tucked in polo. Honestly I could care less what sort of garments my instructors are wearing, this is simply a cultural difference that I feel obliged to share.

For now I'm concentrating on subduing the little American rebel within me and stopping the urge to cause a little mischief.

Comments and Questions jlpane2930@gmail.com

Moon Festival

The moon is full and round as it will be all year on the autumnal equinox. This marks an important Taiwanese holiday known as the Moon festival. School is cancelled while friends and family spend their time enjoying barbecues and moon cakes. Moon cakes are intricately designed pastries often filled with bean paste. I find them delectable.

After scrambling around Taipei trying to find my friend I was able to to enjoy a grand barbecue. Sitting around a fire cooking meat placed on sticks is cave-man like in nature but extremely satisfying. Once the charcoal grill was started the skewers of meat began to cook. This was unlike any previous barbecues I've been too. We were situated on top of my friend's rooftop balcony, with limited seats but plenty of food. There were no side dishes but an excess of meat to grill. Most of the food was placed on sticks and then set on the grill to cook after a few coats of barbecue seasoning. Then once completed they were set on a platter for anyone to grab. Known to some as the most disgusting food and to others as a delicacy, pig-blood cakes started off the event. I would say they landed some place in between great and horrible. Sausages, chicken legs, and ham wraps made it onto the grill soon after. Some of the more unique entries included sticky rice sausage, mushrooms, tofu, chicken butt, and chicken heart. All were good but nothing compared to the seasoned pork chops I had. With the moon still high in the sky the food continued to pour onto the grill. Later at three A.M. leftovers were consumed with rice over a card game. Soon after this point my endurance ended and sleep called. My bed consisted of a towel placed over a marble floor. Not the most comfortable bed but I slept regardless and I'm still able to move.

On the bus ride back home I was asked why I wanted to come to Taiwan. A common question and often followed with why I didn't go to mainland China. From what I've experienced the Taiwanese don't express particular ill will towards their mainland neighbors but view Taiwan as a separate nation. In this particular case my new friend wanted to know how Americans viewed Taiwan. He thought the U.S. would prevent  mainland China from taking in their Taiwan neighbor. Another common question is what I think of Taiwan. They are often surprised by my comment on the beauty of the surrounding mountains. In particular they want to know how I enjoy the food, and last night I enjoyed it thoroughly.


jlpane2930@gmail.com

Yesterday

Yesterday was my first time out into Taipei without any native Taiwanese to guide me. The two other exchange students from my Rotary Club and I managed to meet at Taipei Main station, find a place to eat, order, and find our way to the Rotary meeting. It was a good experience.  Even though my two friends are from Japan and France the default language is English. Easy for me good for them. Their Chinese and English will be better when they leave Taiwan. The Moon Festival Party the Rotary Club hosted was just as fun as our outing before hand. It included free moon cakes, raffles, plenty of food and drink, singing, dancing, toasts, puppet shows, and merriment. It was a grand time. I was encouraged to do multiple numbers including some Micheal Jackson. I was fortunate enough to have my French friend sing and dance along with me while my Japanese friend played the tambourine.

Today everything is cancelled because of the typhoon, which apparently made it onto the CNN news broad cast. So for fun I cooked my family some french toast and bacon for dinner. The experience was rewarding, especially after I received complements on how good the food and maple syrup was.

Friday night I experienced Ximen with my fellow exchange students, going out of the house the first time by myself. Getting to Ximen was easy returning home wasn't, however after some phone calls home I managed to find my way thanks to the help of some good citizens. After getting off the bus that brought me within a reasonable distance to my home I was able to ride on our family's motor scooter.

I'll try to make an effort this week to cover some more day to day living in the blog. As always emails are more than welcome.

jlpane2930@gmail.com

Hey Jude!

Sunday morning started off with some toast, coffee, and coffee cream puffs. From what I understood my host father was taking me to play soccer. I was overjoyed at the chance to recover the lost ground from yesterday. However I interpreted "Baba's" Chinese incorrectly. We weren't going to play soccer but there were adventures ahead regardless. Slightly disheartened I changed out of my soccer gear and into civilian clothes. Mama, Baba, Baba's sister, and I headed to a traditional market. There my eyes fell upon hundreds of tables with jewelery and small little tea pots for sale. There was all sort's of pieces of jade and different jewelry, a bug trapped in amber, extravagantly carved Buddhas (he wasn't actually fat), rustic swords, bracelets, charms, and many other eye pleasing trinkets.  My host Mother insisted on buying me some jewelery even though I don't wear it and told her so. She still had her way, telling me to give it to someone else. After this we made our way to a temple. Here we proceeded in the process my host mother calls "bai bai" which I haven't quite figured out. From what I have gathered it has something to to with honoring ancestors and keeping bad ghosts away. After placing hand fulls of incense in different alters we departed. After a short drive we arrive at a restaurant for Ann's after concert dinner with the band. Much to my amusement there is a karaoke system. I am convinced into doing a song, if my sister accompanies me. I introduced myself in Chinese with the help of Meme and her friend.
Me " I am John"
The Crowd " Whooo"
Me " I'm from America"
The Crowd "larger applause"
Me " I'm eighteen years old"
The Crowd "more applause"
The Crowd " do you have a girlfriend?"
Me " yea"
The Crowd " Awww"
 Then I sing "You Are My Sunshine" and with some help "Hey Jude" (both in English) My singing is far from excellent or even close to good. Despite my lack of talent cheers of "encore! encore!" erupt from the crowd. I give up the stage instead so someone else can have a turn. I never thought part of being an ambassador would involve karaoke and "Hey Jude" but somehow it seems to be the best work I've done yet.

