IFYE Program Newsletter

I have been here in Taiwan since July 3, and am getting used to the idea that not everyone thinks cereal and milk make the ideal breakfast. Breakfast today was noodle and seafood soup. I can't tell you what this breakfast soup, or any of the huge variety of other dishes I have eaten here are called, because my one year of college Chinese did not prepare me to understand words more specific than rice ("fan"), beef ("niurou"), and milk ("niunai").

In fact, my tiny Chinese vocabulary prevents me from understanding most of what people say. Trying to use Chinese is frustrating, but is also one of the most exciting parts of being in Taiwan. My hosts spend a lot of time repeating themselves, motioning, and resorting to English words to help me understand. I wonder if we would be as patient and as kind with someone who spoke English as poorly as I speak Chinese.

Later that morning, the local 4-H agent and his English-speaking wife took me to a Buddhist temple. Buddhism is one of the major religions of Taiwan. The building was right off the street, surrounded by the rush of people spilling out of the very crowded city of Taipei. Outside, fantastically painted dragons arched from the temple roof. Inside, the smoke from burning incense darkened the intricately carved ceiling. Men and women quietly drifted in and out, bringing prayers and incense to the Buddha.

My hosts told me that I should ask Buddha a question. First, I had to stand in front of the altar and introduce myself to the Buddha. Then I dropped two croissant shaped pieces of wood onto the floor. How the pieces of wood landed indicated whether the Buddha agreed to answer my question. At first, he was unwilling. It was not until the fifth try, and after I had offered the smoke of three sticks of incense, that he acquiesced. The next step was to draw a numbered stick from a large bunch. Once Buddha agreed that I had drawn the correct stick, we went to a large cabinet with many drawers. My stick had the number three on it so I took the corresponding slip of paper from the cabinet. My hosts explained my question to an old man seated behind a table at the side of the altar. It was his job to interpret the answer from the many Chinese characters on my slip of paper. He seemed pleased that we would come to him for advice, and talked for a long time with my hosts. He said that I should go back to school, and that this was a year that I should work very hard.

After lunch, the 4-H agent took me to the family that I was to spend the next two nights with. They had a boxy, modern house partway up the mountain. From their front windows, they had a clear view of the river below and the tall city buildings on the other side. To me, the house seemed too big for just the parents and their four daughters. Their extended family lives nearby in a string of houses that stretch up the mountain. The whole family is in the flower business. They raise enormous pink orchids which they haul into Taipei every morning to sell at a stall in the flower market.

Three of my host sisters were at home. The fourth stayed in Taipei with her aunt so that she could study for her high school entrance exams. The older sister, Ja Lin, was 17 and knew enough English that between it and my Chinese we were able to talk quite a bit. During the school year, Ja Lin motorcycles down the mountain every morning, then crosses the river by passenger boat to get to school. Right now Ja Lin had summer vacation, but it would be cut short in a couple of weeks so she could go back to school to study for her college entrance exam. Even though Ja Lin was now on summer vacation, she had to spend all day every Sunday at cram school preparing for her exams. Ja Lin did not seem interested in the orchids her family raised. She said she wanted to be a lawyer.

We walked down the hill to Ja Lin's grandparents' house for supper. In addition to the grandparents and their Indonesian maid, there were three adult children, their spouses, and eight grandchildren together for supper. The Taiwanese tell me that having all the family living close together makes for more good times. At meals in Taiwan, each person is given a bowl of rice. Then they serve themselves from the six to ten different meat and vegetable dishes on the table. Chopsticks are used to serve and eat the food. My efforts to use them provided lots of amusement for the family.

The food people eat here in Taiwan is not at all like the fast food Chinese food we eat in the U.S. It doesn't have any of the sweet, sticky sauces on it. Dishes often consist of just one kind of meat or one kind of vegetable. Because Taiwan is an island, people here eat lots of seafood. A specialty of the northern area of Taiwan I am in now is bamboo shoots. They look a little like a potato but crisper. We have them at almost every meal. Chunks of bamboo shoots are often used in the soup. We drink our soup from our bowls at the end of the meal. Often, it is the only beverage drunk during the meal. Taiwanese meals usually end with fruit instead of a sweet dessert. They have guava, grapes, mango, watermelon, and lots of other kinds. At Ja Lin's grandparents, they served bananas. They wanted to know if people in my country eat bananas.

Windsong Bergman, IFYE

My address here in Taiwan is:
Windsong Bergman, IFYE
The National 4-H Club Association R.O.C.
19 Lane, 113 Sec. 4
Roosevelt Rd./ P.O. Box No. 1879
Taipei 106, TAIWAN

E-mail: windsong.bergman.es.00@aya.yale.edu

Special thanks to the Jefferson Co. Leaders' Association, the Jefferson Co. 4-H Foundation, and the Ridge Runners 4-H Club for their generous help with trip expenses.