Less than a Month to Go......

As each day passes, John and I get a little sadder! We keep thinking about all the things we’re going to miss in this under-rated island country! Really, one semester simply isn't enough time! We really should have tried to stay the whole year! I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before, but EVERYONE is VERY pleasant and helpful! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to depend on the kindness of strangers. This experience has made me much more aware of how foreigners must feel in the U.S.! I think I’m usually helpful to people in the U.S. who ask me for directions, but now I will make a special effort to make foreigners in the U.S. feel more welcome! And again, I have to mention Wanfang Hospital! I would take this hospital home with me, if I could! We’ve been bringing Luke and Lauren there for follow-ups, and AGAIN, I have to emphasize how AWESOME the care is there! I realize that the U.S. boasts the best medical schools and doctors in the world, but seriously, MANY things are done SO MUCH BETTER here, at least at Wanfang Hospital. They simply expedite everything much more efficiently and the hospital is extremely convenient. The doctors are very nice and SUPER-SHARP, and so far, generally appear to be less arrogant than doctors in the U.S. (OF COURSE, my brother is NOT one of the arrogant ones!) And the COST is simply SO MUCH less expensive than the U.S. Even though Luke and Lauren don’t have insurance here, it’s still INFINITELY cheaper than the U.S. WITH insurance. I’m REALLY sold on the national health care system they have here. This country has proven to me that it IS POSSIBLE to provide high-quality, service-oriented care for EVERYONE at a REASONABLE cost. And, Wanfang Hospital has dentists, opthamologists, family doctors, and gynecologists. They even have a Chinese medicine department. You can pretty much get all your medical care there, which is what we did—when we took Luke for one of his follow-ups, we were able to schedule a dental appointment for him as well. That SAME DAY. Right after his ear-infection follow-up, Luke saw a female dentist who spoke excellent English, and she was GREAT with Luke. She went through all the dental instruments with him, pretended they were all special toys, had Luke play with them and feel what they would do on his arm—VERY kid-friendly. And she even got him in the dental chair told him it was like a special elevator. Luke did EXTREMELY well and best of all—he had no cavities! The 2 follow-up visits for Lauren and Luke, dental appointment for Luke, and medicine ALL together cost less than $30 USD!! If they had health insurance, I’m sure it would have cost less than $10 USD.

John is going to take advantage of Wanfang hospital while he can—he’s already scheduled an appointment with an opthamologist and plans to make an appointment with a dentist!

While we were at Wanfang Hospital for the follow-ups, a couple of women came up to us and asked if we minded being in a video promoting the hospital! They wanted to feature foreign visitors! In return, they would get Lauren and Luke’s appointments pushed up. So naturally we said yes! I wanted to take pictures of this event, but the video camera was on, and I didn’t want to screw up the video with camera flashes! Of course, they adored Lauren and Luke and kept commenting on how cute they were (another thing I will miss—people here are VERY demonstrative when they think your kids are cute—we’ve all been spoiled by this). The manner in which we were asked to participate in this video was actually quite funny. A pretty woman came up to me and began speaking to me in Chinese. I totally didn’t understand her and was unable to come up with anything to say back to her. You see, many times when I don’t understand someone at first, I kind of BS my way through the conversation! I’ll say something back in Chinese that I know has NOTHING TO DO with what they said, and then they’ll look at me funny, and reword what they just said. Many times I’ll understand them after they reword what they said. But THIS TIME, I was at a loss—I couldn’t come up with any such sentence! So the pretty woman asked me, “You can’t speak Chinese?” And I said, “Not very well!” And then she just ran out of the room! I was thinking, wow, I hope I didn’t offend her by not speaking Chinese well enough! But then she came back with someone who could speak English. During this video, an English-speaking doctor conversed with us, and they filmed Lauren getting her follow-up care from Dr. Huang! I wish we could get a copy of the video!

In Taiwan it’s quite common for people to wear surgical-type masks! As I mentioned before, Taiwanese are very fearful of the cold and GERMS, so many people wear masks, especially in the hospital. All the health care workers wear them. It’s also quite common for bus and motor scooter drivers to don them. So I had to get a picture of Lauren and Luke wearing masks—they wore them for their follow-up visits!

