Errands and Education

We were told that children do not celebrate Halloween at the public schools, but at cram schools (more on this later)! Shirly, a graduate student at National Chengchi University, has been our mediator between Lauren and Luke’s teachers and us. She promised me we would find a way to take Lauren and Luke trick-or-treating—they may have to go to a cram school to participate. So part of this past week-end was devoted to getting them ready—we had to get costumes! This meant we had to make a shopping trip to the Taiwanese equivalent of Wal-Mart—the Carrefour store! I have to confess—John and I make a run there an average of once a week! Since the kids are INCREDIBLY PICKY about what they wear, we had to bring them along to choose their costumes! Lauren, or course, opted to be a princess! The selection for boys was pretty BLEAK! At first Luke, the Litigator, didn’t like ANYTHING, but he FINALLY got very excited over a ladybug costume. As soon as we got home, the children wanted to wear them immediately—see the picture! AT LEAST in Taipei, they don’t start selling Halloween items until around the middle of October, unlike the U.S., which practically starts in AUGUST!

Our main adventure this past week-end was a visit to the National Taiwan Science Education Center. The building was quite architecturally interesting, and the Taipei Astronomical Museum, which is very close in proximity, was also very distinctive (see picture with the children and me—the Taipei Astronomical Museum is in the background). I’m afraid we did not get as much education as I hoped—the National Taiwan Education Center houses an indoor inflatable play area named Bouncy Town, and Luke and Lauren ended up spending most of their time playing there! But they had a great time, John and I were able to take it easy, and they got good and TIRED, which caused them to fall asleep easily that night!

In the Asian culture, achieving academic success is crucial, and this goes back to Confucian values. These values emphasize hard work and the belief that education is essential to the future of children. Parents in traditional Asian societies regard academic achievement as one of the critical factors that impact their children’s potential career development. If Asian parents can afford it, they will financially support anything that will ensure academic and career success for their children.

That being said, as much as I’ve enjoyed living here, there’s NO way I could live here permanently—only because of our children! Even though I grew up with traditional Chinese parents, I could not stomach the pressure for my own children—I’m a wimp! The competition to get into a prestigious high school and university is severe—I couldn’t handle it! This pressure begins in middle school, when children have to begin studying for entrance examinations. The high school a student attends determines his/her options for college. If the student does not attend a prestigious high school, attendance at a good university is unlikely. Reputable Taiwanese universities only want students who attend reputable high schools. Basically, your entire career success is practically decided in middle school! This is a major difference between the Asian and American cultures. In the U.S., everyone has a chance to attend a prestigious university no matter what background he/she has or what high school he/she has attended. Also, in the U.S., you can achieve success late in life—a person has several chances to fail and try again. Even an ex-convict can become a lawyer! This is unlikely to happen in Taiwan! And I will say that even though my parents are traditionally Chinese, my dad definitely adopted these American beliefs. When I chose music as my career, he was the one who told me if I put my mind to I could succeed, but even if I didn’t, I could always start over—that it was never too late!

As a result of this competitive environment, many Taiwanese students attend cram schools. Several types of cram schools exist, but the purpose of these schools is to prepare students for entrance examinations or improve skills students feel they need help with. Students preparing for the TOEFL examination can also attend cram school. K.C., the wonderful high school student I mentioned in earlier blogs, has a sister in middle school who is preparing for her entrance examinations to high school. She finishes regular school at 5:30 and attends cram school from 6:30-9:30 almost every day. These cram schools are lecture-oriented, revolve around rote-memorization, and completely “teach to the test.” Also, many of these schools are expensive, but as mentioned earlier, Taiwanese parents willingly pay these high tuitions if they know it will help guarantee success for their children.

