taiwan tiger 台灣的老虎

Chinese New Year's Resolution

This year I resolve not to start a war in contempt of international law by using fabricated evidence, especially with my complete ignorance of how to manage the outcome. And then thumb my nose at everyone. And then award rebuilding contracts to all my buddies. On second thought, that's too hard. I resolve to go jogging more often.

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You know, I have gotten a few patronizing comments and emails scolding me for spoiling an otherwise good blog with talk of politics. Yeah, I know it is a little annoying. You just want a good light read about a romantic expat life and wham! you get a face full of politics. Yeah, that can be annoying. Sort of like when you are going to school or work and suddenly this big U.S. bomb comes and separates your limbs from your torso. Boy, is that annoying! Or when you sign up for active duty and you’re pretty sure that no one would send you to a dangerous place without a good reason and then you find out that all your friends are dead because some guy in a suit lied about what you were fighting for. Now that’s annoying, too.

Being here makes me, for better or worse, a representative of the U.S. More often than not, people respond well to the fact that I am an American. But often people ask me about my stance regarding my government. They ask me with a furrowed brow things like: “what is going on there?” “How can you have Bush as your president when more people voted for the other guy?” “How do people feel about Bush? Do many people like him?” and the kicker for me “Why do you want to take over Iraq?” What I am supposed to say to these questions? All I can do is tell the truth about how I feel and about how the people I know feel. This usually leaves them with the sense that something is drastically wrong with politics in the United States, and I simply have neither the munitions nor authority to disarm them of that thought.

I try to be consciously aware of the “Americanness” of my thinking as well. Last night, my Japanese friend Keita and I were talking about the cultural differences involved in dating a Taiwanese woman. I asserted that there is indeed a cultural difference between how American girls and Taiwanese girls grow up that informs their later relationships, as well as socializing norms that contribute to the pressures that American women and Taiwanese women feel regarding love and marriage and which serve to reinforce cultural norms. BUT the ability to transcend any difference is dependent upon the individual. Certain Americans, for example, are completely provincial and lack any sort of cosmopolitan attitude, while others are pretty attuned to other cultures and in fact, find comfort in consuming or performing those cultures in some way. (Not that that in itself an authoritative “understanding”, see below). The same must apply in other countries. That seems pretty straightforward to me, but then again, I come from a society that culturally supports and assumes the idea that every American is NOT the same in thought. You simply can’t conceive of an America that is singular. Other countries sometimes tend toward standardization. Here, for example, I have been recently questioning a few people about the use and meaning of “traditional Chinese woman.” While the responses vary, it is the question itself that forces the analysis. I mean, could you even begin to say she’s a “traditional American woman”? What the hell does that mean? But you CAN say in words “traditional Chinese woman” and at least it has some meaning to be debated, some definitions to expand upon. So when I am talking about the individual being the determinate for transcending cultural differences, I am of course relying on my American narrative of the individual’s ability to do so.

About the consumption or performance of identity here in Taiwan. While in the U.S., it is common to see a tattoo of a Chinese character (sometimes correct, sometimes not), it is not akin to the use of English here. English is sometimes used as a form of communication, like on a brochure or something like that. Often, though, it is merely decorative, implying a cosmopolitan outlook, a certain sophistication. That’s why you see a lot of English here that is misspelled or just plain completely screwed up. The words are just adorning whatever it is that they decorate. Some t-shirts, for example, appear to employ an almost random use of roman letters as decoration. Something like “ksohg chsiaipt slqehociw” might appear, repeated all over a t-shirt. Just adornment. I even stumbled across a t-shirt that had a transcribed passage from a history book on the 18th century slave trade! Of course, like every other piece of clothing, it was too small for a foreigner. (If someone would send me a box full of size 12 Converse Chuck Taylors—high top, low top, blue, black, red, whatever—I would shed tears of joy and make you my demigod. Taiwan only imports up to size 11 here, and Converse doesn’t ship internationally.)

Year of the Monkey

So I woke on Chinese New Year's Eve morning to the sounds of my landlord Hong Tai-Tai up here on the 5th floor preparing things for the New Year. She had spent all night cooking and had come up to "bai-bai"--pray to ancestors and buddha. The family altar is up here with me, so I occasionally get visitors. After she left, I went to check out the scene. The food includes oranges, squid, salmon, shrimp, steamed buns, a whole chicken, some fatty pork meat, and, inexplicalby, a small can of sports drink. And yes, that is indeed a karaoke machine in the corner.

After Hong Tai-tai left, her husband came up to do the same and to burn ghost money in their burn barrel. This takes place often in my neighborhood. I think it is because I live close to a supposedly powerful Daoist temple, the people in my neighborhood are always celebrating it or praying. Anyway, after he left (taking with him all the food), I went out on the patio to check on the commotion down on the street. Apparently, everyone on my street performs this rite at the same time--about noon on New Year's Eve day. I look down to see this:

Note all the tables with food next to the burn barrels. This food is eaten later as part of the big evening meal to come.