John teaches a music appreciation class at National Chengchi University (NCCU) and he wanted to do a live performance for the class. Since NCCU does not have a music major, they didn’t have a classroom with a piano, so he held that particular class at a local high school. This local high school is in a beautiful neighborhood surrounded by mountains, so it had great views. Anyway, Greg (the doctoral student who’s helping us, Shirly (John’s teaching assistant), and Teacher Linda came with us. John and I performed a few pieces together, and I did a couple of piano solos. Afterwards, Teacher Linda took all of us to a Western restaurant on the NCCU campus, and the food was actually quite good! I provided a picture of us and don’t forget to check out the video of John and me performing—really, it’s John’s show in this instance! Unfortunately the space ran out at the end! John was also asked to coach some student music groups at NCCU. Even though NCCU does not have a music major, the students have their own music performing clubs—they are completely student-run. EVERY department has its own choir—there are 32 choirs—and they were all preparing for a campus-wide singing competition. So John helped the Department of Education choir! He was greatly impressed with the students’ drive and their obvious commitment to their extra-curricular activities. One time on a Friday night, he encountered 6 trumpet students rehearsing ensemble music! Another time he heard a trombone player practicing Mahler Symphony #3 excerpts! All at a school with NO music major! And he’s found that the students at NCCU are VERY knowledgeable about classical music—they’ve initiated discussions on the composer, Lutoslawski with him, and one student even said to him, “Oh, when I was 13, my teacher thought I was crazy that I liked Schoenberg so much!” (Many undergraduate music majors in the U.S. have barely heard of Schoenberg and Lutoslawski, and the people who have heard of them, don’t usually appreciate them). John has also noticed that there is significant student camaraderie within the departments. For instance, the speech department and law school have baseball and soccer teams. The students at NCCU obviously take pride in their music and sports activities, and these activities play an important role in their social lives. This past week-end we were still being cautious with Lauren, but she was going very stir-crazy staying at home—she was dying to get out. Since she loves night markets and hot pot so much, we went back to Gongguan night market since this area has many hot pot restaurants! I had to provide some pics of that as well! Yes, we definitely frequent hot pot buffet restaurants! They’re SO convenient, and we can always find something the kids will eat! And of course, the kids just LOVE the dessert buffet—good for bribing the kids to eat well! Next up….John conducts and performs with the Taipei National University of the Arts band….….John and I are asked to review Fulbright applications (yes, this time I was also asked!)

OUT at last!

Lauren got out of the hospital last Friday! We were very overjoyed and so happy to have her back with us! She has already had a follow-up, and Dr. Huang is very pleased with her progress. She’s been out of school this week as a precaution and Dr. Huang will see her again on Monday—he believes she should return to school after that appointment. Lauren is still on antibiotics—in fact she’s taking four different medicines four times a day! On top of all this, Luke is recovering from an ear infection! He’s also on four different medicines four times a day! It’s been VERY interesting administering all this medication! I want to emphasize how excellent the care was at Wanfang Hospital! I really thought Dr. Huang and the staff were first-rate and was AMAZED with their efficiency! It was also pretty cool being at a teaching hospital—every time Dr. Huang came by to see Lauren, he’d have a herd of students with him observing, and of course, they COMPLETELY doted on Lauren! She, of course, LOVED the attention! She was almost sorry to leave the hospital!

During our last couple of days at Wanfang Hospital, we were down to 2 patients in our room, but the room is still divided into quads. I naively thought, OK, good, not as many people are here, so we’ll have more privacy and NOT SO MUCH bathroom traffic. WELL, I was TOTALLY wrong! The other patient, a boy who looked to be around 7 or 8, had the LOUDEST FAMILY you could imagine! And, HIS ENTIRE FAMILY LIVED AT THE HOSPITAL with him, in his tiny quad area! His parents, grandparents, and little brother!! This space is BARELY enough room for Lauren and me! I have NO IDEA where they slept! The grandmother was especially VERY loud and BOSSY—Lauren kept asking me if she was MAD about something! And she spoke a dialect I did not understand—I wondered if she was Cantonese, since the Cantonese language can sometimes sound a bit angry. I mean, they used the room like it was a living space—they ALL ate and showered there! The first night they were there, John stayed overnight with Lauren, and he was pretty annoyed with them because they kept him awake! He warned me about them before I had to stay overnight the following night with Lauren. And yes, he was right, the night I was there, ALL of them were there, except the father. So I was thinking, maybe the father had to work at night…and SURE ENOUGH around 2 AM he came bursting into the room, saying something REALLY LOUDLY! I actually found the whole thing VERY amusing—they reminded me of a Taiwanese version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding! When Lauren and I were trying to fall asleep, we were both giggling at them, we found them so funny! I actually found their closeness kind of REFRESHING—you would not commonly see this kind of open closeness happen in the U.S., I don’t think. I hope people don’t mind me saying this, but from an Asian perspective and from a person who grew up in a VERY open Chinese family (we all lay it on the line and everyone knows what each other is thinking—believe me, my parents NEVER hesitated to share their opinions with me)—but American white families can be just a little uptight!! Go ahead and argue with me on this…I don’t mind….(John promised me people would not be offended by this comment!)

Soooo….life goes on. John and I are continuing to teach through all this, and at the same time we’re taking turns watching Lauren since she’s out of school until Dr. Huang gives her the get-go. No huge outings, we’re taking it easy so Lauren and Luke can recover. Lots of takeout, though—I provided pics of our favorite places. One is a picture of a dumpling meal—my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE restaurant. LOVE their fried and steamed dumplings! And the other is a picture of my favorite Thai restaurant! We do much takeout from them, too! I also provided a picture of me doing “percussion” with Lauren—Luke wanted to join in! Don't forget to check out the video at the bottom--this was taken the day after Lauren got out of the hospital! She and Luke are counting in Chinese!

