Kid and Caboodle

After our recent trip to Taiwan, my husband and I have decided to start studying Mandarin Chinese again.  Both of us have studied it before, but not at the same time and not recently.  Our 5-year-old has expressed an interest in learning Chinese as well, so right now we are looking for a facility in the area that teaches young kids as well as adults.  In the meantime, we’ll probably start playing with the Rosetta Stone software I bought in January and dust off our old textbooks, tapes and flash cards (assuming we can remember where we put them ….).  I’m hoping that this will become a family activity that we will continue for many years to come.  I would like to become proficient, if not completely fluent, in Mandarin; I felt mildly embarrassed during our recent trip when people found out I could neither read nor speak Mandarin (although I do speak Taiwanese on a middling level).  I know this project will be tough to complete, but I think it will be worth it.

I’ve been having fun playing with the Yahoo! avatar function. Here is the latest version:

As you can see, I’m at home now but still not fully unpacked from my recent trip.

Generally I try to update my avatar every few days to reflect something I’ve been doing or experiencing. While I was in Taiwan, for example, I set it to show a person carrying a backpack who was surrounded by lots of buildings and cars. Traffic in Taipei is pretty frightening; staying in lanes appears to be an option when driving, and a lot of the population uses motor scooters that don’t necessarily stop when the lights are red. As my Culture Shock travel guide phrased it, driving in Taiwan is a “Taoist” experience ….

Finally getting over the jet lag after our 17-day trip to Taiwan. It was an incredible experience. Enjoyed eating tons of great food and shopping, of course, but also visited some very significant sites such as the Taiwan Democracy Movement Museum in Ilan, the 228 Peace Park and the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, and a temple in Tainan dedicated to the Goddess of Pregnancies and Children (Lin Shui Fu Ren/”Madame Lin Shui”).  Also saw my maternal grandmother, visited my paternal grandparents’ graves, and spent time meeting or getting reacquainted with numerous relatives throughout the island.  It was the first time my husband of almost 13 years, Chris, and our 5-year-old son have ever been to Taiwan. We took over 2000 pictures, over 400 of which are posted on our family Web page at http://www.hu-friedline.com/taiwan/taiwan.htm. Below are two of my favorite shots:

Souvenir stalls in “Old Street” outside of Taipei

The Eight-Arch Bridge near Taitong

In a few more days, my parents, brother, husband, son and I will be leaving for a three-week tour of Taiwan. We’ve been planning this trip for so long — over a year — that I’m having a hard time believing the time is almost here. My 5-year-old son is really excited about the trip and has been trying to “pack” for over a week now. It’s funny to see what he thinks is important to take: the four stuffed animals he sleeps with, two favorite T-shirts, five books and a small bottle of lotion. (I guess it’s up to me to remember to pack his underwear, trousers, jacket, toiletries and other necessities ….)

Of course I have been doing some packing as well. First, though, I had to get some decent luggage. Saturday morning my husband and I dragged out our good suitcases from the closet. After taking a look, I decided there was no way I was going to be able to pack three week’s worth of necessities, plus leave room for souvenirs, in anything less than a full-size suitcase. My husband needed a lot of space too, though, and claimed the full-size suitcase first. After some consultation, I decided to go out shopping for my own luggage. I was hoping to find a good suitcase for less than $100. I ended up doing a lot better than that; I lucked into a huge sale at a local department store and came home with a five-piece set — a 28″ suitcase, a 25″ suitcase, a 21″ suitcase, a 15″ tote bag and a toiletry bag — for a grand total of $62.99. Not bad for my first luggage purchase! Even better, the luggage set is red — my favorite color!

In addition to packing, my husband and I have been doing some reading. Right now I am working on two books. The first is a very scholarly book called Becoming “Japanese”: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation, by Leo T.S. Ching. The main thesis is that Japan’s 50-year colonization of Taiwan from the Sino-Japanese War through the end of World War II, combined with the physical separation of Taiwan and China, has made Taiwan develop an identity that is separate from China. Taiwanese still consider themselves Chinese ethnically, but many do not regard themselves as politically being Chinese.

The analogy I have come up with as I have been reading this book is that Taiwan is like a young child from a poor family who was kidnapped by a rich one and lived with them until he/she was nearly an adult, then was returned to the poor family. Although the child might acknowledge that he/she belonged to the poor family, the child might feel some shame or other negative feeling about the lower economic and educational status of his/her original family. The child might try to continue identifying with his/her kidnappers or try to obtain recognition as an independent adult rather than allowing the poor family to regain authority over him/her. The way in which the original family and other parties handle the child’s reintegration will determine whether or not the child will accept the family as his/her own fully some day.

On a lighter note, I also have started reading Culture Shock! Taiwan: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, by Chris and Ling-li Bates. I bought this book for my husband to help him mentally prepare for our trip, and he said after he finished it that he sees my family doing a lot of the things mentioned in the book. He urged me to read it as well, so I’m trying to finish it before we leave Saturday. I may already know a lot of this stuff, but I don’t consciously notice it. It will be a curious experience to go through this book, I think.