Curiosity

It's extremely difficult to articulate what I've been ruminating over in the course of the past week or so. However, I'll try to sketch it out.

This week, there's been a number of times whereby the ability of my students to answer seemingly straightforward questions has severely diminished. Answers to questions, for example, "why is McDonald's so popular?" and "why do people work overtime?" were drawn from a supposedly innate skill/instinct: the ability to ponder why things are they way that they are. That is... to demonstrate curiosity and to be able to formulate a response which signals a capacity for intuitive reflection - about one's place in the world and the surrounds in which we live.

Generally, the response is: "Teacher, I don't know, I've never thought about it." Whereby its clear to me that my students presume that I expect an immediacy to their response, one which indicates the so-called "right" answer. Clearly a manifestation of the Taiwanese-system of education, no less.

I'm reminded of one of the most confronting conversations I've had, here in Taiwan. Some months ago, one of my students, a mother of an 8 year old girl, said: "My child went to school, full of curiousity, full of questions about the world. She annoyed me each day with her questions. After a few months at school, though... Where the teacher would chide her for asking her questions... I saw her curiosity go away. One year later, I've noticed the difference. She doesn't ask me questions anymore."

It's so utterly confronting - that curiosity, interest, keenness, a desire or a thirst for knowledge - can, in some contexts, be seen as a totally foreign ideal - an ideal with no innat value...

It is Not the Spoon that Bends, It Is You

Leese's new catchphrase for improving her Chinese. :)

The Working Week

My name is Lisa, I'm 21 years old, and I confess... I am hapless when it comes to a working week.

Since being stripped of our evenings and weekends (minus solitary Sundays), I've since come to better appreciate something that I'd not before truly understood.

In my family life, people work pretty hard. They do what they need to, working long hours, weekends, all the rest of it. The hectic nature of their schedules has always typified the uncertainty of their so-called "job security."

While I'd always recognized their rights to a more stable circumstance, one thing I'd never before been able to rationalize. "If I worked that hard," I've often thought, "then I would take my Sunday and do something joyous with my little leisure time."

While I still think that's certainly the way to go, I can better understand how ongoing fatigue can, despite best efforts, put you into survival mode... "Onwards, onwards, nearly there, don't think too much, just do it..."

"The human race indulges its (mortality) on Sundays, on which day people all over the world tend to be sleepy and subliminally irritable... noting that man was especially fragmented on Sundays. Not really present... For all his willingness and zeal... Sundays have always been... Call it the Sabbath or whatever you like... (designed to ensure) the previous week was declared null and void."

-- Gunter Grass' 'The Rat'


Yes... It's true. I'm light years away from hankering after a working week.

Bring on student life, come 2008! And bring on social liberalism, too. :)

Soon to Welcome a Long-Awaited Sea-Change

Phrase: "A sea-change": A radical, and apparently mystical, change.

Origin: Shakespeare's The Tempest, 1610:
ARIEL [sings]:Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.


Today marks an important day in the Taiwan phase of Leese and Sim's life...

Most of you know that Sim and I had taken on a bunch of extra hours as part of 'intensive' sessions designed to keep kids busy during their summer vacation. Three hours a day - sometimes six hours - Monday to Friday - it's been incredibly tough on us both. We've been leaving the house most days at about 9am, only to return as late as 10:30pm most days.

The bad news is that I've never been so physically and emotionally burnt out, in all my life. I've never worked so damn hard! It's been gruelling on us physically and emotionally - I've never been so anxious before.

The good news... This morning was my final day of summer classes, some 8 weeks since it all began. We are so woozy from the fatigue of it. The subsequent relief is sure to hit us in the next few days, and when it does... Look out! :) A huge lifestyle shift in order... because life is too damn short.

We've already organized yoga sessions, Chinese tutelage, and sessions at the gym (to help me shed this little belly I've put on since being here. Eating at 11pm each night will do it to you!)

Change is as good (and often as necessary) as a holiday, no? A sea-change is looming and soon we'll be prepared to grasp it tightly - unapologetically - with both hands.

Hope and Trust

Illustration by Judy Green

Typhoon Sepat

From Reuters - Photo from Al Jezeera TV

Strong winds and rain lashed Taiwan as Typhoon Sepat made landfall on Saturday, cutting power supplies to more than 70 000 homes and forcing more than 1 000 people to evacuate and airlines to delay flights.