I had the wonderful opportunity to judge a piano concerto competition at Chinese Culture University. This competition was unusual for a few reasons. All of the contestants played the same concerto—in this case it was Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3. In the U.S., most concerto competitions allow everyone to perform whatever they want—they do not all have to play the same work. Another aspect I found that differed from competitions in the U.S. was that the participants performed the concerto in its entirety. When I’ve judged competitions in the U.S., I’ve rarely heard the entire work—we hear part of the piece and skip contestants around. For this particular competition, there were 5 participants, so I heard the Beethoven Piano Concert No. 3 FIVE COMPLETE TIMES! The concerto is approximately 35 minutes long! Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be listening to this piece for a while—I’m a little Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3ed out! But it was VERY INTERESTING to hear 5 different approaches and interpretations of the piece! We were instructed to rank the 5 performers, 1 being the best, and the person with the lowest score won.

I have to confess, even though everyone played very well and the level was high—I was not “blown away” by any of the performances. I did end up picking the winner—I believe 4 of us chose her to win—but for me, she won by default. She just didn’t do anything totally objectionable, which is why I picked her to win! HARDLY a ringing endorsement! These competitions are so TOUGH—IDEALLY you want to choose someone who is a solid performer, but at the same time is musical, expressive, exciting, and imaginative. The person I REALLY wanted to win, who I thought was by FAR the best pianist technically and musically, just had too many problems in her performance—she really let her nerves get the best of her. It was pretty heartbreaking, actually! And there were others who were more musical than the winner, but they had TECHNICAL issues—bad pedaling, bad sound, messy scales. The person I chose to win was actually boring, but she performed solidly with a good sound and good technique. She just didn’t have much personality! So I was bummed out that my favorite pianist in this event could not pull it off…very disappointing, indeed! But what a nice opportunity for the winner—she gets to perform the concerto with the school orchestra!

I’ve discovered that Taiwan is the OPPOSITE of Wisconsin! In Taiwan it’s hot most of the time, so when the temperature is 65-70 degrees, people consider that ARCTIC weather, so the attire is heavy winter coats and scarves. In Wisconsin, it’s cold most of the time, so when it’s 65-70 degrees, people consider that LAYING OUT weather—people actually don SWIMSUITS, shorts, or flip flops! I’ve mentioned earlier how the Taiwanese are VERY fearful of the cold, and this has come out in full force. It’s DECEMBER now, and it’s around 70+ degrees! I think the weather has been GREAT!!

We have about a month left—I CANNOT believe how quickly time has gone! I’m already sad because I will MISS SO MANY things here! And there is still so much I want to see! I truly wished we could have stayed the entire year! I mean, just when we’re getting used to everything here—we even have a GREAT doctor for the kids—it’s time to leave! But this has caused me to reflect a bit and I’m realizing EVEN MORE that I REALLY DO NOT HAVE ANY IDENTITY!! I mean, I’ve ALWAYS known this, but this experience has made me realize JUST HOW MUCH! You see, in the U.S., even though I was born there, I don’t look “American,” and I’ve had several instances in which people were shocked by my manner of speech—the fact that I DON’T have an accent. So I really do not BELONG to any kind of majority, ESPECIALLY in Clemson, SC! But HERE, I actually LOOK like the majority—I’ve had several instances in which Chinese/Taiwanese people have stopped me to ask for directions, and I have to sheepishly say in Chinese that I’m American and can’t give them good directions—but STILL, I do not belong!! The only way I can feel like I belong to a large collective is to be in a country of ABCs—American-Born-Chinese! Of course I have no solution for this feeling of being a little “lost,” but I do find it fascinating and enjoy contemplating this! Another factor I want to point out…at the risk of pontificating on race issues…is that I’ve seen more couples with Asian men paired with white women here than any other place I’ve been to. In the U.S., it’s a bit more common to see couples like John and me, and it seems that Asian guys in the U.S. tend to be with Asian women—I really don’t see many Asian men with white women there, aside from my brother, Ken, and his wife, Janet! Anyway, I just find that REALLY interesting! I always enjoy making these kinds of observations! OK…ENOUGH of this boring racial stuff….

Next up…our visit to a local high school…..

Wanfang Hospital

We’ve had QUITE a bit of drama! Lauren contracted pneumonia and is currently at Wanfang Hospital in Taipei! At the beginning of last week, on Monday, we received a call from Lauren’s school in the afternoon informing us that she had a fever. We took her straight to the doctor and he said it looked like she was starting a cold, so he prescribed her antibiotics, acetaminophen, and stuff for cough and cold. Over the next couple of days, I noticed that she didn’t improve much! And she still had a little FEVER! So on Thursday we took her back and the doctor prescribed more medicine. Well, Saturday night was AWFUL—Lauren was coughing SO hard she couldn’t sleep AT ALL, and it was concerning me SO MUCH I had to take her to the ER at Wanfang Hospital the following morning. They did a chest X-ray, and the ER pediatrician told me she had pneumonia and should be admitted immediately, and that she should stay 3-5 days MINIMUM! Of course I totally FREAKED OUT (outwardly I did not, but INWARDLY I SO TOTALLY WAS FREAKING OUT) and proceeded to get her admitted! So HERE WE ARE, hanging out at Wanfang Hospital! She’s been doing better, but she still has quite a wet cough! At least, so far, her fever is gone—we’re keeping our fingers crossed! I’m TRYING SO HARD NOT to go CRAZY with WORRY!

