Weighty Issues

John and I are having are greatly enjoying our students. We’re discovering teaching chops that we hadn’t used in a long while! For John, conducting the band has been a phenomenal experience. John used to be the assistant director of bands at the University of Milwaukee and gave up band after he became a saxophone professor at University of West Georgia. So working with the wonderful, disciplined, and responsive students in the band at Taipei National University of the Arts has been a fantastic experience, and he’s greatly enjoyed conducting on a regular basis again. At Taipei National University of the Arts, the orchestra, not the band, is actually the top group, but some of the students in the orchestra are asking John if they can also play in his group! One bassoonist actually came up to John and said, “Oh, you such good conductor! I would like to play in your group!” John believes this has been one of the best band conducting experiences he’s ever had. For me, I’m having a BLAST coaching chamber music groups! I’ve never taught in a department that had such an active chamber music program and I’m LOVING it. Just this past week, I was wondering if the students were benefitting at all from my work there, and then the other day, two groups sought me out and requested that I listen to them and give them suggestions! I ended up having awesome sessions with them! I just love it when students take the initiative and actually WANT to work with me, and John feels the same way! Hey, we’re musicians—we constantly need our egos stroked, and like to feel needed!

My sister-in-law, Violet, arrived last Sunday, and my mom arrived on Wednesday! Violet is here visiting her mother and sister, and my mom is visiting us and one of her dearest friends, Auntie Yin. Auntie Yin resides in Hsinchu, a town approximately 90 minutes away from Taipei. Hsinchu is the Silicon Valley of Taiwan. Before I was born, my parents and 2 brothers (Bill and Ken) used to live in Hsinchu and eventually moved from there to the U.S. Auntie Yin’s husband recently passed away and before he passed away, she had hired a live-in maid to help take care of her husband. Since her maid, Aleja, is still on contract, Auntie Yin decided to bring her maid to our apartment and help us out a bit! She and Auntie Yin cooked a couple of wonderful meals for us, and then she, Aleja, and my mom went to Hshinchu together.

OK, I have to relay a conversation between my mom and Auntie Yin! Bear in mind they were speaking Chinese and this is MY translation:

MY MOM: Did Aleja have enough to eat? She didn’t eat very much!
AUNTIE YIN: Yes, she had enough, she usually doesn’t eat very much!
MY MOM: Really? But she’s FAT!!
AUNTIE YIN: Yes, she is—that’s why she doesn’t eat much! She’s on a diet!

They had this conversation IN FRONT OF ALEJA!! Granted, they were speaking Chinese, and Aleja doesn’t know much Chinese (she’s Filipino), but STILL, I was worried she could have picked up on some of those words! So, there you have it, a HUGE cultural difference! Taiwanese and Chinese people are BRUTALLY BLUNT about weight issues, will tell you to your face if you’ve gained weight, and will even tell you if they think you’re fat! And people here don’t get insulted by this, they just agree and respond with something like, “yes, that’s true, I’ve gotten fat!” When we were in Chengdu, China, last year, my cousin introduced me to his 15-year-old son, right in front of him, by saying, “this is my son! He’s a little FAT!” When John heard that, he was completely shocked! Later I told John that Chinese people say stuff like that all the time and just don’t take it personally. The administrative assistant at Chinese Culture University told me that her husband likes to do mountain climbing. I was impressed and said that he must be in very good physical condition. She replied, “Oh, no, he isn’t—he’s quite FAT!” Americans would NOT be able to tolerate such comments! The word “fat” is practically an obscenity! In fact, people in the U.S. would rather be called obscenities than be called fat! In the U.S., comments like that will send a female of ANY AGE into therapy for the NEXT 10 YEARS!!

Since my mom was in Hsinchu with Auntie Yin, this past week-end we took the high-speed rail to Hshinchu to visit them and spent the week-end there. The high-speed rail is AWESOME! It travels at approximately 160 mi/hr and the ride is SUPER smooth—you barely feel like you’re moving. And it only took 30 minutes as opposed to 90 minutes by bus/car! The children LOVED it! Hsinchu also has a brand new station, and the building is quite futuristic-looking (see picture). My mom is having a blast in Hsinchu with Auntie Yin. Auntie Yin has a very nice town house with Aleja, the live-in maid, and they’re playing mah-jongg with some of Auntie Yin’s friends. I’m telling you, she’s living the life there! While we were in Hsinchu, we were again treated to some awesome food Auntie Yin and Aleja cooked, and Auntie Yin’s son, Willy, also visited with us. Willy is one of Bill’s childhood friends.

Willy drove us around Hsinchu and showed us where my parents and brothers used to live and where my dad used to work before he studied in the U.S. My mom says that Hsinchu has COMPLETELY changed—much more developed and urban with many, many buildings. It’s still not nearly as large as Taipei, but it is definitely a thriving city. However, the area where my family used to live is quite suburban-looking with many trees and areas of green grass, very UNLIKE Taipei. Also, my family used to live in the same neighborhood as Cho-Liang Lin, the internationally renowned Taiwanese violinist. Practically all the houses that used to be there are gone, including my family’s house, but Cho-Liang Lin’s residence is still intact and is considered a landmark of Hsinchu. In the pictures—the one of our family in front of the apartment building is where my parents’ house used to be, the one of us in front of the brown house is Cho-Liang Lin’s former residence. The group photo is of our family with Willy, Auntie Yin, and my mom. The pictures of my mom and our family are at a university close to Auntie Yin’s house—National Chiao Tung University. National Chiao Tung University is considered the most prestigious research university in Taiwan and is renowned for its excellence in electrical engineering, computer science, and management.

Since Auntie Yin is still mourning her husband’s passing, my mom decided to stay in Hshinchu for a few more days to keep her company—she will stay with us in Taipei later this week. Also, she seems to be having too great a time there--we decided it would be more fun for her if she stayed there a little longer!

Next up….my recital at Chinese Culture University, dinner with Violet’s family….