We have now passed the month of holiday cheer, the month that last year was accompanied by a level of homesickness that went unmatched. I was a little nervous this year I would feel the same way, the same sense of loneliness that pushed me to just want to go home to see family. However my relationships in Taiwan and understanding of the county kept me not only afloat this holiday season, but joyful and busy.
The weekend before Christmas was a cultural extravaganza. I was invited to come to a performance that some of my students from last year were taking part in. It was the performance to commemorate the day the Dian Guang People, an Amis community (the aboriginal tribe in the area), overthrew the oppression of the Qing soldiers in the valley. Last year at this same event I didn’t quite understand the nuances of the ceremony involved. I distinctly remember accidentally sipping a ceremonial tea/wine that was supposed to be saved and drank as a group following a passage read to the sun. I do want to make clear that I was observing the crowd last year and saw an older member of the community drink their cup and followed suit. Looking back, I should’ve waited because the woman was of the age that she could do whatever she wanted as a community elder no matter the custom, but I digress. My focus this year was not to embarrass myself.
When Sean and I arrived the front desk already knew our reservation and welcomed us back, recognizing me from the school. Observing the crowd, the group was different from last year. A large portion were tourists bused in from out of town to view this event. It was more accepting and geared towards a tourist eye, explaining different customs and stories and an easier way to understand. The change from a performance for the aboriginal community to a performance geared towards tourism did allow me to understand more of the battle and what happened to the people, but I felt a little sad to see the aboriginal event that was a gathering of close families and some outside friends to mainly be a group with no connection to the area and no intention to return either.
Being that the performance was affiliated with the school, I got to see all my students and run into a lot of the teachers I was friends with last year. I was able to catch up and this year the small talk was entirely in English with little need to look up extraneous words (Score!). As the performance was about to begin one of the showrunners came up to Sean and I. There weren’t enough actors to play the Qing soldiers this year and they were wondering if Sean could take part. I don’t really understand the ramifications of dressing up as a Qing soldier set with a black braid, costume, and horse of a stick as they oppress an aboriginal community, but if an aborigianl community asks for your help, who are you to say no? Sean found himself among 7 other men recruited to be soldiers, perfectly rounding up the Amis men as they take over the village. Sean’s part was over as they claimed victory over the valley and he was dismissed to sit with me in the audience. It was only after the majority of the “soldiers” returned to the audience that the real rebellion started with bamboo cannons and fire. Last year, I thought the fact that soldiers returned to the audience was because they weren’t needed in the scene for safety (they do set part of a rice field on fire), but being that the performance was geared towards tourists I understood that the conquering Qing soldiers moved on through the valley only leaving a small amount of soldiers behind to keep control. It was the smaller amount of soldiers that were overthrown. Nonetheless, the ensuing battle liberated the aboriginal community, giving them back their land and their culture.
Other than the tone of the event other changes in the performance took place this year. Unlike the strength of the fire in the ricefield where the audience felt the heat radiate from the dry husks, this year the fire was kept under control only burning an area set aside for the fire. The children were also involved more, leading a song of play before the original attack by the Qing soldiers. I think the inclusion of the children is a result of Dian Guang elementary school gaining many new students this year, growing form 10 students to around 30.
Following the performance, the audience was encouraged to fire off the bamboo cannons, shooting water bottles into the rice field, and visiting the aboriginal market. They also had a man bring his pet falcon for a picture opportunity.
Sean and I then biked back to the bed & breakfast we booked for the night. It was only that bike ride on the same street that I drove to and from school for close to a year, that I realized the entire length of road is a hill. My legs were killing me. I had to take breaks and walk next to my bike for some time. Luckily we got the last room at the bed & breakfast, the very same place that I used to teach my Adult English classes in last year. The rest of the night was spent playing nintendo games in the bed & breakfast lobby as the whole lobby area doubles as a game room which has a treasure trove of old games for all controllers.