Another significant difference—graduation rates in Taiwan from universities are around 99%. I get the feeling that college is not as high-pressured as high school. Even though students work hard, they do not feel they absolutely have to have the highest grade. All the pressure seems to be in high school and getting accepted to a good university, and once they’re in, they pretty much know they’re going to graduate. It’s the opposite in the U.S.—not so difficult to get into an average college, but harder to graduate—I believe U.S. graduation rate is around 60%? However, Taiwanese college students still completely freak out over exams. For instance, John is teaching a music appreciation course, and he was advised to change his “exams” to “quizzes”. They will only tolerate 2 exams—the mid-term and the final. If you have additional exams, they will panic and drop the course!

American universities are highly regarded here. Many professors at National Chengchi University and at Taipei National University of the Arts did graduate work in the U.S., and many of them attended reputable American universities and conservatories. In a previous blog, I mentioned hearing a cello recital, and the cellist in that recital graduated from Peabody Conservatory, an excellent music school. I’ve also met Taiwanese professors who have graduated from UCLA, Indiana University, and University of Michigan—one had a Fulbright from Harvard. In the Asian culture, the prestige of a university is very important and people frequently judge others according to what school they attended. Dr. Wu also informed us at the orientation that the Taiwanese hold colleges in low regard—they only want their children to attend universities. When Dr. Wu discusses potential schools with Taiwanese parents interested in sending their children to the U.S., if a school only has the word “college” and not “university” in its name, they won’t even consider it!

We’re also preparing for relatives who are coming to visit! My sister-in-law just arrived—she’s visiting her mother and sister--and my mom arrives this Wednesday! We’re greatly looking forward to seeing them!

Next up….my mom and sister-in-law in Taipei….

Alternatives, Animals, and Adventures

We received our national health insurance cards about a week ago! As some of you know, Taiwan has universal health care. Another plus: it includes Chinese medical treatment! I’ve decided to take advantage of this and try acupuncture. Again, some of you may know this already, but for about 10 years I’ve had issues with my neck and shoulders. About a year and a half ago, while in Beijing, I fell down a half-flight of cement steps, further aggravating this condition. Fortunately nothing was broken, but it was a long recovery that required physical therapy. I do consider myself recovered from this fall, but my right shoulder and neck have never been the same. This also can be attributed to having children—as much as I love them and wouldn’t have it ANY other way, they have DEFINITELY added MORE TENSION AND STRESS to my life! And it didn't help that during my recovery, against medical advice, I kept lifting the children. I’m thinking that this is the time and place to try other options!

Greg, the PhD student, took me to his doctor, who has treated him for headaches. This particular doctor does reflexology and acupuncture. Greg was my translator and the doctor seemed to completely understand what I needed. AGAIN—I barely had to fill out any forms! I was treated immediately, and after the doctor promptly inserted 8 needles into me—the neck and shoulder areas, my hands, and my feet—I laid on a table for the treatment to take effect. Later, Greg relayed to me that the doctor thought I was VERY tense and should come for treatments EVERYDAY! And he also told him it was obvious I’ve had this tension for a long time. Greg immediately said, “no, she can’t come every day—she’s a professor, she’s too busy” to which the doctor nodded, understood immediately, and said, “ok, she should come twice a week!” YES!! I’m in a country where PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK PROFESSORS WORK!! WHAT A REFRESHING CHANGE THIS IS FOR ME!! The entire session, including several doses of some yucky-tasting powdery Chinese herb medicine, cost a little over $3 USD! I could get used to this, that’s FOR SURE!

In the last blog, I forgot to include another observation concerning style of dress here—NO hoochie mamas! The women here dress stylishly, but modestly, MUCH more so than the women in the U.S. Obviously the Britney Spears culture has not taken over! And so far I have not seen any tattoos in the small of the back, very common in the U.S. Honestly, in the U.S., sometimes I don’t know how the male college students can concentrate in class! Oops--I take that back—I spotted ONE hoochie mama on a subway the other day and it really attracted my attention because I had never seen one here until then!

