Mind Your Manners

Making a mistake at the dinner table, was one of my few fears upon arriving in Taiwan. Before I could make it to the table though, I broke the rule about wearing footwear in the house. In many houses wearing house sandals is a must, and in others its an option. Equipped with sandals I was ready for the table manners. Before my arrival in Taiwan, friends and family would inquire what I would eat and create scenarios at the dinner table. They would grill me with questions I didn't have answers to and give me advice which was nothing more than hunches. Looking back, I laugh at these preconceived notions. I didn't eat at a dinner table and I didn't eat with family gathered around. When I ate simultaneously with my host family it wasn't and still isn't a time to talk. My first host family dedicated this time to watching the news. A friend spoke of the initial shock she felt when her host family got up and walked away while she was still eating. If thoughts of "how rude!" or "uncivilized" are running through your head change the tune because the Taiwanese have manners of their own, it's different not wrong.

Letting loose a large belch at the dinner table is no laughing matter. It doesn't call for an apology or acknowledgment, it just is. No one stares, gawks, glances, or laughs at the action, because belching is natural. It happens and why bother hiding it or apologizing for something that is. The same rule applies for passing gas, natural as it comes. Even while writing about this subject I try to use choice words, while to someone in Taiwan this subject wouldn't be noteworthy to write about.

Finally chopsticks have become an extension of my hand, I get practice everyday three times a day and quite frankly forks and knifes feel foreign. Typically dinners include bowls of rice, and multiple dishes. While everyone has their own bowl of rice the dishes are communally shared. Sharing the different cuisine creates a family like atmosphere and builds relationships. To me it seems more logical and I know my grandmother would agree. A little bit of everything does the body good. The diet includes plenty of steamed vegetables, servings of tofu, and pork. Soup is generally served with every dinner while shrimp and steamed fish are usuals at the dinner table. The main focus is rice though. The words for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all include the word rice.

Much of Taiwan's culture is based around food. Instead of asking "how are you?", a more typical greeting is "did you eat?", or "are you full?". No matter where you walk food is available, and with an abundance of choices. Push carts and vendors litter the streets, outdoor diners are crammed next to coffee shops, with restaurants stacked on top. Convenience is of the utmost importance to the Taiwanese. "7-Elevens" "Hi-Lifes" and "FamilyMarts" are stationed at every turn. Without exaggeration, 7-Elevens are placed on opposite corners of a street and both thrive with business. In comparison to the United States prepared food is extremely cheap and can be bought in large amounts.

Spitting fish bones back onto the table is acceptable. Chewing with an open mouth isn't a problem. Munching, slurping, and loud smacking is not thought about twice. Talking with a mouthful of food is of no concern but when it comes to toothpicks strong rules apply. Never place one of those seemingly harmless teeth-cleaners behind your ear. Whenever a toothpick is in use, the free hand should be used to cover up the mouth and toothpick blocking the view from anyone else. Leaving one in your mouth is also impolite. Holding chopsticks and a teacup at the same time is impolite. The reason being that it looks bad. The same rule applies to holding chopsticks in the same hand as the rice bowl.

Overall the food and table manner culture in Taiwan has left an impression on me. I find myself thinking I wonder what new flavors this will bring instead of "lets gag this down". Truth be told, I know I will miss Taiwan food upon my return to the States. In order to prevent this inevitable event I am learning how to cook Taiwan food, so prepare your chopsticks and sharpen those table manners.