The air thick with incense, finally Chinese New Year's Eve arrives! First I went to Shuli's parents house for dinner. This is the traditional year end family dinner which lasts for most of the night. I got there about 5 or so and met the uncles, aunts and cousins who don't live in Kaohsiung. Chen Baba cooked a lamb hotpot/stew and we all sat down to snack and toast the New Year at every opportunity. Every now and then, another relative would stop by to "bai bai"--light incense at the family altar--and eat and toast some more. I struggled here--the conversation was in Taiwanese, and I found it really difficult to understand the discussion.

No, impossible. I can get the general drift of a Chinese conversation, but Taiwanese leaves me scratching my head. Since I am interested in learning Taiwanese too, at some point, I took the opportunity to listen to Taiwanese pronounciation, which differs substantially from Chinese.

After several hours of eating, talking and drinking, some of the younger cousins returned from wherever they went and a card game broke out. I gave out my remaining xiao li wu--little presents, and left to meet up with Fin to go to a big temple on the mountain for the annual bell ringing. We shot off through the chilly night--it is remarkably cold here, even more so in Taipei--up to the mountain. Since we were early for the midnight ceremony, we got some cans of hot coffee from 7-11 and looked at the beautiful night scenery, overlooking Kaohsiung amidst hundreds of yellow lanterns. That's Fin and "85 Floors" in the background.

Then to the ceremony. The bell is a huge (elephant-size) thing on the second floor of a temple in between the two tall buildings in the picture below. Long cords attached to the bell draped down to the ground. After reading from some religious text, we all took hold of the ropes and swung the bell about 10 times. After that, we went up to the second floor, and (in groups of 6) swung a huge battering ram against the bell as it sung out over the cold Kaohsiung night, signaling the beginning of the new year--the year of the monkey. Happy New Year!

A Dragon With Matches Loose on the Town

Ok, I've got some backtracking to do. On Monday I attended a weiya party--a year end staff party. Meeting in under a tent in the middle of the street, the party takes the form of a 4 hour eating and drinking festival, with entertainment provided by groups of employees in what are either mildly amusing skits or hilarious cross-dressing shows. Tonight we had both. It is quite a scene. The food is amazing. From the makeshift kitchen behind the tent flows dish after dish of delicious food--we had sashimi, winter melon soup, sauteed fish, enormous 6-inch shrimp, sticky rice...I kind of lost track of all the dishes. The best was the one that most daunting at first. A big bowl arrived with a big slippery blob of the fatty inside of a pig. A stomach? Intestines? I don't know. But open it up and you have the tenderest, juiciest pork ever. The whole thing is steamed, and the fatty outside imparts an outstanding flavor to the meat inside. Yum.

After each of the performances, the group that had just gotten off stage worked the crowd for hong bao--the red envelopes filled with money given during New Year's. If you are good, you get lots of cash. So you can imagine a lot of work goes into the performances, which invariably involved dancing. This year's winner was a dance number from the movie "Chicago," though the number of great performances made the voting close.

As the place wound down and the tent and mobile stage were packed up, we hopped on scooters and continued the party at one of the employee's house, where another full spread of food cooked by her mother greeted us. It's a family affair, too--kids go everwhere here. Finding kids in a restaurant at midnight is no surprise, nor is kids at a party.

After gathering up at this party, the whole group of about 30 people zoomed off to KTV, a snaking writhing animal roaring across the city, carrying cases of beer on scooter floorboards. We arrived to the KTV place and filed into the room, which immediately began thumping with singable dance tunes. Soon we were in full swing, food and New Year's toasts filling the room, and more and more visitors joining up. At one point some guy came in and began singing to the rapt attention of the entire room. I don't know who he was, but I got the sense he was some local pop star. All I know is that more and more free food and cases of beer started to show up. I ended up leaving at about 4, when a good half of the people were still standing, in one form or another.

This is the mobile stage that they truck in for wedding banquets and staff parties:

Adverse Reactions to Rampant Capitalism

In the U.S., I used to have a little problem with crowds--not really claustrophobia, I think it fell under mild agoraphobia. Basically, milling crowds spending money used to turn my gray matter into jellified Electo-Shock Therapy Monkey Brains. (Those of you at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival on a Saturday or Christmas shopping in a mall with me have witnessed this thrilling spectacle.) I actually think it is an adverse reaction to rampant capitalism. You would think that the crowds in Taiwan would be a challenge, yes? Yet, for some reason, that response is completely gone. I think it is the result of the first thing one notices and overcomes here--the gaze upon thyself as a foreigner. It took about 2 months, but now I don't really register the stares I know I get as I walk around. Consequently, the crowd issue is gone, too. Go figure.