I MUST comment on the dogs here! There’s DEFINITELY a dichotomy—unleashed mutt dogs vs. pampered princess dogs. As I’ve mentioned earlier, in lieu of children, many young couples have pets instead. These young couples tend to favor small, purebred dogs, and they OBVIOUSLY spoil them. They’re usually leashed, immaculately groomed, and sometimes they’re even in STROLLERS! Yes, here in Taiwan, some people actually use special strollers for dogs. The unleashed mongrels seem to be on their own. BUT, they have collars, so SOMEONE must own them. They’re all over the National Chengchi University campus, and they pretty much roam everywhere. To their credit, they’re VERY well-behaved—they rarely bark, and they don’t try to jump on anyone or get in anyone’s way. They’re also quite skilled at crossing the street—they do a better job than I do! I honestly HOPE I don’t see any get hit by a car—so far I’ve been fortunate in that I have not witnessed any such tragedy! I do see quite a few cats, but they don’t roam around as much. The weirdest cats were a few that were obviously shaved. They had plenty of fur and all, but the body portions were considerably shorter than the head portions, so they resembled little lions! Maybe the owners wanted to keep the cats cooler? Or maybe they’re just having a little fun with them? I’ve had cats, so my first thought was, HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO SHAVE THEM? Any cat owners reading this would COMPLETELY understand what I mean…..

With the children, we made a small excursion to a place called The Living Mall. The building looked very unusual (see pic—one of the buildings is shaped like a ball) and this place was very kid-friendly. Anyway, Luke and Lauren enjoyed themselves—there was an outdoor playground, and inside the mall, there was a play area that contained little rides. You needed tokens to pay for these rides, and it was pretty inexpensive, but man, totally OVERSTIMULATING. Luke and Lauren enjoyed themselves, but it was OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD! And of course, since this was a mall, it had a very extensive food court, which we took advantage of!

Our day trip this past week-end was to Danshui, a small town north of Taipei. It’s completely on the other side of town from us, and it’s about a 70-minute subway ride. Danshui is on the coast and very picturesque (see pictures), and this past Sunday the weather seemed so beautiful we thought it would be a great day to go. Well, apparently EVERYONE IN TAIPEI had the same brilliant idea because the subway was COMPLETELY PACKED all the way to Danshui, which is the last stop on the line! And Danshui was VERY crowded! AND it was HOT and HUMID! We were sweating bullets, and there were people wearing long sleeves and sweaters!! But it is definitely a very lovely area—the ocean looked beautiful and many people were riding bikes along the coast. There is a huge walkway with billions of restaurants and shops along the ocean. We decided to take a ferry to Tansui Fisherman’s Wharf. You can just IMAGINE Luke and Lauren’s excitement; they could barely wait in line! The wharf was also gorgeous and the walkways were even wider than the ones in Danshui, so it didn’t seem as crowded. Luke and Lauren really enjoyed walking on this really cool white bridge (see picture). We also enjoyed the local Danshui snack food—fish ball soup and rice noodles! And Luke was GREAT!! He didn’t barf, pee in his pants, or have a meltdown!!

I have to mention that it’s SHEER LUCK that I’m able to get to these places w/o reading any Chinese! I still have NO IDEA how I got tickets to the ferry boat, and how we knew when to get off the boat. I’m TOTALLY winging EVERYTHING, I’m telling you!

Next up…my sister-in-law’s and mom’s impending visit…..

Not Doing as the Romans Do.....

Rules for Taiwanese and Chinese Drivers

• Road signs and crosswalks are arbitrary. Follow the traffic lights only when necessary—if you can get by without stopping at a red light, GO FOR IT!

• Rarely yield to ANYONE, even people who are crossing on a green pedestrian light. HONK if the pedestrian is moving too slowly. Honk even more if the pedestrian is absent-mindedly text-messaging or checking messages on the mobile phone.

• Leave as LITTLE space as possible between you and oncoming traffic when making turns.

• Pass other vehicles at will, on any side possible.

