Meinong Hometown

Today, I had the privilege to explore Meinong as a hybrid cross of tourist and native.

How, you may ask? Through the wonderful perspective that comes from being an American with a lovely Taiwanese host family, and whose mother just so happens to be visiting.

First of all, some perspective. My mom and I got into Kaohsiung this morning after 29 and 10 hours of travel, respectively, at around 5am and, as my mom settled into my bed and I settled onto the floor, we managed a fitful 5 hours of sleep before the alarm rang at 10am.

At 11am, my host family came to pick us up, and, a short 7-11 trip for coffee later, we set out for Meinong.

Let me just say, I love my host family. My host mom, Margaret, had prepared a dual-language itinerary  which she gave to both my mom and I, complete with a note at the bottom welcoming my mom to the country. We all had a wonderful chat as we drove out of the city and the towering buildings gave way to greenery-enfolded hills and long stretches of banana, coconut, and betel nut trees. The Portuguese were really onto something when they named this island Ilha Formosa, which translates as "the beautiful island."

First off, we went to the Meinong folk village, an adorable cluster of buildings built in traditional style and boasting a paint-your-own umbrella station, koi pond, traditional Hakka house and furnishings, a tea shop, where we drank traditional lei (ground rice) tea, and a glorious view of the surrounding mountains.

...and also this ADORABLE baby on an old-fashioned rocking horse.

Then it was off to the paper umbrella making shop, where we did a little souvenir shopping, the end results of which for secret reasons we cannot display here now. ;)

Next was a SCRUMPTIOUS lunch of Hakka-style noodles, lotus stems, Fu vegetable, pig knuckles, peanut tofu, and stewed cabbage. Hakka-style cuisine remains my favorite I've tasted in Taiwan, for sure.

Then we went to James's house! Yes, that's right, turns out James is pretty much related to all of Meinong; we drove past his old school and through dozens of houses they announced were inhabited by distant relatives to get to where his mom still lives on their old family farm, a gorgeous space awash with greenery which has, over the years, grown over old tobacco buildings and other out-buildings to create a gorgeous contrast of wild and domestic.

We met James's mom, brother, sister-in-law, and several other relatives, and got to stroll through their garden, plucking orange cherry tomatoes off the vine as we went. Before we left, she insisted on giving us a bag full of tomatoes, fresh green dates, bananas, wax apples, and papayas. Her generosity was as overwhelming and beautiful as her garden itself.

By the time we pulled ourselves away from my host family's home, I felt like I had entered a new level of host family-hood. I now have not just a host nuclear family, but a host extended family, now on both sides (I met Margaret's family a while ago). It was lovely.

A soft rain began as we headed past a quick stop at a lotus growing field and to our final destination, in Margaret's family's hometown of Chishan, where we visited Chishan's traditional street and ate delicious iterations of banana shaved ice. (Mine was also lemon; my Mom's was red bean, pineapple and plum; James's was just red bean; Emily's was red bean and some other unidentified fruit and ice cream; Margaret had hot sticky rice, instead.)

Soooooo good.

After that, it was time to load our (very weary, in my mom's and my cases) selves back into the car and head back to Kaohsiung to await an hour at which it was normal to pass out for the night. (Easier for me than for my mom, for obvious reasons--hence I'm finishing this blog at 11pm as she's been asleep for an hour.)

Driving back, sitting in the middle seat with my mom on one side and my host sister on the other, I was reminded just how blessed I am to have two such great families supporting me as I live here in Kaohsiung. I left with a bag weighed down with goodies from my host family's hometown, and headed inside to enjoy them alongside goodies from my hometown. Hybridity can be a very good thing.

Loose ends

My brain these past few days has been a tangled mess of different countries and numbers, figures and names bouncing from point to point as I try to determine which flight to take, which hotel to book, when to send which documents, how much money to send to my bank account back home. Taiwan, Thailand, America, Japan; Hualien, Meinong, Green Island, Taipei, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Phuket; Texas, Tennessee, Washington, Ohio, New York. Too many locations; too many numbers. They simply won't queue.

By today, at least, I have managed to bring a fair amount of them into line. Over the course of many hours, many websites, some help from Fonda, some help from my mom, an email from an adviser from my university, and a solitary trip to the bank, I am now assured of a place to stay in Hualien and Taipei; a flight to and from Thailand (internal flights are still sticky, though...); loan deferment sent; money transferred home; necessary items purchased.

And I even managed to make myself a complete meal tonight on a single burner!

One thing I will not miss about living in Taiwan is the immense hassle it is to deal with multiple financial systems, which collectively rely upon the archaic system of wiring money whenever it needs to be moved across continents and international borders. It's especially odd given how very open our world's borders seem to be to trade in general; I can only hope that businesses have better tools at their disposal than I do.

On the plus side, the bank's staff definitely recognizes me and invariably ushers me directly to the sole bank employee who speaks passable English.

This is rather a random post, and I must say that this is neither more nor less than a reflection of my current state of mind. Planning for multiple trips while planning multiple months' budgets from multiple bank accounts in multiple countries produces nothing if not a sense of scattered-ness. And with so many loose ends floating around, it's all I can do to grab at a few in passing and try to fasten them down before they strangle me.

Spoiled

Today was my second day of teaching at Han-Min, and my first day of teaching with Maggie--and I left, once again, feeling overpowered by the incredible generosity and kindness of the people at Han-Min.