Wanfang Hospital is only a 15-minute bus ride from our apartment, and it is a subway stop, so it’s VERY convenient to get there. It is also a reputable hospital with the most up-to-date cancer treatment, has every department you can imagine (NICU, cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, overweight department) and is a research and teaching hospital, so I felt confident taking Lauren there. One of the walls in the lobby lists all the groups and people who have visited and observed the hospital—it has had visitors from over 60 countries. The staff has been UNBELIEVEABLY considerate, pleasant, and FAST. When I took Lauren to the ER, she was seen IMMEDIATELY, her X-ray was done promptly, and she was admitted right away—I barely filled out anything. I scarcely had time to call John to tell him what was going on, everything moved so quickly. I also hardly had enough time to prep Lauren for the IV—I had to give her a quick explanation because they were so quick in getting stuff into her! (Uh, let me add—putting in the IV was NOT FUN!) Lauren’s pediatrician at Wanfang Hospital is Dr. Huang, and he happens to be the doctor of Cheryl’s son—Cheryl is the American woman who had us over to her home for Thanksgiving. The doctors all speak English—not extremely well, but well enough to get their explanations across. However, the nurses and staff do not speak English as well, but they are so nice and sweet, that more than makes up for it.

On the minus side, Wanfang Hospital is not as clean as the hospitals I’ve been to in the U.S. It’s NOT dirty by any means, but it’s not in the immaculate condition I’ve been accustomed to. The lobby looks great, but the rooms are just OK. BUT, then, I’ve been lucky—whenever I’ve had to stay in the hospital, the hospital was always brand new, so that has been my only hospital experience. The problem is we are in a quad—right now, three kids to a room separated by curtains--so we’re ALL sharing the same bathroom. The bathroom gets cleaned RARELY, so it’s not in the best condition! I finally had to ASK to have the bathroom cleaned! It LOOKS like there are private rooms that seem to be much nicer, but since the children do not have medical insurance here (however, John and I are fully covered), I had NO idea how much it would cost, so I made the decision to go the cheaper route, especially since she has to be in the hospital for so long. I was also influenced by my medical experiences in the U.S., where I frequently got ZAPPED by unexpected costs, so instinctively I went with the cheapest option! I just found out it will end up costing about $60 a day, and that includes drugs and doctor visits. So, actually, even w/o coverage, it’s CONSIDERABLY less expensive than the U.S. I also JUST found out from Auntie Yin that I can save the receipt and take it back to the U.S. to get reimbursed by my own insurance company (but who knows if my insurance will honor it), which I also did not know when I had to make a quick decision.

Lauren is receiving IV antibiotics and nebulizer treatment 4 times a day, which according to my brother, Ken, a doctor, is standard treatment for pneumonia (it REALLY IS handy having a brother who’s a doctor). We also have to administer “percussion” treatment. After Lauren gets the nebulizer, we have to pat her back on her right and left sides for 15 minutes—we have to do this 4 times a day! Since we’re sharing a room with other kids, it’s actually pretty funny listening to all the back-patting going on! Lauren LOVES the percussion treatment—it really relaxes her and she says it really does make her feel better, so we don’t mind doing it at all!

It’s been interesting to watch the other families in our room. One of the kids looks like he’s about 3 or so, and his grandmother has been the primary caregiver thus far. His father and grandfather come in and out (there doesn’t seem to be a mother in the picture), but the grandmother stays here 24/7 and has been doing virtually everything. Another child looks to be about 7, and he’s had many members of his family visiting, but so far his father has been the constant force.

John and I have been working in shifts and we’re taking turns staying with Lauren at night, and we have not left her alone—we want to be sure she doesn’t accidentally pull the IV out. Luke, of course, doesn’t really understand what Lauren is going through—he just gets ANGRY when I can’t stay with him at home! And of course, he’s had his share of one-liners. In the hospital lobby last night, out of the blue, he VERY LOUDLY blurted, “MOMMY, I’M NOT PLAYING WITH MY WEE-WEE RIGHT NOW, I ONLY PLAY WITH MY WEE-WEE IN BED!!” (We’re teaching him all the names, but apparently he seems to like this one…) I was MORTIFIED….but no one seemed to care because no one understood what he said! In fact, right after he said that, someone walked by and commented on how cute he was!! So here’s an instance in which the language barrier was a distinct advantage…..

Another thing cool about Wanfang Hospital is that it’s centrally located, so it’s walking distance from many stores and restaurants. Starbucks and 7-11 are actually housed in the hospital lobby, which has been SO convenient! We’re giving Lauren a break from Chinese food and we’ve gone TOTALLY Western this week! So we’ve been to Starbucks numerous times—Lauren loves the sandwiches and sweets there—I think we should buy stock in Starbucks we’ve been there so much! Oh—I forgot—Lauren does NOT have to eat the hospital food—it’s OPTIONAL. So we’ve been bringing in our own stuff or going out for meals, which is nice since it gives us an excuse to get out of the room.