• NEVER allow the vehicle to gradually accelerate or decelerate. In fact, NEVER let the vehicle coast naturally—that’s for WIMPS. Constantly apply the gas and brakes. And make sure to brake suddenly without actually screeching.

• For bus drivers: The more your standing passengers seem to be losing their balance, the better job you’re doing.

Okay, but in defense of Taiwanese drivers, they NEVER lose their temper and stay cool and collected at ALL times. Losing your temper is considered a sign of weakness here. If a professor loses his/her cool in front of students, he/she will lose respect. Also, the reason why people here can get away with this type of driving is because EVERYONE thinks exactly the SAME way, and they all COMPLETELY understand and ANTICIPATE what everyone else is doing. However, when these drivers move to the U.S., then problems arise. They apply these same principles in the U.S., not realizing that everyone else will think they’re crazy for driving in this manner! And they don’t realize that people in the U.S. do not understand what they’re doing and cannot anticipate their moves. Hence, the “bad-Asian-driver” stereotype is perpetuated!

The “double 10” (10/10) holiday is similar to our Independence Day, and celebrates the end of the dynasties in China. As I mentioned earlier, the Fulbrighters were invited to attend a reception at the Taipei Guest House hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in celebration of 10/10. According to Dr. Wu, we were considered VIPs, and VIPs we were! The president of Taiwan was even there! The Taipei Guest House is a beautiful facility—the pictures do not do it justice. John and I had a great time and it was nice to see to catch up with the other Fulbrighters and exchange experiences! Dr. Wu is in one of the pictures--he's the one in between John and me!

Because of the holiday week-end, subways were even more crowded than usual! Lauren and Luke LOVE the subways. Really, if all we did was ride the subways all day, I think they’d be perfectly satisfied! We decided to venture out to Miramar Entertainment Park, which houses a gigantic Ferris wheel. The pictures include the children on the Ferris wheel and views of Taipei from the Ferris wheel. We also made a trip to the Shilin night market, one of the largest night markets in Taipei. It was SUPER crowded and we were terrified we would misplace Luke and Lauren! I discovered that Shilin is DEFINITELY the place to shop—should have begun my personal shopping there! We also found a restaurant that serves hot pot, one of my FAVORITE foods! For those of you who are not familiar with Chinese hot pot, it’s Chinese fondue. You heat up soup on the table (see the picture), put raw food in, cook it, and then ENJOY! Two types of soups are served—one is spicy, the other is not. Anyway, the mistake we made at the restaurant was that we didn’t realize it was buffet style. We were just sitting at the table for several minutes waiting for someone to take our order, and finally someone came over and explained to me that we were supposed to get the food ourselves. We didn’t see the food—it was in another room! We must have looked pretty foolish just sitting there! But I really enjoyed getting our own food because I didn’t have to order in Chinese! The buffet included ice cream for dessert, which pleased the children. I’ve enjoyed 2 flavors in Taiwan that are not common in the U.S.—green tea ice cream and red bean ice cream, which happened to be at this restaurant!

I realize that we obviously do not look Taiwanese, and our way of dressing brings even more attention to this trait! We consistently under dress, meaning, we’re about a season behind! We’re still dressing like it’s spring/summer, everyone else is dressing like it’s fall/winter, simply because it’s no longer 90 degrees. But it still HOT!! AND HUMID! It’s still 75-80 degrees, and it FEELS hotter because of the humidity! I'm wearing sleeveless and short-sleeved tops; everyone else is wearing LAYERS with LONG SLEEVES AND JACKETS. Some women are wearing TIGHTS and PANTY HOSE! NOW I understand why my mom always nagged me to dress heavier when I was a child! There’s NO WAY I can dress like that right now! I’ve noticed that when I see other Americans, they’re dressing like me, too, so I guess we’re not totally crazy! I KNOW Lauren and Luke’s teachers are thinking we don’t dress our kids warmly enough—they’re the lightest-dressed kids in their schools. Their classmates are practically wearing winter coats! Definitely, Taiwanese are fearful of being cold!