Two cars were crushed by a falling billboard in Taipei, scaffolding collapsed at a building in the outskirts of the city and, in the mountains, workers battled to clear uprooted trees that were blocking roads."We were so busy yesterday because customers were grabbing instant noodles and other things from our shelves to stock up food for the typhoon today," said Alice Wu, a shopkeeper at a convenience store aged in her 20s. "Things are quieter today because everybody is staying indoors. Almost all the shops around here are closed, except for us."

In Taitung, in the south-east of the island, preparations for the onslaught had been under way for days as the storm approached from the sea, swiping the Philippines on the way."In Taitung county, around 10 000 households were out of power, but repairs are already taking place," said an official from Taiwan's disaster centre."We haven't seen reports about landslides. There aren't any casualties so far, except for two people who were injured driving in Taitung in the middle of the bad weather," the official said. Local media said one person had died in the incident, but disaster officials later said the case was considered a road accident and not a storm-related casualty.

Unexpected Indulgences, Courtesy of Typhoon Sephat

I'd quickly thought I'd mention that we are in fact bracing for our first typhoon here in Taipei this evening. We didn't think it too serious until I saw some CNN footage of the typhoon reaching Manila yesterday - wow, it just looks insane! So the rain has just begun and while I'm a little nervous, our friends and colleagues assure us that there's nothing to be worried about - rather, the opposite. We get an unexpected holiday! The subway is still running which apparently is a key sign as to the seriousness of the typhoon.

Our classes have been canceled this evening and tomorrow which I must say, couldn't come at a better time! Simon and I haven't had anything less than a solid 6-day week for going on three months now. Tomorrow, some blackouts are expected but won't last longer than 24 hours. Plus, I can't think of anything better than some time to snuggle under with a good book. So we've stocked up on Philly, Australian wine and cheese, basil, fresh fruit, water, candles and ice-cream. There's nothing like a bit of unexpected indulgence! :)

We'll take some photos and let you know how it all goes.

The Concept of Face in the Face of Consumerism

Those earlier posts are extremely difficult to follow up on, I must say...! There's nothing like wearing your heart out on your sleeve (online) ...

It's worth noting that yesterday I was able to share some of my ideas with one of my students. She is not only a Professor of Western Culture/Civilization but an all-round remarkable, independent, thoughful and creative woman whose insights just totally astound me! In framing this whole cultural encounter in historical terms, and across the table from someone so knowledgeable and forthright in this field of study... what can I say? It was just great. We have a one-hour class together each week and its something that I really look forward to.

One thing this week that was particularly interesting was how I've realised that the concept of 'face' that I was taught in university has been completely turned up on its head. This idea that 'Westerners' tend to be overly direct and forthright and thereby create cultural miscommunications with their 'Asian' counterparts is mostly contradictory to my experience here in Taiwan!

I'm conscious of my over-simplified understanding of what 'face' is. However, I'll try to tease this out a little more.

I'd like to follow up with a number of examples as to how to this has been such a contradiction in terms. More interestingly though is how the concept of 'face' shifts as soon as there is a recognition of a student as a consumer and client of education. Indeed, from a teacher's perspective, the balance is tough to master. On the one hand, as the provider and facilitator of knowledge, there's a certain level of authority that comes along with that role. However, in a moment, that can be turned on its head, as one becomes a customer service provider and thereby subject to the grand gesture of "making people happy" above learning. When that happens, I feel almost at the mercy of their demands of getting their monies worth. Rather than whether or not I've actually contributed to their broader knowledge. It's such an unnatural feeling, a strange dynamic, and one that I hope in the future I won't have to undetake.

I'd love to explore more just how traditional concepts of 'face' shift when so conscious of rights and demands as consumers, before all else. A pertinent question for China, no?

I've always felt that, in the genuine liberal tradition, that education should be separate from business principles; as per religion and state. That if jeopardizing this divide, you run the serious risk of losing appreciation for the sheer joy of learning. That we are lesser beings if we cannot separate from what is pertinent to human happiness and what is simply smoke-and-mirrors.

As more time passes, I know exactly which side of the scales this opportunity sits on. I can only hope that in writing and thinking about this more, that we can develop some kind of framework to more effectively balance the two - at least in our own lives.

