Tainan, Taiwan - around town
With mid-term exams rapidly approaching I have to put off any travel plans outside of Tainan for another week or so, but I did have the opportunity recently to visit some of the major sites in Tainan City. My favorite place so far is the 400-year-old Matsu Temple about fifteen minutes' walk from campus. Formerly the palace of the last king of the Ming dynasty, the temple is a sprawling red and gold complex packed with wall paintings, statues, tables loaded with offerings and of course incense. The temple is known as "Da Tian Hou Gong" (Great Queen of Heaven) in Mandarin and is dedicated to the goddess of the sea, Matsu, and the Old Man Under the Moon. Matsu is the patron deity of fishermen and the Old Man Under the Moon is matchmaker god. The temple is centered around a main hall with a statue of Matsu in the back. The main hall is surrounded by smaller rooms with other deities, all featuring a table for offerings and a large iron incense burner. The temple's eclectic appearance seems indicative of Taiwanese folk religion, itself a mix of Buddhism, Daoism and folk beliefs (like the sea goddess). Many Taiwanese people are very proud of their religious beliefs; when I asked my roommate if she had any religious background, she simply said, "Yes, Taiwanese religion."
Another temple I enjoyed visiting is the Official God of War Temple across the street from Chikan Tower. Smaller than the Matsu Temple, it is nonetheless another stunning representation of Taiwanese folk religion. The God of War was a third-century Han general who was made into a god because of his model behavior. The War God is also a god of commerce so businessmen will make offerings here as well. Unfortunately, the front of the temple was under construction at the time of my visit, but I did get some clear shots of construction workers darting about on bamboo scaffolding (It's much stronger than it looks).
My days are busy with classes and homework but at night I like to go out because the campus comes alive. Many students are involved in extracurricular activities here, from volleyball and tennis to cheerleading and taichi. Most of these activities take place at night because students don't have classes then and the weather is cool enough to permit longer practices. My favorite activities to observe are the cheerleading team and the folk dance club. Surprisingly, the gender ratio for both of these clubs is about 50-50. I like to watch the cheerleading team practice their basket tosses although I am concerned for their safety because they practice outdoors on a brick sidewalk covered with a mat. Folk dance, particularly European folk dance and Latin social dance, is also very popular here. The folk dance club is currently practicing circle dances that might be Mediterranean, but I can't tell for sure. Sometimes the music sounds Italian, sometimes Greek, but since I don't understand those languages I can't say for certain. The club also performs folk dances from other parts of Europe. On my first weekend here, my Austrian friend Carolyn was surprised to see this same Taiwanese club practicing an Austrian folk dance.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to the night market with some of my classmates. The night we visited was opening night so in addition to being absolutely packed, the market also had a fireworks display and some live music. We had dinner at the market, where my friends warned me not to eat too much because the food wasn't "clean," but fortunately I had no difficulties. For dinner we had hezi (pronounced huh-dzuh), an egg and cornstarch omelette with seafood and ketchup mixed in. Afterward we walked around the market where much of what was for sale looked similar to what one might find at fairs in the United States - toys, stuffed animals, jewelry, combs, even clothing and underwear. One of the stalls had a game where a player could fire darts at balloons and collect points for the number of balloons popped. One of my classmates whose father had taught her to shoot was able to pop several balloons; I couldn't quite match her. We left shortly after because there were too many people, but hopefully I will be able to visit the night market again soon.
Last Monday I gave another presentation at a Tainan Rotary club. This was my formal thirty-minute presentation on my background and my future plans as well as the status of health care in California, particularly community health care. The Rotarians were able to follow along with my explanations and asked some very observant questions, some of which were difficult to answer (how to explain Medi-cal reimbursements in Chinese?). My fellow Rotary Ambassador, Carolyn from New Hampshire, also came to the meeting. She said afterward that although her Chinese is still progressing, she feels that in a month or so she would like to try her own presentation to the Rotary Club. The Rotarians have been very patient and supportive and are very interested in both of us, even though neither of us speaks Chinese fluently at this point. However, as they say here, "man man xue" (bit by bit), and we will both be fluent before we know it.