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Taiwan 2011

The bike trip around Taiwan was worth every sore muscle. The feeling of accomplishment was incredible, and of course Rotary knows how to put on a show. This past Thursday I was invited to a dinner to celebrate our trip. With fine food and plenty of talking everyone who completed the journey was awarded a certificate and a dvd from the trip. Biking around Taiwan could not have been at a better time. The day after I finished I was able to celebrate my birthday. To celebrate my fellow exchange student friends and I went out for lunch. Instead of our usual dumplings or rice we headed over to a nice Italian restaurant. No birthday would be complete without the birthday song so my friends made sure nothing was missing. The end result was choruses of happy birthday in Korean, French, Spanish, English, Portuguese and Japanese. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Christmas was coming but without it's usual commercialized flair. It was nice in a way. There was no extra holiday pressure or goods being pushed, but there were some decorations. I spotted some Christmas trees around and even found one in front of the Sun Yet-Sen Memorial Hall.  Soon enough Christmas eve had arrived, and our Chinese class celebrated by making dumplings, instead of sugar cookies. Despite being miles away from their homes most everyone was in high spirits. For many exchange students the midnight mass was a must, and we ended up making it work. My close friend from Mexico ended up playing Joseph and at age seventeen and is now known as Joseph throughout the church community. After mass our destination was the Rotary Exchange Student Christmas party. After we piled one too many people into a taxi our driver turns around with a big gapping smile and asks for our destination. His mouth was rotted and stained a dark orange  from the ever popular betel nut. After showing us a picture of his daughter, running a red light, and answering his phone (which was set to Lady Gaga) the taxi driver managed to get us to our destination. Eager to get to the party and away from our much to friendly driver we paid the fare and scurried away. The party was out on the mountainside in a resort. Luckily the church goers were just in time to catch a few last dances before the party was officially over. Soon enough we were sent to our rooms to sleep and of course nobody did. Eventually our "chaperons" gave in and changed the mantra from "Get in your rooms and sleep" to "Just be quiet". After our sleepless Christmas eve we were greeted with a traditional Chinese breakfast. Some peanuts, shredded dried meat, dough rolls, and spinach were set out in little dishes on the table. Although I was away from home and away from my family I wasn't sad or dragging my feet. I wouldn't consider it a bad Christmas at all and more than anything it made me appreciate my family and all of the exchange students here in Taiwan even more. New Years eve was celebrated in a similar fashion. The fireworks at Taipei 101 were especially spectacular and the best I've seen in my life. Since it is the hundredth anniversary of the Republic Of China there was special care put into the presentation. Although I must admit the firework in the shape of a dragon that wrapped itself around 101 was slightly disappointing. The real holidays for Taiwan do not start until two weeks. Chinese New Year starts in February and its the year of the rabbit so bunny merchandise is everywhere. All the while my Mandarin improves whether its in the classroom, practicing with my host family or using it our and about Taipei. My writing has improved tremendously and I am sure all of my teachers from the United States would think I'm lying if I told them people here think my Chinese characters look beautiful. In fact though I truly have come to appreciate the beauty in Chinese language which still tends to be a pain in the rear.


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Pictures

Bike Trek Photos

Bike Trek Part 1

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall Day 1 

Day 1 at 7:00 AM

If you haven't heard by now I was able to see the fantastic country of Taiwan by bicycle. The entire journey started out on December the 4th and ended on December the 12th. The nine day adventure included biking everyday and countless sights, sounds, and smells. I owe great gratitude towards my Rotary club who sponsored the event and District 3520 for organizing it. I was accompanied by over thirty Rotarians few of which were my age. Speaking of age, I knew physical fitness for elders was highly valued here but I didn't know seventy five was an okay age to bike around the island. My definition of old age has been revolutionized. I dream of the day I might be able to prove my strength at that age and makes me think could my dad do that?  

The bike travelers gathered early Saturday morning at Chaing Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Registration was accompanied by speakers blaring music. Soon all the bikers were grouped together and led through a stretch routine. After we were loose we listened to several speakers and were reminded of the real reason we were biking for nine days. The bike trek was formed to donate to charities. After plenty of photos we were lined up and off with a gunshot start. 

Language

I've heard Chinese is the hardest language to learn and I might agree with that statement. "Chinese" is a broad category though, not all "Chinese" is the same. The two major spoken Chinese languages are Cantonese and Mandarin. Hong Kong uses Cantonese and Taiwan and Beijing use Mandarin. I found it interesting that my Hong Kong friend speaks English with a British accent. The two major written Chinese languages are simplified characters which are used in Mainland China and traditional which are used in Taiwan. 

Mainland China changed to simplified characters to improve literacy rates, while Taiwan preserved the traditional characters. The Taiwanese are very proud of these characters and great importance is placed on writing them correctly. Each character is represents a word and is supposed to be a picture. Characters can be written from left to right, right to left and top to bottom. Many times I've picked up a book and realized the binding seemed backward. Its an odd sensation. Chinese characters written correctly are supposed to be "beautiful". The strokes  order of the characters are extremely important. In English we have the freedom to write our letters however we please. It doesn't matter. However in Chinese its extremely important. The direction and the order of the strokes have to be perfect and in a certain way. What I haven't seemed to figure out yet is why it matters so much. Only when someone is watching me can they tell if my stoke orders are right. Also slouching or leaning to the side is not permitted. Good posture is a must. All of this drives me up the wall. If anyone's read my hand writing they could attest to my chicken scratch. When I write, I write for content not for it to look pretty and quite frankly all of the strict structure makes me feel like smashing things with a baseball bat. However I've complied and taken the time to make sure my writing looks nice. 