Hey Jude

From Taiwan with Love

Ice is a luxury not often found in Taiwan. Drinks for the most part are not chilled and ice is rare. This includes the whole milk that I found sitting on the kitchen counter. Luke-warm water or juice is tolerable but the warm milk curdles my stomach. I'll place the milk in the fridge and  twenty minutes later I'll find it out again. This time I let it sit out against years of putting the milk in the fridge immediately after use. The family is a little slow at getting up today after my host sister's big concert last night. Yesterday started off with something I thought I would never be doing again especially in Taiwan. I suppose band shows are on Saturday's all over the world and that it's an all day preparation everywhere too. I played the role of band-parent except I'm not a parent so band booster I suppose. I moved band equipment in my soccer socks and shorts, eager for three o'clock to roll around. Lunch included pizza from Dominos and this time there were no  peas or shrimp on it but pineapple and ham. I was happy to have pizza regardless of what toppings were on it. Although Hawaiian pizza did exceed my expectations. Three o'clock comes and much to my disappointment Mother Nature cancelled the beautiful game. For some reason the habitats of Taipei do not like getting wet. They take this seriously nobody goes out in the rain. It doesn't have to be a downpour or a typhoon just regular rain gets things cancelled. Everyone seems to be prepared for rain as well because umbrellas are carried everywhere. Getting a tan is not fashionable in Taiwan neither is looking older than your age even for adolescents. These are very contradicting to American culture where the youth want to be tan and look older.  My soccer dreams were crushed by Mother Nature's rain but for some reason the sun decided it was okay to come out for the indoor concert. My host sister's concert was at a wonderful concert hall which had "Emergency Slings" on the second floor. I thought that even though soccer was cancelled if I had the chance to use one of the emergency slings my day would be made. These emergency slings had directions with pictures and thank goodness because who knows how to use an Emergency Sling. I read the instructions with care hopping my chance would come. Despite my careful preparation I did not have to attach the sling around my waist or repel down the building wall. The concert was nice and involved performers in between songs with paper fans and then umbrellas. Upon returning home I hear what sounds like the ice cream truck. "Happy kids everywhere racing to get ice cream" What any American might mistake for the ice cream truck however is the garbage truck. It works in similar fashion however the garbage truck plays its fun and slightly annoying song as it drives down the street. Adults and children alike run towards it holding bags of garbage instead of loose change and then deposit their unwanted trash into the truck. It's quite the sight, and I find the humor in the situation entertaining still. I've been told that leaving a comment on this blog is a hassle. I would love to hear from my readers whether you have questions or concerns or anything of the sort. I'd be happy to answer or just listen. Feel free to contact me at jlpane2930@gmail.com

What to eat?

I just finished my dinner and I've come to the conclusion that I never know exactly what dinner is. Its not the language barrier of the question "What's for dinner mom?", its the food itself. My dinner is always a mystery, usually I'm able to break it down into sub-groups. I can always identify the rice and its the one thing that remains the same. Rice yesterday, rice today, rice tomorrow and the day after as well. The rice is always accompanied by some vegetables the peppers and onions are all I'm ever able to identify. Lately tofu has made it into the mix which can look surprisingly like rubbery meat. The other day I realized during the cross examination of my dinner that I was thinking "mmmm tofu, alright, this is good!". I'm sure three weeks ago I would have put my nose in the air to such rubbery and gross looking food or possibly nibbled a corner of one. The meat that is placed on top of the rice is similar each day even though the origin differs. Whether its beef, chicken, pork, or sheep its prepared in either two ways. One is in little strips and bits and the other is balled and fried. I'm never able to identify the meat until I taste it but even then sometimes I mistake one animal for another. Either way I always come across a piece that's not quite edible and then there is no more meat for me for the rest of the night. Occasionally something fishy turns up fish eggs, clams, or shrimp (still with the head on). Although I'm usually the seafood type my appetite for these creatures of sea has disappeared. The last category you could say falls under vegetables but I would disagree the mushrooms and fungi that appear on my dinner plate look and most often taste unlike any vegetable I've ever known. I've tried some odd things but nothing outrageous, such as snake. The wildest I've ventured so far has been fried minnows with their head on of course, pork blood soup, and stinky tofu. The black and white spotted fruit I had was unique but certainly not stomach clenching since it was only a fruit. Dinner is always served with chop sticks and my handles have improved after many attempts. I hear my host mother's pocket translator working away and that can only mean one thing. Host mom will arrive shortly with the pocket translator, and the pocket translator will speak some nonsense English and I won't have a clue what my host mom is trying to say.

