Seeing as I am on a program to learn Chinese, I think it is important to record my language progress. I entered the NSLI-Y Chinese year program with about two months of Chinese experience. I participated in a StarTalk program in July of 2013, and I gained a strong foundation in Chinese. After that, I did a little self-study, but I didn’t really get anywhere.
One of the most valuable things I learned at StarTalk was pinyin (the Romanization of the Chinese pronunciation system). Having a basic understanding of Chinese pronunciation has helped me expand my vocabulary greatly.
That being said, my writing skills are minimal, and my grammar knowledge is basic. I am eager to expand these skills in the coming months.
I absolutely love being in an immersion environment. For me, language immersion is exactly like reading As I Lay Dying by Faulkner; you have to let it all wash over you. Initially, nothing makes sense, you can’t follow the plot, and you feel utterly lost. Then, as if by magic, a theme appears. The characters become more clear (though, let’s be honest, they never become fully clear), and the conversation starts to have meaning. “My mother is a fish” stops being a stupid sentence and suddenly becomes a beautiful insight into a child’s mind. This is what immersion feels like. I still have a long way to go in terms of understanding, but I can tell my listening skills are sharpening.
A Traveling Temple
On last Saturday, my host father asked me if I wanted to see a temple. I was expecting a trip to a building with incence and a big statue of Buddah. There I go assuming again. Instead, we went to this streetside temple with masked statues and an ox.
Being the only white person on a crowded temple/street in Asia draws a lot of attention. Naturally, I had to pose with one of the many people on the street.
Scenes from Monkey Mountain
Last weekend, my host mother and I hiked up Monkey Mountain. For me, it’s really odd having a mountain within the city limits. Kaohsiung does a great job integrating the natural landscape into the cityscape.
The hike up the mountain was long, but it was well worth it. At one of the observation pavilions, there was a clear view of the Pacific Ocean. Climbing Monkey Monkey Mountain was the firs time that I realized that I actually live on an island. Within the city, it’s easy to forget. Buildings tower over you, mopeds zoom past you, and it is so easy to forget that, just a few miles from where you’re standing, there is a massive ocean.
At the top of the mountain, there was a small pavilion and free tea. Men with heavy jugs of water hike up and down the mountain to supply water for the tea. As we walked along the mountain trails, we passed many men with the giant water backpacks.
It amazes me how similar some of the plants in Taiwan and Mississippi are. Everyday, I spot five or so plants that are almost (but not quite) identical to plants from home. Of course, there are also plants that look completely foreign as well.
Banyan trees lined Monkey Mountain. The roots of these trees dangle down the mountain. The roots are a light pink and look like something out of a Tim Burton film.
They don’t call it monkey mountain for nothin’
When we first started climbing the mountain, I didn't see a single monkey. I honestly felt pretty scammed. “Where the hell are the monkeys,” I though to myself. “I was promised I would see some monkeys.”
As we ascended the mountain, the monkeys started to appear. We started our hike pretty early, so the m0nkeys weren’t awake. Before going to the mountain, I was warned to keep my bag close to me. It turns out that the monkeys are pretty nasty; they’ll steal food from you.
It had me wondering what schedule the monkeys used to live on before the mountain became flooded with human traffic. Did they wake up later? Did they have to hunt more before all the loud humans started to give them free food? What did their lives used to look like?
The trip was a lot of fun. I was exhausted (and incredibly sweaty) afterwards, but it was well worth it.
85 SKY TOWER
If you go anywhere in Kaohsiung, you’re bound to notice the 85 Skytower. It is the tallest building in Kaohsiung, and it dominates the city skyline. For a mere 180NT (6 USD), you can take an elevator to the 74th floor. Who wants to pay money, though? As a white, tourist in Taiwan, you can just get on the free hotel elevator and ride up to the 70th floor.
The view from the 70th floor is pretty sweet. You can really see how far the city spreads. It’s fantastic.
If you’re an even savvier tourist, you can ask for a tour of the hotel’s gym. Instead of inspecting the exercise equipment, you can snap a few photos of the Port of Kaohsiung. No money, no problems.
Qijin Island
On this past Saturday, we had an outing to Qijin Island. Before going, we stopped at the most famous shaved ice eatery in Taiwan. Shaved ice is super popular here. It’s kind of reminiscent of snow cone, but it’s about a million times better. There is snow much fresh fruit on them. I’m going to be obese after this year.
The restaurant has a lot of writing on the wall (for my MS friends, think about Stromboli’s in Starkvegas). We NSLI-Y students decided to make our mark on the building.
Here’s another (artsy, if I may say so myself) photo of the shaved ice.
Qijin is a tiny island that is a five minute ferry ride from the rest of Kaohsiung. People communute from Qijin to the main part of Kaohsiung for work during the day kind of like taking the Staten Island Ferry.
Qijin is easily the most beautiful place I have visited on my trip so far. Atop a hill, there is a small lighthouse. Just on the other side of the lighthouse is a straigh view of the Pacific.
The island is jam packed with buildings and people. I asked Jenny, our local expert, if people evacuated the island during a typhoon. I honestly expected a solid “yes.” However, Jenny said the island doesn’t flood, so people don’t evacuate. The ferry stops running during a typhoon, but there is a way to drive to the island as well.
My favorite part of the day was standing on the black sand beach and watching the sunset. The sky lit on fire as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was a moving experience. Breathtaking.
After a perfect sunset, we went to eat dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was so fun, because you got to choose your seafood from this huge assortment.
Here’s my favorite picture from the seafood restaurant. Caption contest, anyone?
American Food in Taiwan
Today, my host family and I went to an American-style restaurant. It was kind of like Craker Barrel. The wall had tacky posters, and the food selection was super American. I’m convinced that restaurant has the highest density of white people in all of Taiwan! I saw about ten eating. That’s more white people than I see on a normal day!
The French Toast was pretty good. When I’m really craving American food, I now know where to go. The thing that struck my most intersting about this restaurant, was the decoration. They had license plates from all over the USA on the walls. Right next to our table, I spotted a license plate from Harrison County, MS!
To future NSLI-Y students: Don’t be a license plate stuck on the wall!
Here’s where I get cheesy, so you’ll have to forgive me:
Sitting in this tiny restaurant on this tiny island in Asia, it struck me how much that license plate in I have in common. We both have spent a lot of time in Harrison County, probably speeding along I-10 at 70 mph. We’ve both seen the beauty of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and we are now both in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Our lives are oddly parallel. There is one, significant difference; I am not stuck on the wall staring at the same scenery all day long.
I could sit in my room here in Kaohsiung, absorbed in social media and Candy Crush (a game I have start to play,unfortunately). I could experience the same things everyday, because that’s comforting. I could live my life like a license plate tacked to a diner wall, letting life pass me by with no complaint.
However, I refuse to live that way. I leave me home. I explore. I am going to get to know this city better than the back of my hairy hands. I am determined to be an active member of Kaohsiung daily life, an active member of my host family. It is the only way to get the most out of this experience.
I wish you all the best,
Brendan Ryan