I can’t EVEN BEGIN to express how STRESSFUL this has been! I think this has taken 10 years off my life! Lauren was a day care baby, so she’s been sick NUMEROUS times, but she never had to go to the hospital. I CANNOT BELIEVE that the FIRST time she has to stay in a hospital, it HAS TO BE while we’re in Taipei! I would freak if this happened in the U.S., but the fact that we’re in a situation that’s SO unfamiliar, where we’re far from our regular doctor and navigating the language barrier, well, that has added an ENTIRELY NEW dimension to this already nerve-racking experience! I’m trying VERY hard to hold it together, and John has been amazingly calm. Lauren has been a total angel! I frequently take her around the hospital in a kiddie wheelchair, and every time we go out, people comment on how cute or pretty she is! They all ask me if she has an American father because of her features. BUT, because she’s so small, some people have actually asked me if she’s 3 years old (she’s SIX)! It’s been SO DIFFICULT for me to watch her go through everything! I would give ANYTHING for this to be happening to ME instead of Lauren! I SO HOPE she recovers quickly—I’m STILL VERY worried and FULL of anxiety!

The pictures are mostly of Wanfang hospital--the one of Luke alone is at the Starbucks. I apologize--one of the pictures is up twice, but the connection at the hospital lobby is so slow, I didn't want to deal with it again and edit this....

Next up….HOPEFULLY good news about Lauren….I’m keeping my fingers crossed…..

Conduct Unbecoming

The challenge of conducting a student large ensemble is to convince everyone to buy into YOUR analysis of a work. The conductor does not simply keep time--essentially, he/she is trying to get about 65 people to execute HIS/HER vision, HIS/HER sound concept, and HIS/HER interpretation of a piece. There’s NO democracy in this situation—the conductor MUST have final say, and there is no room for debate. This is challenging because in most of these conditions, everyone is coming from a different place—some students prefer certain styles of conducting, some students despise anything that is not familiar, some students have specific repertoire preferences, and some students are simply just jerks! The challenge is to get everyone on the same page and to buy into what you’re trying to achieve. In order for a conductor to be successful, there can be NO distractions and the environment must be disciplined with high expectations.

SOOO, I mentioned earlier that John was having some difficulty with the trumpet players? Well, after the last rehearsal, he came home and had a Cheshire cat grin on his face. I asked him what had happened. He said with a bit of glee, “I had to get a little dark with one of the trumpet players!” Apparently, John had taken matters in his own hands! Here is the exchange:

Prologue: Trumpet player, laughing and talking, missed instructions on how to phrase a particular passage.

JOHN (stepping down from podium, locking eyes with player): Dude, I TRIED to be a nice guest, but I’m about THIS FAR from blowing my stack, and that’s NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE!

TRUMPET PLAYER: No response, but was too scared to even take the horn out of his mouth. EVERYONE was scared….

JOHN (to ensemble): You’re all performance majors, RIGHT? (Everyone nodded) Then WHY do some of you INSIST on doing things in rehearsal that would get you FIRED IMMEDIATELY from ANY PROFESSIONAL JOB????

After this exchange, you could hear a pin drop! Rehearsal was very productive after this incident.

Later, at the break….

JOHN (to trumpet player): So you want to be a professional trumpet player, right?
TRUMPET PLAYER: Yes!
JOHN: Well, at the rate you’re going, you’ll be LUCKY to be working at the GAS STATION out at the ENTRANCE TO THE UNIVERSITY! OR, maybe the ASSISTANT MANAGER of the SEVEN-ELEVEN!!

After this exchange, there were no more problems with the trumpet players!!

My piano master class went WELL, but there were a few challenges. The biggest one was that the students barely understood English, and I didn’t have a translator! Music is difficult to discuss in your own language, and to try to convey some of the complex concepts I had in mind, well, it was definitely daunting! The other main issue was the repertoire. The repertoire was PERFECT for a LESSON situation, but not conducive for a master class situation—a master class is basically a public lesson. In a public lesson situation, you hope for repertoire that is more “entertaining;” literature that is satisfying for the master teacher, the performing student, AND audience. In this particular situation, the repertoire was more appropriate for a private lesson, so I felt I could not be as engaging as I would like. But all in all I greatly enjoyed the students and this was a marvelous opportunity!

John and I recently performed a recital at Taipei National University of the Arts, and this was a WONDERFUL experience! The hall had fantastic acoustics, and I got to perform on one of the best pianos I’ve ever encountered! The piano was a phenomenal Steinway that was PERFECTLY voiced—it had such an amazing tone—really, it was such a treat for me! We also had an enthusiastic crowd—we even performed an encore, which was a first for us! The most moving factor about this experience was the support of the fellow Fulbrighters—SO MANY of them came to the recital, and they came from all over Taipei—some even came from Yilan, which is an hour away. Many Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (these are people who graduated from college last year) were present, and they came all the way from Yilan as well! I can’t tell you how much we GREATLY appreciated this—my OWN STUDENTS at Clemson University are not this supportive!

