{Glossary}
Ayi = my aunt (my mother’s sister)
Yifu = my uncle (Ayi’s husband)
Hsinchu = the city they’re staying in (they normally live in San Jose but are in Taiwan for a year, which is what prompted our visit)
Taiwanese = spoken widely in Taiwan, but primarily by the older generation; Mandarin is official. (Erik learned Taiwanese but not Mandarin from his parents — that’s unusual for someone our age.)
From my travel journal, Saturday 24 September 2011, 6 AM in Taiwan (3 PM on the 23rd in CA)
Slept about 8 hours. By the time we got in last night, we were so dead on our feet, I think we all [me, Erik, my sister and her husband] fell asleep in Yifu’s car in the short drive to the apartment from the Hsinchu train station (our last destination of the evening; we stopped in to buy tickets for Hualien for Monday and Tuesday). I tried to hold out but my eyelids just dropped and dropped until I was jerking awake at red lights and then nodding off again immediately. Once we got inside, the lights and the knowledge of being home revived me long enough for a shower and email, but I was in bed and asleep by a little after 9. When I woke I felt the same readiness to get up as I had the day before: body just done being asleep.
Yesterday was a long day… I left my pedometer on CA time so it reset the count around 3 PM (midnight home time); all I know is we walked about 2.5 miles by noon and another 2.5 in the evening. We did indeed set off shortly after 9 in the morning, walking through Ayi’s neighborhood to the bus stop. The bus was green. It had little pale-green jacquard curtains at the windows and pale-yellow cotton covers over the tops of all the seatbacks. (Erik’s mom suddenly got a context — not just her taste in fabric, but her penchant for covering everything with it!) The windows were covered in shade film, there was a calendar and some little pictures (of a goddess?) taped up on the walls near the driver, and there were little buttons on the ceiling — for stops — instead of a pull-cord. But otherwise it felt much like any US bus. Oh, but it was clean, and in front of us there were two ladies chattering away happily in Taiwanese (Erik translated a bit).
Inside a Hsinchu bus
The bus took us through Hsinchu, past some parks and a university or two. I looked at our fellow passengers and thought about national character and culture. It struck me the feeling of safety I had on our last visit to Hong Kong might not have been due only to my ability to blend in — nor my being taller than most people, as I’ve often joked. It could be that Asian (or Chinese or Taiwanese) culture just trains people to be respectful of one another and of the common good. In the States I sense that old people are perceived as a burden, especially in public; here, not only are there more of them moving about the streets, but they’re given deference.
It’s not just the elderly who get respect, either. Whenever I ride the bus or BART at home, I feel that everyone is distrustful of one another — even antagonistic. Here, I feel like people are mostly just letting each other be… but when someone is in need, others are ready to help. At the Yingge train station a middle-aged man jumped to his feet to direct us when Ayi asked him a question, and he was most apologetic (buhao yisi! = “I’m so embarrassed” or “forgive me”) when he couldn’t answer the question completely.
Am I idealizing when I say I feel much more togetherness underlying the population here? It wasn’t as much in evidence in the ticket lines at the train stations, where people were clearly more impatient (though this wasn’t as overt as it would have been in the US), nor in the rush hour train when everyone was packed together, but it still seemed present. And everything is just cleaner and better cared for here; I cannot imagine cloth covers on a US bus, and yet the ones here have Velcro fastenings — I would guess they’re regularly cleaned, and no one steals them (at home it seems that everything that’s not bolted down just disappears eventually, whether it’s useful to anyone or not!).
I like the way it all feels. It’s nice to feel safe and comfortable. I forget, sometimes, how wary I’ve conditioned myself to be.
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I thought I saw a cloth cover at the top of that seat! I’m so fixated on that for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned it. I love so much of what you’ve said here about the people and the way they treat each other. It sounds like a dedication to caring about everyone and not just one’s self, that I’ve been wishing for the world. I don’t know much about Taiwan but I love these glimpses you’re showing us.
Yes! There were covers on every transit seat headrest in Taiwan — I’ll have more pics later, but in a shuttle bus and in some of the taxis they were eyelet lace, on the train they were that kind of disposable cloth that’s kind of like woven soft paper, and I don’t remember what they were on the plane. I can’t imagine anyone here taking the trouble to clean them, and I’m always looking at some people’s hair on the bus/train and thinking, “must remember: don’t use headrest.” The ones in Taiwan reassured me. 🙂 (I hope they do get cleaned…)
It’s certainly a different part of the world in terms of values and interactions. I’m sure if I lived there for a while I’d find elements of these that frustrate me too, but from my one week, I felt really nice about what I encountered. (Although come to think of it, while chatting with a large group of people, I did wonder whether the wives were so quiet just because they were quiet people, or because of some unspoken gender expectation. I don’t know the answer to that.)