First off, there are the kids. I formally met them all today at their morning assembly at 8am--(I waltzed onto the stage mere minutes after arriving at Han-Min, thanks to another unhappy morning timing mishap which, thanks to a bit of speed walking and a just-caught train, at least didn't make me late this time)--and for the remainder of the day, I was treated to a more-than-usual number of students peering through the window of our office saying "Laohsi hao" or "hello," or just staring and smiling in the hallways. The kids from yesterday's classes were especially glad to see me between classes, and though I scrambled to make mental connections to which class they were in, never mind their names for now, it was great to see them so excited to see me, and to recognize them in return.

Maggie and I taught 5th grade today, and I enjoyed class after class of giggly kids learning a little dialogue between a librarian and a student, Brad Chevaski. (Poor kids--I don't even know how to say "Chevaski" properly--is it Chev-aw-ski, as in awesome, or Chev-a-ski, as in apple? Not like it's a common name, either; just sadistic publishers, I guess.) In other news, 3 periods is a really short time to be at school, the hour and half break between my presentation and classes notwithstanding.

In that break, it's worth noting, the principal came by our office and struck up a conversation with me. And once he discovered that I liked coffee, he got on his phone and ordered me some from the cafe next door! He brought it to me himself not more than fifteen minutes later. At that point, he also took the time to invite myself, Maggie and Alison to have lunch with him at the same cafe, where his daughter works.

So after my classes, the principal took us to lunch--a full five course meal of Western food, mind you--and during the meal, offered to buy me coffee every day, buy me breakfast every day, buy me a bike, and (together with his principal friends) take me to different parts of Taiwan every weekend for the rest of the year, beginning with a trip to Meinong on the 25th. When I said I was overpowered by their generosity, I wasn't kidding! I managed to talk him down from the bike and the daily breakfasts, except for tomorrow, but I think he's still planning on getting me coffee every day, and he's urging me to tell him when I'm free to take me to a famed local lake.

He and the other two principals are keen to help me get to know the country, and show my family around too, if and when they come to visit. They even offered to pay for their housing if they do! I am beyond spoiled by them, though I will of course have to draw a few lines on gifts and such. I developed a fall-back phrase in the course of the lunch--"It's too much!" It's more guanxi in action, though, so I will need to tread lightly; until I find out what is okay to refuse and what isn't, though, this might get a little exhausting!

On the way out of the restaurant, we ran into the owner of Genius, a local cram school which some Han-Min students attend. He assured me that he has lots of foreign teachers who he will introduce me to, which will be wonderful if he follows through! At the last second, one of his non-foreign teachers, Wendy, grabbed my phone number, so maybe soon I will be hanging with another new cohort of teachers. I'm loving all these new connections I'm making--it seems to be impossible to be isolated in Taiwan!

As I walked back to the MRT from lunch, I saw two Americans walking the opposite direction--maybe two of the teachers from Genius?--and I shot out a quick "hey!" Fun to think that, if my guess is correct, I'll soon have more than their answering "hi" to know them by. I have to say, it was also nice to hear an unfamiliar voice with an American accent.

I'm currently listening to my so-far primarily source of back-home-ness, online streaming of Click 98.9, my favorite Seattle station. Who would've guessed that, despite my general lack of knowledge about the music world, one of the things I miss most here is not hearing Mumford and Sons or the Black Keys on a regular basis? Familiar music is wonderful. I'm laughing a bit at the commercials in a Taiwanese context--just sat through one warning of the health risks of uncooked meat, hilarious in a world where street food is standard and a clean dish is one which as been run under cold water with a little soap, yet no one (myself included) seems to have problems. Revere culture shock already, I guess.

Off to bed for me--the principal is bringing me breakfast (cheese sandwich and coffee, if what I gathered was correct) at 9am, so I should try to be there not too long after, ie aim for leaving the house by 8ma (which means I will probably actually leave by 8:15ish).

So as a parting gift, here are some pictures of Han-Min and the surrounding area, taken as I was leaving after lunch:

Han-Min, coming from the cafe...

...other side, headed for the MRT

View across the street--lots of stationary stores, apropos of having a junior high, senior high, and elementary school all in a row!

Meinong

We went to on more school visits today, to Dashe, Dashu, and to Meinong, where one ETA will be living alone.

First of all, it is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous out there. I mean really, really gorgeous. I still want to live in the city, but I wish I could visit once a month, or something...Check it out.

In Meinong, at the paper umbrella festival!

Looking around the school...

...yeah, it's beautiful

We had a lot of driving to do. First, we drove from our apartment in the center of the city to Dashe, on the outskirts of the city; then to Dashu, out in the countryside, next to the largest Buddhist temple in Taiwan; then to Meinong. I know I keep repeating it, but it is absolutely gorgeous out there--green mountains shrouded in mist, vibrant tropical flowers sprouting randomly from trees, water lilies floating on ponds, absolute silence--it was idyllic; definitely one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on.

But I don't want to have to make it on a regular basis. Still, I think all of us who went lost a little of our heart there, and it will definitely make it easier on whomever ends up there. It seemed super homey and livable, and the people are all really nice and friendly. So this trip definitely helped.

Another major highlight of the day was getting to paint paper umbrellas at the paper umbrella festival in Meinong! Apparently, Meinong is world-famous for their paper umbrellas--check it out here.They were having an umbrella-painting competition while we were ther--check out the room full of submissions!

 

Here's the one I painted. The characters are my name in Chinese, Baihe, (pronounced Bye-huh; it means "Lily" in Mandarin), which all the Meinong citizens loved!