We have already celebrated TWO Thanksgivings! The first one was a reception hosted by the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT), and this gathering was VERY high class—MUCH too nice for our kids! The attire was business casual, so I wore khakis, nice shoes, and a nice sweater. Well, apparently, their idea of business casual was MUCH DRESSIER—most of the AIT people were wearing suits with ties, and the women were wearing elegant dresses! The AIT facility was STUNNING, and we all had a very nice time—the kids really enjoyed themselves. We also attended a Thanksgiving gathering at the home of one of Lauren’s schoolmates, Ben. Ben’s mother, Cheryl, is American, and she is married to a Taiwanese person. In fact, the entire make-up of the crowd was quite diverse—Constance, an American, has a Cantonese husband, and Roma is from India. I enjoyed asking questions about the culture and changes here since almost everyone at this gathering had lived in Taiwan for close to 20 years. I was VERY impressed with their Chinese language fluency—puts me to SHAME!

In the pictures—our family with another Asian Fulbright family at the AIT reception; Lauren, Luke, and a daughter of a Fulbrighter at the AIT reception; Lauren and Luke playing with some Fulbright ETA’s at the AIT reception; John on the campus of Taipei National University of the Arts; John in rehearsal at the beautiful hall at Taipei National University of the Arts; John and some students after the recital; our family after the recital; Luke, Lauren, and Ben (Lauren’s schoolmate) at Cheryl’s house for Thanksgiving; friends at Cheryl’s house.

Up next….adjudicating the piano concerto competition at Chinese Culture University, visit to Maokong Tea Plantation…..

Coiffing, Climbing and Free Beer

It’s AMAZING what you can find on the Internet! Even though I emailed several people and asked for hair salon recommendations, I did not get any responses. I decided to do an Internet search and found an English-speaking hair stylist not far from where we live! I found her in a Taiwanese forum discussion on haircuts, and this forum contained her email, website, phone number, and directions to her salon! Pretty awesome! She was definitely on the pricey side--$1000 NTs (ca. $30 USD)—which is the equivalent of what I pay in the U.S., but by Taiwanese standards, MUCH TOO HIGH. I know if I told people here what I paid, they’d be shocked! I think Taiwanese people are used to paying around $200 NTs ($6 USD) for haircuts! But this hairdresser I found, Diane, had many great reviews in this forum discussion and she has had experience cutting hair in the U.S. I decided it would be better to pay a little more and be happy with the results than to pay less and have to wear hats and scarves for the remainder of my stay here (this actually happened to me when I had a terrible cheap haircut—this is why I’m willing to pay a little more for a good haircutter).

Another wonderful feature about Taipei is how CONVENIENT it is to get around. Seriously--I don’t have a car, I don’t speak Chinese very well, I don’t READ Chinese AT ALL, I have the WORST sense of direction, and SOMEHOW I’ve managed to travel fairly easily all over the city—even to other parts of Taiwan! Diane runs her business from her home, and I found it without much difficulty. BUT I did commit a few errors on the way. One happened while I was wandering aimlessly at an intersection looking for her alley. I totally wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and suddenly I backed into something in the middle of the street that was VERY hard—it even hurt my foot! I was thinking, WHAT is this object doing in the middle of the street, and it turns out I had run into a man in a WHEELCHAIR! He looked at me like I was NUTS, and I was MORTIFIED—I apologized profusely! I mean, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!!?? In the MIDDLE OF TAIPEI?? This could only happen to ME!! The other mistake was that I kept buzzing Diane’s apartment and did not get a response. Fortunately I had her phone number and called her, and it turns out it was the WRONG apartment! I was REALLY happy no one was home!

Diane is Taiwanese, speaks English fluently, has a Swedish husband, and he speaks fluent Chinese. She’s lived all over the place—the U.S., Sweden, and Thailand. VERY interesting and creative person! We had fun exchanging stories on being an Asian married to a Westerner. Yes, I realize I’m as Americanized as they come, but I DO have an unfortunate Asian masochistic streak in me—we Asians are INCREDIBLY hard on ourselves and extremely self-critical. As a result, this can cause us to be critical of those who are close to us—another Asian characteristic. We both shared laughs about our husbands’ common responses: “You ALWAYS think I do EVERYTHING wrong!” It has INDEED been a while since I’ve spoken to a fellow Asian woman who’s married to a Westerner! Anyway, the money was well-spent—I really liked the haircut! I’d really like to go back before I return to the U.S., but the problem is that she did such a good job, I may not have to!

The trip to the hairdresser was productive because I also found a couple of stores that sell reasonably-priced kids’ clothes. I have been having a VERY HARD time finding stores that sell kids’ clothes! Most of them are WAY over-priced—I wish there was something like an Old Navy here! Luke is in desperate need for long pants—I should have brought more, but I was thinking I could buy some here since I heard clothes were cheap. Well, apparently this doesn’t apply to children’s clothes! Anyway, I was VERY pleased that I found a couple of stores finally! I also made a stop at the Sogo Department Store because there was this MEGA SALE there, and the Sogo Department Store was so close to Diane’s business. There were extra police at the subway station and at the store because of this sale! This was during the day on a Friday, and it was INSANE! Sogo sells designer brands, and it seemed that prices were cut by around 60%. I only went because I had to experience this—I didn’t buy anything! It was like the Friday after Thanksgiving, only a little more NUTS!