Spoken Chinese is also rather difficult. On the plus side the verbs never change. Verbs are not conjugated for people of tenses. That is a wonderful thing, what's difficult is the tones. To start with Chinese phonetics are almost non existent in the English language. Its as if they have an entirely different alphabet except they don't have an alphabet. The phonetics give my mouth quite the workout. The language is very heavy on vowels which makes it tough for English speakers because everything seems blended together. On top of the heavy use of vowels in the natural words the Taiwanese like to make everything sound pretty which includes adding more vowels to words. "Ah" as in say "ah" is a favorite and used all the time. The pretty factor is probably the largest difference between spoken Mandarin in China and in Taiwan. Apparently the Chinese speak very harshly and is very heavy on "r". I even find some words funny when spoken by Mainlanders. The hardest part about spoken Chinese though is the tones. There are four tones. A flat high pitched tone that is almost in a sing song voice. A falling tone which often sounds like you're angry. A rising tone and a falling then rising tone. People cannot understand what I'm trying to say if I don't use the right tone. It seems ridiculous not to be able to recognize a word just because the tone is different but its a integral part of the word. Using the right tone often proves difficult especially when I'm attempting to ask a question because it's natural to raise my pitch and the end of a question. 

Although there is no alphabet, Taiwan has developed a phonetics system to help children learn. It looks like more characters except its phonetic symbols. It is not an alphabet however, because the written phonetic system does not create words. It just helps children pronounce them. The system is named "Bo Po Mo Fo". I personally don't like to use Bo Po Mo Fo, however many people would argue that its the best system to use because pinyin can not capture the phonetics of Mandarin. Pinyin is a system that uses the alphabet to help Western speakers learn Chinese. Unfortunately pinyin comes in multiple forms and has to create different rules to make up for the apparently strange pronunciations. Suddenly "Q" sounds like "Ch" and "X" like "Sh" and then my world gets flipped upside down. The pinyin I use the most often is in fact my own. I write down spoken words into my own pinyin style to help me remember and re-use words. 

There is a Taiwanese language but it is usually spoken by the older generation and it is closely linked to Mandarin. There is an even older language that exists in Taiwan and that would be Hakka. Most teens my age or younger can not speak Taiwanese very well and few people know Hakka. English pr-schools are every where here and plenty of people speak good English. My friend pointed out the other day that he chose Taiwan because Rotary Exchange students speak English everywhere in the world and only in Taiwan could he learn Chinese and English at the same time. Another interesting concept is that my Brazilian and Mexican classmates can converse with each other in Spanish/Portuguese without any prior knowledge of the languages. 

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Another Life

Throughout my entire exchange year I will live with three different families. Rotary claims that this is so I can have three different perspectives of Taiwan. I think the real reason is so one family doesn't have to put up with me for an entire year. My first host family is incredible, I owe them so much. They took great care of me. Including caring for me while I was sick, and the greater challenge of feeding me everyday. Just when I thought I had it down. When I was completely comfortable. When their house truly became home. When I felt like I fit in, is when I changed host families. The host home is not merely a hotel, and exchange students aren't guests, they are family members. As a member of the family I took care of household chores, and even cooked.

After school on Thursday evening I was greeted by my host mother who told me I'm moving host families that night. All thoughts of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, squash, and pumpkin pie left my mind. Thanksgiving was not on the agenda or in my brain. With speed I started throwing all my belongings into suitcases and bags. Amazingly everything was packaged and placed in my host fathers car. After a heart felt goodbye with my host mother I jumped into the vehicle and was sped away by my host father. Upon our arrival I was greeted by my new host mother who helped drag my luggage up to the sixth floor, my new home. After I set my belongings down I had a tour of the house then a walk around outside to see the nearest MRT station and the local park. Much to my surprise and utter delight I discovered that there is a night market within walking distance of my new home. I hit the sack soon after, completely exhausted and fell asleep without the aid of tryptophan.


Friday afternoon was a trip to the theatre. My good friend Dan the Man helped us get tickets with the aid of his host parents. The selected film was Harry Potter and it turned out great. Before going into the theatre Dan's host parents handed me a hot-dog with ketchup and mustard. They said "American food" and before I could say I was full I had a hot-dog in hand. The movie itself was in English with Chinese subtitles.  On the MRT ride home we discussed the irony that I live closer to Dan now than I did when we both lived in New York.  No MRT ride would be complete without bumping into other exchange students and it happened twice.  I was fortunate it happened because I probably would have taken a wrong turn on the MRT to my new home.

Although I "missed" Thanksgiving it doesn't mean it didn't cross my mind. Although I didn't gorge on turkey, I have a full stomach every day and for that I'm thankful. I didn't sit at around a table and say thanks for the roof over our heads, but I consider myself lucky to have a bed and a roof no matter where I've gone.  I missed spending time with all of my family and friends, but I'm thankful for my first host family for being so great to me, my second host family who opened up their house, all of my friends here who make all the difference, and all of my family and friends back in the United States who support me and made this adventure possible. This year I'm thankful for this amazing opportunity to go on an exchange to the other-side of the world, even if it means skipping Thanksgiving. I think the very absence of the holiday made me appreciate it's value even more.



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