My leftover summer tan also distinguishes me from the others. Taiwanese HATE exposure to the sun, and think tans are VERY unattractive. When it’s sunny, many women use umbrellas to shield themselves. I’ve also noticed that many face creams—acne and moisturizing—contain “whitener.” They equate tans with working-class people, people who have to work outside for a living, so tans are considered undesirable.

Next up….alternative medical treatment…..

Shopping, Excursions, and Street-crossings

For the Double-10 holiday (more on this later), the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) has invited the Fulbrighters to a reception being hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Suits or tuxes for men, cocktail dresses for women! My problem—I DIDN’T BRING an appropriate dress! I only brought recital clothes! This was my first real personal shopping assignment! So far, shopping in Taipei has been a challenge for me. Supposedly bargaining is an option, but I haven’t even attempted it! And I’m still not sure when it’s appropriate, so I just don’t do it! I obviously still need to learn the ropes because I generally can’t seem to find what I want very easily! People can correct me on this, but so far I’ve found that I can shop at large department stores, or smaller shops/boutiques on the streets. The underground malls at Taipei Main Station also contain small shops. The department stores, which mostly sell designer brands, are EXPENSIVE, and I’ve pretty much eliminated that option. Great for looking around, and the stores are BEAUTIFUL with wonderful food courts and fantastic bathrooms—one of them even had heated toilets—but MUCH too pricey for me. The small shops are inexpensive, but I’ve been having a hard time finding the right clothes. They’re either too teeny-bopperish or too dowdy! I usually don’t find anything in between. Maybe someone can advise me on this, but I wish there was something more mid-range, like Ann Taylor (preferably sale prices). Or even a Target, Kohl’s, Gap, or Banana Republic. There is a comparable store called Net, which is very similar to the Gap, but it is too casual—no cocktail dresses there! Another idea I have to adjust to is that I’m 1-2 sizes higher here than I am in the U.S.! This can be a real ego blower, and I have to keep reminding myself it’s because I’m in a country that has SMALL, SKINNY people! Or that the U.S. has size inflation! AND as some you know, normally I have no problem drawing attention to myself—a couple of my colleagues in my department have told me I’m the LOUDEST Asian they’ve ever met—but when I shop, I want AS LITTLE attention AS POSSIBLE. I don’t want any help, I don’t want the salespeople to notice me, I just want to do my own thing. This is VERY DIFFICULT to accomplish in Taipei! The shops are usually quite small, so many times I’m the ONLY person in the whole store. You really feel like you’re invading someone’s space, and I practically feel like there’s a SPOTLIGHT on me. And the salespeople are overly-attentive and constantly asking me if I want to try on something. This is not a gender-based instance—one time John was looking at some shoes and salespeople were on him like flies on you-know-what. That’s one phrase I learned how to say in Chinese—I know how to say I just want to browse. But STILL, the salespeople totally EYEBALL me the whole time and watch my every move to make sure they can help me—it’s a little STRESSFUL! But I DID find a dress, at one of those smaller shops on a street near my apartment, and stayed in my price range—I wouldn’t allow myself to go over $3000 NTs (ca. $100 USD). I managed to find one for $2600 NTs (ca. $80 USD), so I was satisfied!

Crossing the street in Taiwan and China is quite an adventure. In Taipei, at times the crosswalks have pedestrian lights, just like the U.S., but they actually let you know how many seconds you have to cross the street, which I find VERY helpful, especially when the children are with me. However, when there are crosswalks with NO pedestrian lights, it’s pretty much a crap shoot. The cross walks w/o pedestrian lights are essentially theoretical—you’re pretty much at war with all the vehicles. Xi’an, China, was ABSOLUTELY THE WORST—seriously, the stress I endured crossing the streets there was almost worse than suffering one of Luke’s tantrums! Crossing the street here really reminds me of being the “frog” in the video game, Frogger. My trick is to line myself up with someone else—I put myself parallel to another person, and follow that person when crossing the street. I try to use that person as a shield so in case a car does hit someone, the person I’ve lined myself up with would be hit first! Also, in Taipei, you actually have to physically flag down busses, kind of like hailing a cab. If you don’t visibly indicate that you need a particular bus, they’ll just drive right past you! You practically have to throw yourself in front of the bus if you want it to stop for you!