Upon returning to Taitung City the next day, we had a slight break to decorate my apartment with Christmas decorations Sean brought down from Taipei before heading to the Taitung Sugar Factory. A factory no more, the Taitung Sugar Factory doubles as a cultural park and yet another photoshoot opportunity with an urban decay backdrop. The week before I had gone and made a reservation for the group of us to make Paiwan beads. Paiwan is another aboriginal group in Taitung located in the southern part of the county. Each of the bead colors and patterns represents a different meaning.The bead design we made was one of good luck and strength in relationships both romantic and friend. We were able to work one on one with a Paiwanese woman to make our own glass beads utilizing the same techniques the artists use now. The Paiwanese woman seemed overly worried about our Chinese skills and our proximity to the flame. We got maybe 10 reminders that the flame was hot and not to touch anything or more too forward. I understand their worries (a flame like that would cause some horrific burns), but I’d also like to think as an adult I am not that clumsy.
A busy weekend kept me from thinking about Christmas too much, but it was also Christmas that provided a great chance to get dinner with a friend from my school this year. Sean, (yes another Sean-- gets pretty confusing on my messaging app) a clinical psychologist that works with the school and I made plans to get dinner together. He recommended Sam’s Burgers, a true western style diner not far from my house. I never went to Sam’s Burgers because I haven’t felt the need for a hamburger and the prices are pretty inflated because they don’t have much competition in that market other than McDonalds and one other cafe. Looking at the menu it took me back to the states. It not only had all the options of home that you would find in a diner like fries, onion rings, even mozzarella sticks, but also the atmosphere of a diner. The only difference was some of the additions such as the peanut butter burger. I can report that peanut butter doesn’t taste too bad on a cheese burger, although I probably won’t make the combination a habit. I look forward to hopefully more meals with Sean the teacher because he lives pretty close to me in the city and also faces the same issue of not really having a regular kitchen.
There were little bits of Christmas sprinkled in throughout the week. I led Christmas trivia and a pin the nose on the Snowman game during morning English. I even participated in the 7th grade gift exchange. Each student had to bring a gift worth 70-100NTD (the equivalence of 2 to 4 dollars USD). The buying power of money here is a little different. Each student had packages of potato chips, chocolates, even a stuffed animal of their desks ready for the exchange. I was lucky and came across a sale and was able to buy a white out in the shape of a cat’s paw (white out is really big with the students and they are always asking for some) and erasers in the shape of legos which allows you to build with them. I was the first to go, picking Samuel’s present, a stocking with chocolates in it. After picking a name you have to say three good things about that person. I don’t think that part of the exchange was supposed to be hard, but it was almost entertaining to see people come up with three things. Going first I didn’t know what people were going to say so I stuck with saying he was very generous, a good friend, and always had a smile on his face. You could see other students breathing sighs of relief when they picked their friend’s names and could easily say three things. I think the boys had it hardest when complimenting girls. Saying a person was handsome or beautiful was sometimes vetoed by the teacher, but only sometimes and I don’t know if it was because it was being used so much or that the teacher didn’t agree with that statement I’m hoping for the first. Eric picked my gift and do you know what he said about me? He told me I am very helpful, very beautiful, and that I had really good white skin (white skin being a sign of beauty). Before I could correct him, Sun Wei, the teacher, had him replace that compliment which Eric then said I was really good at English. It’s not a lie, I am very good with English. I guess the gift exchange just shows my lesson on describing people and what makes someone beautiful should be revisited.
Before I knew it it was Christmas Eve and I was teaching the entire school “I wish you a merry christmas” before the mayor of the town came to drop off Christmas pizzas for the students. I am not a good singer, my dad can attest to that, however I found myself with a microphone in hand leading the students in song. The director even asked me to tell the story of Christmas to the students, the “real” story of Christmas. I had really only talked about the commercial aspect of the holiday and Santa. On a side note, I did find out that one of my students still believed in Santa. Only that morning did she somewhat come to the realization Santa wasn’t real, but she wouldn’t accept that Santa was her parents because how could they get so many presents. When telling the real religious story of Christmas, I didn’t know how in depth to go or how religious to make it. I got blank stares as I described Mary having God’s baby and riding a donkey only to give birth on a farm because there were no hotels. It was almost comical as I attempted to include vocabulary the students would recognize like baby, hotel, king, star and left out details like manger and angel. I was more than happy to pass on the microphone when the mayor came and disappear amongst the other teachers in the back of the library.
