It’s been more than a week since I last blogged. But it definitely has been an exciting and busy week.
July 31 – I went to Hsinchu to go to a Catholic high school in Hsinpu, St. Aloysius Technical School. Hsinpu is a region with a large concentration of Hakka people. A computer teacher there took me and the other students out to lunch, where we ate bantiao, a Hakka dish that is soup with wide rice noodles. Hsinpu is famous for its bantiao.
After lunch, I interviewed the students, who just graduated from the school this year. The interviews were relatively brief, but most of them knew how to speak Hakka and have many Hakka traditions at home, such as eating Hakka cuisine. For them, Hakka culture was just something that they have always grown up with and have always been surrounded by, as compared to Hakka youth who live in urban areas.
Aug. 1 – I traveled to Taipei to pick up my sister from Chientan after a month of taking part in a volunteer teaching program. She was a bit sick though, because the cough passed around to all the members in her teaching group. When we got back home, we went to the pharmacy in the evening to buy medicine for her, and we went to a beef restaurant for dinner. Now that my sister’s back, it’s a bit crazier at my grandma’s place!
Aug. 2 – Once again I went to Taipei, this time with my sister. We met up with our cousins (the ones I met up with last time) for lunch. Also, that day was the first time I ever rode a motorcycle. My cousin took me to the restaurant, and I was terrified for my life. In the afternoon, we went to an amusement park. Most of the rides were kiddie rides, and we rode a ferris wheel, a small roller coaster and a pirate ship ride. What’s interesting about the amusement park is that you pay for everything via Easy Card. So an Easy Card is basically everything you need if you’re in Taipei, and it allows you to conveniently pay for public transportation. It’s kind of like a Ventra Card, except it’s way more efficient. Like with a Ventra Card, there’s a flat fare for the bus or el, but you swipe your Easy Card before and after you get off the MRT and many buses. Plus it’s cheap. Anyway, the entire day, my sister was telling me about all the drama that happened in her teaching group at AID. At night, we went to the night market, where we had foods like fish balls, pepper pies (hu jiao bing) and shakes.
Aug. 3 – We were going to go to YeLiu, which has various cool rock formations, including one shaped like a queen’s head. However, my sister was feeling sick, so we stayed home.
Aug. 4 – In the afternoon, I went to Miaoli. The train ride seemed to last forever. When I got there, the student who I set up an interview picked me up via motorcycle. Although I was really scared the first time, I really enjoyed the ride this time around, and I loved riding around Miaoli after the interview.
Anyway, first I went to her dad’s veterinary office, where I interviewed her. She knows how to speak Hakka, but she says she doesn’t use it as much at home. However, since Miaoli has a high concentration of Hakka people, she does use it often at work with customers (she works at the vet office), most often with older people.
After the interview, she took me to the stationery store, where I bought a new notebook (my old one finally filled up). And then we ate dinner together and talked about our lives in Taiwan/U.S. She was really nice, and it was cool getting to know her!
I went back to the train station and waited for my next interview. While I was waiting, I met some white guys from Texas who were part of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and they were promoting free English classes. Apparently, they were on their mission in Taiwan, and they have been here for a few months.
Finally, the research from the Hakka Affairs Council, the one who works at the Miaoli Hakka Cultural Park who I interviewed last time I went to Miaoli, picked me up and drove me to a nearby coffee shop. I interviewed two friends of his. One is a Miaoli Hakka radio journalist, and the other used to work at the Miaoli Hakka Cultural Park. Both interviews were interesting, although I wish I had prepared more ahead of time, as I did not realize I would be interviewing a journalist. The Hakka Affairs Council promotes Hakka media, such as Hakka radio and TV channels, and she definitely has an interesting voice to add to the research.
Finally, I went home, and I slept most of the ride back.
Aug. 5 – I went to Taipei with my grandma and my sister, where we met up with my grandma’s friend and had lunch at the Sheraton hotel. The hotel was very fancy, and the sashimi and desserts were spectacular. In fact, the dessert bar had shelves of desserts, two chocolate fondues, a crepe station, an ice cream bar and more.
Yes, I mostly ate desserts, and I’m not even a dessert person. I especially liked the chocolate pudding dessert that had a pink macaroon on top.
Since we were so full, after lunch, we went walking around Taipei, and we didn’t eat dinner. We did take a walk around Zhongli at night.
Aug. 6 – Again, I went to Taipei. I spent much of the day riding public transportation. Early in the morning, I took the train to Taipei. From Taipei Main Station, I took the bus to New Taipei City to the Hakka Affairs Council office!
It was so exciting to actually be at this office, which is a part of the Taiwanese government and promotes Hakka rights, culture and language. I interviewed Tracy Liao, the deputy director of the department of planning at the Hakka Affairs Office. She told me about efforts to engage young people, such as a service program where Hakka youth can go to Hakka regions and do community service. For example, one group of Hakka youth interested in journalism started a Hakka broadcast program for children. She also talked about opportunities for Hakka youth to do research and go abroad, as well as promoting Hakka popular music. Something else interesting she said was that in more recent years, the number of youth who choose to identify as Hakka has risen, probably because promotion of Hakka language and culture has become more visible.
After the interview, Liao was kind enough to show me around the office. It was a great opportunity to meet her, and I learned much about the Hakka Affairs Council.
Next, I took the bus from New Taipei City to Songshan Airport, and from there, I took the MRT to Neihu for my next interview. I interviewed a student who is half Taiwanese and half Hakka. He does not know much about the Hakka language or culture due to his surroundings (no one spoke Hakka to him) and due to living in an urban setting, but he says he identifies as half Hakka because it makes him different from his peers, who are mostly Taiwanese. We had lunch together, and after the interview, we ended up talking for a while about our lives in the U.S./Taiwan, especially about school. He just graduated from college, and he’s interested in attending graduate school after serving in the military (in Taiwan, all men are required to do military service). He said he considered the University of Illinois, but then he realized how cold it was, so he’s more interested in going to graduate school in Texas or California.
After the interview, I took a detour on the way home. I visited Chientan temple and rode a ferris wheel at Miramar Mall, which is 95 meters tall! Plus it’s even higher because it’s on the roof of a mall. I think the mall was doing some kind of promotion of stuffed bananas. The bananas are based on the Banao stickers, which are LINE stickers. LINE is a popular messaging app used in Taiwan. From the ferris wheel, I could see a beautiful view of Taipei and the mountains.
Finally, I went back to Zhongli. I was quite exhausted.
After dinner, my sister, my grandma and I went on a walk, and we bought fairy grass jelly and popsicles. However, on the way back, it started raining hard. A serious typhoon is hitting Taiwan this weekend, hence all the rain. With the receptionist’s permission, we borrowed some random guests’ umbrellas from a karaoke bar to get home, and then my sister and I had to go back to the karaoke bar to return them. It was raining like crazy by the time we walked out again.
Aug. 7 – Stayed home today and was mostly unproductive. The typhoon is going on. In the meantime, I need to continue working on my interview spreadsheet. I’ve updated it, but I’m still probably only halfway through.
So how does the rest of my trip in Taiwan look like? Well, most if not all my interviews are pretty much wrapped up. I might do a couple more. In the meantime, I’m going to organize my data and start writing an article and reflection. Next Monday, my sister is going back to the U.S. After she leaves, I will have a lot more free time. Also, I have some exciting news. I will be visiting Kaohsiung and Pingtung next week! When I went to Taiwan three years ago, I did the volunteer teaching program that my sister did this year, and I lived with an amazing host family. I will be visiting them next week, and I’m absolutely thrilled to see them again!