This past Sunday we took the children to the Taipei Children’s Museum, which had many hands-on exhibits and activities. Everything was going very well until I heard Luke yell from the construction center, “I PEED!” Sure enough, there was a yellow puddle right where he was standing! My first reaction was disbelief because REALLY, he had JUST used the bathroom before we left for the museum! I frantically pulled out all my wipes and madly wiped up as much as I could! John notified the museum people and took Luke to the bathroom—yes, we did bring an extra change of clothes. ONLY they were not the RIGHT clothes. Luke will only wear orange OR anything with some kind of vehicle (cars, trucks, tractors, trains) OR anything with animals/bugs, preferably dinosaurs. At the time of the accident he was wearing one of his favorites—an orange dinosaur shirt. SO OF COURSE we only had a yellow-striped polo shirt, and according to John, this put Luke in a TOTAL fit of despair in the bathroom! And once he gets going, it’s VERY DIFFICULT to bring him back! He eventually recovered, but he was a bit huffy the rest of the afternoon!

This week, Lauren went on an all-day field trip with her school and parents were also invited, so I tagged along! Since Lauren still doesn’t know Chinese very well and this trip involved several logistical issues—changing to swimsuits, putting on swim caps (yes, here in Taiwan, you MUST wear swim caps during swimming activities), several snacks, lunch, etc.—I thought I should be around to assist Lauren with everything. Several other parents tagged along, including quite a few dads! We took an excursion to Jinshan, an area just outside of Taipei which is famous for its hot springs. Our final destination was Jinshan Youth Activity Center, and this place had bike paths, a beach (we were on the coast), a water park, and spas. The water park is where all the school kids played, and Lauren had a fantastic time! The drive to Jinshan was gorgeous since most of it was along the coast—we got wonderful views of the ocean!

This upcoming week-end will be a long week-end to celebrate the “Double 10” holiday (10/10), which is Independence Day for the Taiwanese. So everybody has this Friday off, and Friday is the day of the Fulbright reception!

Next up….Double 10 reception, under/over dressing in Taipei……

Bug Bites, Beggars, Beauty, and Blending

I’ve already had a medical incident! An insect bite on my arm became infected—I didn’t think anything of it and simply treated it with hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin. Well, apparently that wasn’t enough because one morning I woke up with a completely swollen arm! It totally freaked me out! Naturally, I thought I was going to have to get my arm amputated! Greg, the INCREDIBLY resourceful Ph.D student, took me to the National Chengchi University (NCCU) medical clinic and I was able to see a doctor immediately. Greg is amazing—I’m not even an employee of NCCU, and he convinced the receptionist I was a professor there, I barely had to fill out any forms, and I saw a doctor and received meds for FREE! So my arm is much better—I’m very relieved!

While at Taipei Main Station waiting for my Chinese Culture University bus, I saw something for the very first time in my life: A Taiwanese beggar! I, myself, have NEVER seen a beggar of Asian descent! I commemorated the occasion by giving him a $10 coin (about 33 cents, USD). Anyway, this beggar was in REALLY terrible shape—obviously crippled and mentally affected; I honestly felt sorry for him. BUT, you should have SEEN the looks of DISDAIN on people’s faces. Everyone was visibly disgusted with him, even the students! They all had looks of, “HOW CAN YOU DISGRACE YOURSELF IN THIS WAY?!!” They probably thought I was a loser for giving him some money, but I didn’t worry about it too much—I can play the “naïve foreigner” card!