Hi Lisa, thanks for sharing your journey with us. I am finding that over the years Asian culture, for me, is becoming more and more fascinating ( I fell in love with the Chinese actress Gong Li and her films from the earlier 90’s). Overall I think we in the United States can learn something about the way Asian culture brings the essence of “family” to a new and enriching high. When I travel back to Philadelphia, my home town, I often spend hours watching the Korean broadcast channel. Philadelphia has a large Asian population and is well supported. What fascinates me the most about Korean programming is their ever popular “soap operas” To put it midly…they are so clean cut. No kissing or overt sexuality is expressed. And the family hierarchy is present throughout. So for me, it is a journey into a place that has its own kind of magic.
Thanks for reading, Walter! Gong Li is beautiful for sure, and so elegant. I know shamefully little about Korean culture, though it’s one I’d like to learn more about. The recent-immigrant Koreans I met in LA touched me with their graciousness, and I have some dear Korean American friends! Family definitely holds pride of place throughout Asia. For Asian American second-generation kids, this can cause a lot of household friction, but I’d still rather have that family centrality than not. It’s always good to know your kinfolk have got your back!
Speaking of Philadelphia, I shouldn’t be surprised there’s a big enough Asian population there to support a Korean TV channel. I’ve only spent a few days in the city (I attended a conference there in 2006), but when we were there we ended up spending a lot of time in Chinatown. I loved the robustness of the community… and I had some amazing mock tea-smoked duck.
Korean and Vietnamese cuisine are also a template of Philadelphia’s culinary delights. Lots of place to visit and support the Asian communities in West Philadelphia near the University of Pennsylvania and in South Philadelphia.
By the way if you like Gong Li, I recently featured her film “Raise the Red Lantern” (one of my favorite all time films) in my Weekly Movie-Making Moments in Film post. Check it out.
I’ll have a look! I haven’t seen that one, though Huozhe made me cry like anything.
The interior of the bus almost looks homey, with the fabric and curtains. Maybe that contributes to the more reverential feeling. In the US public areas are very industrial and impersonal looking. Kind of hard to feel respect or caring about spaces that are only functional. I do remember airplanes in the 50’s and 60’s I know, I’m aging myself) were very comfortable feeling, and the shades on the windows were fabric, as well as the upholstery. Much more welcoming than the experience today.
It really felt homey, though I do think that’s partly because the fabrics reminded me so much of Erik’s mom. 😉 When we got home from our trip, we found she had crocheted cushy armrest covers for their armchairs… 🙂
It’s hard for me to tease apart whether my cozy feelings about Taiwan and HK are because there really is a tangibly different set of cultural values, or whether it’s just that everyone there looks like my relatives or old friends! It’s probably a mix of both, but what I mean is I don’t know how a non-Asian or non-Chinese person would experience it. At any rate, absolutely, the airline we flew (EVA) was much more welcoming than the American airlines we’ve flown! (Lavender hand lotion and face spritzer in the lavatory!) And from what I’ve read in books, your remembered airplanes of the past had niceties ours don’t now. I found a little metal airplane spoon at a thrift store once and was shocked that it was a real spoon. I bought it and still use it now. 🙂
PS. Erik thinks that all the green contributes to the homeyness too, because green is so soothing on the eyes. EVA’s color is green too, and the planes were shades of green all over. Taiwan in general is quite green, which is why Erik thinks the color gets used so much there (people are just used to seeing it?).
Lisa, I have a Filipino daughter-in-law. She and our son were in Hawaii a few years ago for a family wedding. I remember her commenting on how comfortable she felt in a place where she blended in so seamlessly. Though there is a large Filipino population in Charleston, SC, where they live, it just isn’t the same. They visited the Philippines early this year where Grace has extended family. Our son was was able to experience what it is like to be “different”.
What a fabulous experience for Grace to visit Hawaii, and for your son to spend time in the Philippines! I know what she means; I really appreciated the blending-in when I was in Asia. It’s like the feeling of safety I mentioned in the post: it’s something I don’t normally think I lack, until I go someplace where the feeling is completely different. On the other hand, I think if I spent a lot of time in Asia I might start to miss the diversity of faces I see here!
I love reading about your trip. Really looking forward to more pics so that we can get a window into the world, too.
Thanks, Alan! There’s much more to go — I’m parceling it out in little doses. 🙂 (Well, mostly little doses. Wednesday’s post is a long one.)
[…] is in contrast with the friendly comments I got from Americans and Canadians, and the eager interest demonstrated by passersby in Taiwan!) Even when I’m wearing a silly […]