Dear Taipei - Part II

Dear Taipei,


Like a true friend, you have encouraged me to reflect and seek a stronger, wiser version of myself. In fact, you've encouraged me to take up my pen again. I feel that so much about my time overseas has come together in recent months; if only through a lack of many things I love, have I come to find a humbler, more introspective appreciation of them.

I've discovered that slowness is hugely underrated; at times I've sought to counter that same slowness with long-stays in populated hypercities, not unlike this one.

So too have I never really appreciated how robotic - how automated - I can become while away from nature and clean air, and all things that I take for granted in my home city.

I've discovered that there should be few apologies for times where universality should step up; yes, I know "it's the culture," but I have also come to develop a sense of what is blanketed hypocrisy and genuine cultural miscommunique. For example, I cannot apologise for being a young woman - one who likes beer - is tattooed - nor one who often sniffs at so-called consumer happiness, so too the oxymoronic "financial success" - all of which is part of one's own multifaceted identity. I cannot and will not apologise for fear that it may justify these continued attempts to have all peoples fit snuggly into a single 'acceptable' mould.

I've discovered that language is an art that should be enjoyed first and foremost, if ever truly mastered; that much of our ability to articulate ourselves in a comprehensive way relies a lot on our intuition for expression. I've realised that I need language and I need to write, just as I have my whole life, particularly in times of growth and change.

In that, should I find another national culture which resonates with my soul, it is only that motivation which would lead me to commit to both the culture and its language in the long term. Whether this is fair, politically-correct or otherwise, it's just who I am and it's rather strange to finally get my head around that.

I've discovered that the Taiwanese education style - much like that of the Chinese mainland - ultimately acts to stifle innovation and expression in favor of rote-learning and specified measurements of intellect. That in measuring character by such means can only promote a soulless search for measuring oneself against others. I see this everyday and I fear for how much it really does ring true.

At times, Taipei, I find myself jarring away from you as though I don't want to get my hands dirty in amongst your 24hr schedule. I don't want to play a part in this hustle-bustle that you so require.

I've discovered that chasing after every possible challenge like a puppy may not indeed lead me down to the right path everytime. Intuition led me to the one I love, China V.1, I.S., Hooked and Carlton lattes. All good things that have made me the person I am today. But in this case, I'm starting to develop the framework - the criteria - for making future decisions and I'm sure that will continue to ferment and shift in the course of the near future; not so puppy-like anymore.

Speaking of puppies, thankyou, Taipei, for reminding me how much of a housecat I truly am.

I've never been one for staying in situations which I find untenable. Taipei, you're not automatically in that category, as you have led me to lots of new ideas that have encased so many ideas that had before simply floated. Unfortunately, your character is just so much all at once - and just if you were a person, I find that I can only deal with so much of you at one time.

That's not all a bad thing; and I have no doubt once we leave, we'll back be someday. In the meantime though, there's so much learning to be done.

Dear Taipei Part I

Dear Taipei,


You are overwhelming and often burdensome; the lifestyle that you demand is a perfect blend of cyclical repetition (e.g. the guaranteed push-and-shove undertaken in each rush-hour MRT carriage) and onerous challenges (actually securing a seat in any of these carriages).

Doubtless, your pace is furious; pushing aside those perhaps more meek of heart, as there is no lack 0f those ready to charge through your city-streets at any given time. Dismayed, I know that few isles of respite exist here - even the soothing effects of coffee and daily news cannot counter the sheer populace seeking to undertake such activities at any given moment. Your density seems to determine just how your peoples interact with one another...

And what of these places? In observational terms, it can be a feast for the eyes - barely a day goes by without an eyebrow-raising moment (both sheer surprise, dismay or otherwise.) None less than the lady sitting opposite me on the MRT this morning, wearing a leopard-print tank top with "shopping makes me feel better" printed across the chest. That said, what of depth and substance? What of narratives which don't factor work into the equation as though it was a prerequisite of all things, animate or otherwise? What of this potentially heartbreaking, life-changing realisation that floats beneath the surface - one which asks, "just why have we set about accomplishing this?"

This scene flashes before me; my Australian eyes too slow to keep up. It's a sorry state of affairs should one consider that a confortable chair in Starbucks provides the closest encounter with respite in a city with so much on offer.