Eating well is very important in Taiwan, and I found this to be true in China as well. And in Taiwan, the food is especially excellent with tremendous amounts of varieties and nationalities. Sushi is very popular here, as are Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian cuisine. This would explain the massive food courts everywhere. Taiwanese and Chinese people firmly believe in eating 3 significant meals a day—sandwiches are considered lame. Basically, if you don’t require utensils to eat a meal, then it’s lame. Even the 7-Elevens offer hot breakfast foods. Lunch breaks are substantial—usually at least 90 minutes, and no classes are held during this time to make sure students eat. However, the Taiwanese are generally thin! All I can say is that I’m SO GLAD I didn’t come here RIGHT AFTER I had my children, or I would have been considered OBESE! So far I have not seen a single obese person here, absolutely nothing comparable to what I’ve seen at the Super Wal-Marts in upstate South Carolina! And many women here are Paris Hilton SKINNY! BUT globalization has shown some consequences—SOME children/college students are pudgy, and I’m suspecting it’s because of the Western chains. Also, the Taiwanese and Chinese perception of beauty is quite narrow compared to the United States. I’m hypothesizing that since the U.S. has more diversity, the definition of beauty has a larger scope. In Taiwan, I’ve noticed that all the models in the ads and magazine covers LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME. There is DEFINITELY a type of face you must have in order to be a model/actress in Taiwan or China. Asian actresses that are considered attractive in the U.S., such as Lucy Liu or Sandra Oh, would NOT be considered beautiful here. I suspect that in order to be beautiful here, a woman must look something like Zhang Ziyi, the actress in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon—she definitely has the right kind of face.

People are also very respectful of the elderly, pregnant women, and women with children. On busses and subways, people willingly give up seats for these people. We experience this ourselves whenever we bring Lauren and Luke on the busses and subways, and this is causing them to become SPOILED. It’s to the point that when we get on a bus/subway and all the seats are taken, Luke yells, “I WANT A SEAT!” and somebody immediately gets up and gives it to him! NOT GOOD!

This week-end we took the children to Taipei Municipal Children's Recreation Center, an outdoor facility that included rides, several playgrounds, a giant sandbox, and many other activities. John enjoyed this place more than Kiddyland because it wasn't as obnoxious--since Kiddyland was entirely indoors, it was REALLY loud and over-stimulating! We had perfect weather--it was not too hot--and the kids had a great time. Best of all: NO MELTDOWNS!!

John has concluded his participation in reviewing potential Fulbright candidates. He found the entire process extremely fascinating and was intrigued by the different perceptions of everyone concerning the review of the Fulbright candidates. John turned out to be the one of the tougher reviewers, which didn’t surprise me! For those of you who are not familiar with John’s style of teaching, let’s just say that in his department at University of West Georgia, John’s classes represent the “rite of passage” for the music majors! My perception, and I may be wrong--people at University of West Georgia may correct me on this—is that the students at West GA greatly respect John, but they’re highly intimidated by him! I wish I could garner this kind of respect! Anyway, he has upheld his reputation during these reviews!

I recently read a blog of a German piano professor who teaches in Taiwan and I found everything he said to be true. He believes that the culture of Taiwanese and Chinese students is to BLEND and NOT bring attention to themselves. As a student, individual expression is not a priority. This is completely true, which presents a problem in music, where individual expression is ABSOLUTELY a priority. Definitely there are advantages, especially when playing in an orchestra or wind ensemble—the students are extremely respectful, they follow the rules, they’re disciplined—but when asked to completely go out on a limb, take a risk, and be completely original, this can be a challenge since they feel uncomfortable bringing attention to themselves. I have the OPPOSITE problem—I tend to take TOO many risks in my musical judgment! However, I hope this is one issue I can focus on while I’m teaching in Taiwan and really convey the benefits of risk-taking—it’s the only way you can grow as a musician!

Next up….shopping in Taipei, field trip with Lauren, getting ready for “double 10” holiday…..