Today Hui-wen and I went to San Fen Jie traditional market, which sells all sorts of snacks and goods. Now, since the Chinese New Year is approaching, the place is a madhouse. In the evenings, you literally have to push your way through the crowds, controlled by human magnetism as you merge in and out of the stream. We went in the afternoon, so it wasn't too bad, though. I bought some yummy rice snacks, the dried jellyfish strips that I crave, and some auspicious sayings to hang around my door during New Year. Translations and explanations at a later date.

So speaking of adverse reactions to capitalism, my place on The Political Compass (measured on right/left & authoritarian/libertarian axes) is tucked in to a little corner I call home at:
Economic Left/Right: -9.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.51

What does that mean? Imagine the U.S. as a perfect square, the West being Left (as usual) and the East Coast being politically Right, the Canadian border as Authoritarian and the Mexican border as Libertarian. Bush would be in New England somewhere, most of the Democratic candidates would be in southern Ohio or Kentucky, while I would be somewhere in between L.A. and San Deigo. I hope that helps explain. If not, go and try it for yourself.

Here in Kaohsiung, the city has constructed and placed a gigantic half globe in the middle of the Love River. It's purpose remains a mystery, but I can only guess that it is related to a big fireworks celebration for Chinese New Year. I often go to a little cafe overlooking the river to watch people, drink coffee, and chat. This was the scene tonight--pretty quiet:

To my Republican friends, if I had any.

Kenneth Neil's list of questions to consider about Bush. Of course, I don't really have any Republican friends, so this is for you others out there.

Songs by the River

Yesterday went with F. to the Kaohsiung Museum of Technology for a look. There was an exhibit on kites. I love kites. Especially the huge, 200 foot centipede kites with feathered feet that they had suspended from the ceilings. We ended the warm evening by singing love songs by the side of the Love River. (And "Yellow Submarine" which isn't quite a love song, unless you consider its obvious subaquatic homosocial dimensions.)

Diary in Songs

"Sometimes I write my diary in songs." E. said this tonight, and I thought she was incredibly intelligent and witty, like every other time. More impressed in that she is not a native English speaker--already speaking in poetry.

Textbook Chinese

It's hard to shift between reading Pynchon and speaking Chinese. The Chinese just got trapped behind a thick net of profound and apocalyptic images. I found this out last night as I went to a coffee shop to do some reading of aforementioned P. I had planned to meet up with the Kaohsiung Toastmasters group that I ocassionally join. They have meetings twice a month, and then the "2nd round" is at the coffee shop across the street from the meeting, then the "3rd round" continues at a restaurant down the street for beer and good food. I am one of their "2nd and 3rd round" friends, meaning I don't go to the meetings. I almost went last night just to see what it is about, but Pynchon called me a little more strongly and I opted for the 2nd and 3rd rounds. They are a fun group--it is nice to meet people outside of the normal circles I find myself in. Plus, I am a little tired of 崇洋女生.

Last weekend, the president of the group invited me to a party as his house. As is usual, I was the only white person in the room (though my Japanese friend and I constitued the non-Taiwanese front) which made me feel like I was in my Chinese textbook under the chapter "Visiting a Friend." I got to say things like "i have brought you a little present" and "this is delicious!" and "no I don't have a girlfriend" and "where do you work?" and "i've been here for 4 months" and "what is there to do in Penghu?" and "I am worried about the March elections because China's attitude is very aggressive." That last one wasn't in the textbook.

I should start a collection of Taiwanese "English names" that bear no resemblance to any name in English that I know of. I like it, frankly, but they sometimes stretch the boundaries of "English" and/or "name." For instance, while Emina and Fin and Formos are fine names, are they really English? Fin is French, Formos is short for Taiwan's original Portuguese name "Formosa." Sometimes it is just spelling, as for Fenny and Mickel (Michael), but ocassionally, you'll get a challenge like "John" whose English name was spelled C-H-A-N-G but pronounced John. Uh, what? Of course, the equivalent is choosing a Chinese name, which really sucks because you have to do both family name and given name, and (like English) some names just don't sound right. If people furrow their brows when you tell them your Chinese name, consider changing it.

Of course, this problem is not limited to Chinese-English names. I am reminded of a Thai friend who was trying to decide which one of her two-syllable Thai name she should use as her nickname. Unfortunately, since her name was Pissporn, I had to advise making up a new nickname.

Politics 12 hours Away

Thanks to Brian for the link to Bush in 30 Seconds, a project designed to counteract the limited or nonexistent content of presidential political advertising. I was so fascinated by these ads that I watched all in one sitting and couldn't decide which was most worthy of the prize seat. "Imagine" was fairly accurate at describing the Foucauldian structure of the Current State of Affairs. The only thing the ad failed to mention was that attempts to point out the dynamics of the C.S. of A. by those of us who see it clearly are easy dismissed by ad hominen attacks (i.e. "you're a paranoid freak") by the media itself, who drop such bombshells as "conservative conspiracy" in an attempt to discredit the speakers.

