Wow, it’s been a week since I’ve blogged. I was on a roll blogging everyday and then I got busy/lazy and stopped. Well, here I am again.
Here’s what I’ve been up to this past week:
July 11: My grandma and I went to the Hakka Cultural Park in Miaoli. We got a tour of the museum and learned about the history of the Hakkas in Taiwan, as well as about what the Hakka Cultural Affairs does. Afterwards, I interviewed a researcher for the Hakka Affairs Council and a tour guide.
July 12: Today was a pretty chill day of visiting my grandma’s friends. In the morning, we went to my grandma’s friend’s house and chatted while eating home baked bread. I also interviewed her son, who is Hakka. In the afternoon, we visited my grandma’s cousin, and I interviewed her husband (the one who wrote the Hakka dictionary).
In the evening, my grandma met up with another friend, and we went on a walk. We walked by a river, where there were bats flying around and stray dogs crossing the water. We also walked to a night market, which Taiwan is famous for. These are outdoor markets that open at night, and people often like to buy snacks and drinks there. We didn’t buy anything, but we just walked through. It was really hot because of the vendors cooking food and because of all the people there.
July 13: In the morning, I took the train to Taoyuan to do an interview. My interviewee currently works as a teacher, and she is of Hakka background, but she never learned the language while growing up. Then I went back to Zhongli for lunch. In the afternoon, I had another interview, but in Zhongli. This interview was significantly longer because this student, who recently graduated college, is very passionate about Hakka cultural preservation and is active in Hakka Facebook groups. We agreed to meet up for another interview on Wednesday because my grandma and I had to go to an appointment in Taoyuan to get her hearing aid checked.
Will update more tomorrow!