We FINALLY made a trip to Yangmingshan! Yangmingshan is the most famous mountain in Taipei and was the summer residence of Chiang Kai-Shek. Actually, I go twice a week to Yangmingshan since Chinese Culture University is located there. But I still haven’t been to the Yangmingshan National Park, which is where I wanted to take the family. The bus drops us off about a kilometer from the park, and you take a hiking trail to the park. SOOOO, we didn’t actually do as much at the park as we wanted because the kids were pretty tired by the time we walked there! Plus, I didn’t want to tire them out so they could walk BACK to the bus station—I didn’t want to have to carry anyone! But the kids were real troopers and loved running about the hiking trails, and they really enjoyed themselves. Yangmingshan is BEAUTIFUL and a PERFECT place to go if you want to relieve stress. It’s serene, very scenic, and it’s like you’re in an alternative universe from Taipei—also great for hiking. I believe that I made ONE good call on this trip—I did NOT bring a stroller to Taipei, and I think this was the right decision. I really had to ponder that one. My feeling was that Taipei is quite crowded and the sidewalks are unpredictably bumpy and narrow—I thought a stroller would prove to be cumbersome. Luke is at a borderline age—Lauren has NO problem with walking, but I did wonder if Luke could handle it. Well, I think I made the right decision. A stroller on Yangmingshan would have been a pain and I found this to be true in many circumstances. I do see parents with strollers, even people with DOG strollers, but I don’t know how they handle it! And Luke has actually exceeded my expectations—he’s turning out to be a great walker!

We ended up going to the Taipei Main Station food court for dinner. I had to mention this because there were already Christmas trees there!! I did NOT expect this at all—I wasn’t even sure they celebrated Christmas here! So I HAD to take a picture of the kids next to a Christmas tree—how often do we get to see THAT in Taiwan?

We made ANOTHER trip to Carrefour—before any of you say, AGAIN, I MUST write about a couple of things I never had the chance to mention. I pointed out the overstimulation, right? Well, I want to elaborate a bit. When you go there on the week-ends, you can get tons of free samples. The people offering free samples are OBNOXIOUS! Many of them have handless microphones and TALK CONSTANTLY about their products, and they’re all talking simultaneously! Also, you can get free samples of alcohol—the HARD stuff! TODAY when we were there, you could sample WHISKY, SCOTCH, and VODKA!! You can get SERIOUSLY INEBRIATED at the Carrefour! I actually took a sample of Carlsberg BEER! Anyway, one of the pictures is of a skinny Taiwanese girl giving out free samples of alcohol at the Carrefour! Also at the Carrefour—SUSHI EXPRESS, which is where we ate! Sets of 2 Nigiri sushi only cost $1 USD—AWESOME deal! The sushi is ready-made and you grab whatever you want off of a conveyor belt. For the four of us, dinner was $13 USD—a STEAL!! I provided a picture of that as well!

Next up….my piano master class FOR SURE, John’s recital…..

In Pursuit.....

A big chunk off my plate—I performed my recital at Chinese Culture University! It kind of evolved into a lecture-recital! At first, they told me that I would perform a regular recital. Later, they asked if I could introduce each piece before I performed it. Eventually they asked if I could use Power Point since it would be helpful for those who didn’t know English—they’re REALLY into Power Point here! So I ended up frantically preparing a Power Point presentation! In all my professional experiences in Asia, I have found that everything morphs into something else, and all you can do is go with the flow and see what happens! In a week I will conduct a formal master class with some piano students performing solo piano repertoire. So far my primary teaching duties have centered on chamber music, and the pianists I have been working with have been in the context of chamber music literature, not solo literature. I’m getting the feeling that the pianists need more time with their solo literature and didn’t want to embarrass themselves by playing for me too soon—keep in mind they started school in the middle of September, and it takes at least a couple of months to get a piece ready!

Although the lecture-recital went very well, I usually find speaking and playing problematic. I prefer to do one or the other—perform OR talk, and I’m not too crazy about doing both. When I speak and play, it’s more difficult for me to completely focus on my performance and I’m afraid of getting distracted by talking and running the Power Point! In other words, I have to switch gears quickly, and I’m fearful that my performing will suffer as a result! But I actually had a terrific time—the audience was very responsive and seemed interested in what I had to say, which makes everything much easier! AND John was extremely kind enough to come to my recital and support me, which means I put him to work and had him change the slides for me! That helped IMMENSELY!!

The saxophone teacher at Taipei National University of the Arts, Kenny, arranged for John to give a saxophone master class at Shi Chien University this week. Kenny is extremely friendly and amicable, and has even invited us to his wedding in December! Anyway, Kenny offered to drive John to Shi Chien University and Kenny was lamenting that full-time saxophone jobs in Taipei were non-existent. As a result, he is an adjunct lecturer at 7 different schools—colleges and middle schools. He was also not pleased with the pay as an adjunct lecturer. So John is thinking, “ok, he’s probably going to be driving me in a Ford Escort!” Well, you can imagine John’s surprise when Kenny’s car turns out to be a LEXUS! MAYBE the pay as an adjunct lecturer is not that bad?