So I am curious as to the thoughts of other American expats here in Taiwan who see things as drastically and dangerously awry in the good ol' US. What is to be done from here? Can we organize some response? Is it even your ball game anymore if you've been here for as long as you have? I am aware of an Expats Against Bush site (in Japan, I believe) but other than just say we despise the man and the horse he rode in on, what is there to be done?

Certainly, also, some criticism of Bush's recent stance against Taiwan is warranted. Granted it is complicated here in Taiwan, but simultaneously using democracy as a pretense for war in Iraq while discouraging Taiwan from any pro-democracy moves like...amending their own consititution...is the very definition of hypocrisy. Especially when you consider the odd state of affairs that means neoconservative "Mr. Christian" G.W. Bush's words throw support to China--whose "democracy" extends to routinely suppressing religious groups. And by "suppressing" I mean "murdering" somewhere around 1400 Falungong members. That sound you just heard? American cash registers ringing up cheap Chinese labor at the expense of principle--but we should be used to that by now, right?

American support for Taiwan has traditionally been a bipartisan effort, so until now I didn't necessarily think that a change in the U.S. presidency would have substantial impact on US/Tawian relations. But now? I am inclined to think getting that miserable excuse out of the Oval Office is better for Taiwan as well as the U.S.

Good Things

OK, I just worked on a post for about an hour, when I decided to switch the language coding and I lost the whole damn thing. Argh! I am so angry I can only attempt a half-hearted duplication, significantly less full of heartfelt holiday cheer.

So in true holiday spirit, I have been very lazy and eating a lot, shuttling between Chinese classes and blissful hours of sleep.

Yesterday I went to Carrefour and bought one of those quilted Chinese long underwear shirts that I admire. Of course, it is still short sleeve weather here during the daytime. I am actually writing outside on my little patio, wearing shorts. Shiver in your ice kingdoms, you know who you are!

In the holiday season tradition of making lists, I present to you my one of warmth and happiness.

Things I like about Taiwan:

FOOD: Food here is better than the U.S. Variety is a bit slimmer, but at all levels that I can afford, it is tastier and more fresh. There will always be exceptions--mediocre sandwices, for example, but unless you are eating an expensive meal out, where the U.S. might be better (I don't know about the comparison yet), daily food is just better. Fruit is tremendous here.

TAIWANESE LANGUAGE: I don't know it yet, but it sure is fun to listen to, even when it is my scary neighbor screaming at her daughter.

TRAFFIC: Now, I can see some of you shaking your heads and muttering "oh, now I know he's lost it...", but I like the fluidity of the traffic here. With the exception of certain mind boggling areas near the train station, most of the traffic flows pretty nicely here. I prefer fewer rules and more common sense on the road.

CHEAP MOVIES: I know they are bootlegged, but when I can get an old film noir DVD for US$3, I'm happy.

FRIENDLINESS: I come from the American midwest, home of gratuitous smiling and hand shaking. Taiwan often makes the midwest look like boot camp. I know if I were not a waiguoren, it would be different, but I like the welcome I have gotten here. The complexity of this social interaction is often discussed here, so I won't belabor it on this little list. I am silmulataneously critical of and a benefactor of many mysterious and unexpected niceties that I enjoy.

NIGHT MARKETS: Aside from the great food aspect, there is a cultural dimension to night markets that I am starting to figure out. My Seattle friend Shuli would often heave heavy sighs for the night markets of Taiwan, and I now understand, though I can't yet comment completely on the ways in which going to a night market is woven into the fabric of life here. Everyone knows where their night markets are, that much I know.

RENT: My rent here is about one fifth of my rent in Seattle. 'nuff said. One fifth!

INTERNATIONAL ATTITUDE: Being a foreigner in Taiwan and learning Chinese means that I rub elbows with a lot of people--both Taiwanese and foreigners--who tend to see themselves as part of an international flow of employment, ideas, language and culture. Much of the U.S. looks extraordinarily provincial in comparison. Although that isn't completely fair--many of the foreigners here, from many countires, display a startling lack of sensitivity to the culture in which they live. And I haven't yet found that attitude from Taiwanese. Mind you, this is my own experience, and I am in a large city, so I know the answer might be much different if I lived somewhere else here.

KTV: Taiwan is a singing culture. It is pretty astonishing to me that young people get together and go to a place to sing. I felt the same disorientation when, in a pub in Ireland, a whole room full of college kids spontaneously began a singalong of traditional Irish tunes.

On a side note, what is a "traditional Chinese woman"? The phrase is thrown around like a cultural code that makes me suspect that the words are an indoctrination device for Taiwanese girls.