More School

I thought I had left flag raising ceremonies in elementary school and Lady Gaga in the States however I was proved wrong this morning. All the students were gathered in the school courtyard and we were called to attention and at ease several times before we started the singing of the National Anthem. Raising the flag followed shortly after being called to attention again over the loudspeaker. It feels similar to something out of a Hollywood film complete with mass amounts of obedient students and mountains in the background however we did not break into karate or listen to propaganda speeches. Music class followed the assembly and much to my amusement we watched American music videos in English. The class started off with Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" but this was just the beginning and Beyonce's "Single Ladies" followed shortly after. The other videos included the Black Eyed Peas' "Rock that Body" and Eminem's "Not Afraid". I was sporting the school uniform through this and the rest of the day including gym. Generally speaking I think school uniforms would include some sort of dress slacks and a button down shirt possibly a tie but not at Dunxu Vocational High School. Here the uniforms include a polyester t-shirt and sweat pants. Gym class started with an eight count dance. After learning the dance the class split into their preferred choice of activity and I get the idea that they don't change throughout the year. There is the ever popular basketball, pool, and table tennis. When I peaked on those playing table tennis I was severely disappointed that their were no master players and I guess that's what stereotyping gets me. Much to my luck the number of questions I received went down considerably and to top it of I wasn't asked "are you boring?". I haven't quite found an answer to that question yet. My schoolmates' fascination with me hasn't subdued; in fact its grown. I walk through the campus and receive shouts across the halls of "HI!" "Herro" "Nice to Meet You". I'll walk past a classroom and the class will explode and soon banging on the windows and shouts of "JOHN, JOHN, JOHN" begins. There is much more most of it can not be put into words and some of it isn't important enough while many things slip from my memory, but for now I hope I painted a good picture of what school is like.

Many River's to Cross

So the lovely scenic photos up in the previous post were from yesterday's excursion. I was told we were going to the sea. Expecting a trip to the beach I packed a soccer ball, a book, and my shades. Heading towards the door I see my host father dressed in socks and a long sleeve shirt. Maybe its chilly next to the water, I didn't know and scurried out the door with my sandals on. While driving to our destination I was asked if I knew where we were going and I said the sea. They agreed but said we were going to the mountains as well. That would explain their hiking apparel they were sporting. Instead of the sea we ended up climbing a mountain. It was easy going but I felt a little like a monk climbing a mountain in sandals. I felt silly until I saw the lady with high heels on. The view was great, I always loved mountains. We ate at a small restaurant, and I improved my chopstick skills. The soup I was served had enormously long noodles. The proper technique is to grab the noodles with the chopsticks in your right hand and place the selected noodles onto the spoon balanced in your left hand. Not easy to start but I managed to eat. The last stop of the night was at a family friend's house. Where I was encouraged to try, everything they happened to be serving. I was more than happy because I was allowed the luxury of sitting on a couch. It was amazing! When people count their blessing I don't think the couch usually makes the list. It made mine yesterday. We were served some fine Taiwan tea which is brewed in small amounts and served in minuscule tea cups. The tea is great and is constantly brewed to refill the smaller sized cups. A little while later one of the "Bring It On" movies were on TV, with mandarin subtitles. Well I guess that's it my day was made by a short hike and a couch to sit on.

Mountains

That First Day of School

Well school was tough, there's no denying it. As of now I am learning how to become a car mechanic. Similar to a something in a petting zoo I received looks and gawks from many and at some point I recall being surrounded by the entire class. I can see why, without any cultural diversity I look a little bit different from everyone else. Classes are 50 minutes a piece with ten minute breaks. Starting before eight and ending at five the school day is long not to mention the hour commute on good old public transportation. The students and the teachers are all very nice, as far as I can tell. The boys outnumber the girls at least eight to two but I'd say the ratio is more like nine to one. With that being said it is apparently social acceptable for males to tell other males they are handsome because I received this at least three times throughout the day with one being a teacher. I took the compliments with gratitude but I couldn't get the image of Americans snickering at the idea out of my head.  Short basketball games between classes with Big Mike was the highlight of the day and either my stiff back or watching one of my classmates blow his nose on the inside of his uniform was the low point. There is running water in the bathrooms but no soap however you might just be able to purchase some at the school's convenient store. Somethings about schools never change though, school lunch in Taiwan tastes the same as it does in the United States.