As much as John has enjoyed conducting the band at Taipei National University of the Arts, he has found that SOME things are universal—the trumpet players talk too much! AND they give a BIT of attitude! For those of you who are not musicians, brass players, ESPECIALLY TRUMPET PLAYERS, are notoriously obnoxious—I apologize to any brass players out there, but hey—YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE. Musicians jokingly call them “brassholes!” So John has encountered this stereotype in Taipei as well! If this band were HIS band, he would absolutely know how to deal with this—he’d completely annihilate them! John is laid-back about everything--EXCEPT matters concerning music. You don’t MESS WITH JOHN when he’s in the process of preparing repertoire that means a great deal to him—he takes it VERY seriously and is ULTRA committed--more so than I am. SOOOO, when he encounters ANY type of obstacle during the pursuit of his musical goals, it IRKS him—it’s like he takes it PERSONALLY! BUT the problem is that he’s a GUEST—this group is NOT his! So he’s not quite sure how to handle this. He’d love to just throw them out during one rehearsal, just to make a statement! And they’re not really that bad—he just wants to nip this in the bud NOW! In addition, he’s not quite sure what is culturally acceptable! So right now he’s pondering his options…..and trying to find out what IS acceptable….

Auntie Yin delivered my mom from Hsinchu and my mom stayed with us in Taipei from Wednesday until yesterday—she just left for the U.S. My sister-in-law, Violet, was here visiting her family, so we decided we should all get together for dinner. Violet came up with the idea of meeting at Taipei 101, presently the tallest building in the world and perhaps the no. 1 attraction in Taipei. This building is considered one of the Seven New Wonders of the World and Seven Wonders of Engineering, and contains the world’s fastest ascending elevator. Taipei 101 has numerous shops and restaurants, and we dined at a Japanese grill restaurant in the food court. In the picture of the four ladies: me, Violet, her mom, my mom. Afterwards, John, my mom, and the kids went up into the building. We were allowed to explore the 88th, 89th, and 91st floors—the outside observatory was on the 91st. The views were absolutely incredible and the kids had a fantastic time! I tried to get a night shot from the observatory, but it came out a little blurry!

I decided to take advantage of my mom’s visit and assigned her to read through all of Lauren’s papers from school! In the U.S., I was CONSTANTLY OVERWHELMED by the HUGE amount of papers I’d receive from Lauren’s school. Well, as you can imagine, it’s even MORE OVERWHELMING when the papers are ALL IN CHINESE! I also arranged for her to speak with Lauren and Luke’s teachers so I could get a better idea of how things are going. It seems that things are fine, but as expected, Lauren does have issues with the language barrier. Two days a week, a student from the university tutors Lauren individually and helps with her homework. I try to do what I can, but I feel like a loser because I can’t do the homework! So yes, I feel a bit inept! But it seems Lauren is hanging in there with all those over-achieving Taiwanese kids! And the other kids just LOVE her—she’s a especially a hit with the older kids—they all want to play with her!

I also took my mom shopping for DVDs. One of the reasons she was very enthusiastic about visiting here was because she wanted to add to her collection of Korean DVDs. She and her Chinese friends in St. Louis are COMPLETELY addicted to them. My mom has been quoted as saying, “Those DVDs are my LIFE!” We tried a couple of places—an area called Guang Hua Plaza, which is an electronic geek’s paradise! We had a few issues getting there. After asking for directions about 5 times and being directed the wrong way 5 times—at one point, we crossed one particular intersection back and forth around 4 times—we finally found the place! You see, I thought it was just me—whenever I ask for directions, I always get LOST! I just assumed it was my pathetic Chinese. But even my mom, who speaks fluently, had a hard time!! So it’s not ENTIRELY my fault! Well, but then it is my mom and me…very similar to the blind leading the blind—we’re both pretty horrible with directions! Fortunately we found the area, and even though we found some DVDs, Guang Hua Plaza is really a place to buy digital equipment—it doesn’t appear to be a DVD place. But we also ended up finding some DVDs at Carrefour, the Taipei equivalent of Wal-Mart.

We had terrible weather this past week-end—very rainy and windy--so it was a mall week-end! We went back to Taipei 101 and browsed around some more and we also went to another shopping area called the Breeze Center. Both places were WAY out of our price range—mostly designer stuff—but they both had awesome food courts! Really, the food courts in the U.S. CANNOT COMPARE to the ones here! We did break down for the kids one time—they did have Subway one time! But at least I made sure to have something Chinese! AND another time we had hot pot! VERY tasty! One of the pictures is of Luke and Lauren looking exhausted after eating hot pot!

I don’t know when, but I VERY much want to take the family to Yangmingshan, and John and I are DYING to go to the National Palace Museum!

Next up….shopping for kids’ clothes, getting my hair cut, getting ready for John’s recital, my piano master class….MAYBE Yangmingshan???

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….