Santa came a little early to my house on Christmas eve, 11:45 to be exact. Sean was able to take Christmas day off and take the latest train to the city. I originally attempted to get Christmas Day off like I did with Thanksgiving, but was asked not to as the school had planned to host Christmas activities in the breaks between classes. However, the days leading up to Christmas resulted in some large changes in my schedule. There would be no Christmas activities during breaks and instead, the Christmas activities would only be in my early morning English class or in homeroom. The other big change being that all my English classes were cancelled which I found out on the day of. I spent Christmas not at home making cookies with Sean, but at my computer in the office lesson planning for the week to come. Luckily I did get most of my work done, leaving me with little to do over the weekend.
When the bell finally rung, I was leaving school along with the students. Wasting no time getting home, I was greeted to homemade eggnog and cookie dough ready for baking nicely prepared by Sean in my outside kitchen that probably has never seen that much action before. We alternated opening our stockings and gifts. This year we were able to make it feel a little more like Christmas, knowing where to buy gifts and wrapping paper to make it appear like we were back at home. I unwrapped everything from gingerbread cookies and jars of raspberry jam (virtually impossible to find here-- more valuable than money in my opinion) to a bucket hat and new polaroid camera. Sean got some aboriginal and Taitung specific gifts like Guanshan rice (the best rice on the island), roselles, and an aboriginal handwoven lanyard for his keys. To top it off I was able to get Sean a kid’s suction-cup archery set. Since we returned to Taiwan this year, Sean has gotten more involved with archery. He has quite the connection with this old man in Taipei that creates Mongol bows by hand, what is fast becoming a lost art. Sean’s new apartment has floor to ceiling windows, so I thought it only fitting for him to practice at home. What I may have not considered is that suction-cups can still result in some bruises. Over just the one weekend I learned to listen and watch for any slight movement when entering a room where Sean is because those arrows were flying around.
With our gifts opened and the butter getting to room temperature for the next batch of dough we headed out and treated ourselves to a western cafe. I got a salad, a rare find in Taiwan. The salad came out the size that could feed a family of four easily. I barely made a dent in it and instead took it home and it became breakfast for the day after. I juggled Christmas calls and baking cookies trying to cross all Christmas things off my list such as watching at least a part of the Grinch and having Sean read the story Murray Kliener Saves Christmas (a book his mother would read on Christmas eve). As much as we did all things Christmas the next day we were greeted with a sunny, warm day. Warm enough to go to the beach even. We didn’t go swimming, but we did walk along and collect shells and even crack open a coconut before driving back to the city. What should’ve been a short nap when we returned, turned into a full on hibernation only waking up at 5pm with enough time to get ready for the Dian Guang teacher dinner we were invited too.
Dian Guang, the school I taught at last year, invited me back in October to their gift exchange. I enjoyed last years so much that I dragged Sean to the dinner once again. We came with pretty good gifts for the gift exchange too. Sean had more gingerbread cookies and a thermos for hot and cold drinks, while I brought a penguin cookie jar filled with hot chocolate mix and some chocolates. I enjoyed catching up with my friends from last year and meeting the new teachers. The meal was never ending with dishes including a full fish on a plate, chickpeas, beef stews, soups, and literally everything under the sun. There was no ceremonial wine tea at this event like the aboriginal performance with this school the weekend before, but the director did bring winter melon tea to pass around. Sean then accidentally dropped rice from the serving spoon directly into his full cup of tea. Irene, my English co-teacher last year, and I were in a fit of giggles as Sean tried to determine what to do, so as to not make a scene. We didn’t see any empty cups, so Sean started to drink from the glass. Irene promptly took the glass away from him not wanting him to actually finish it. At this point the director was watching because I thought the whole interaction was hilarious and she found another cup after a few minutes search. Sean was bright red, but completely worth it.
Gift exchanges rounded out the dinner party. A gift can be good or bad, but typically you don’t say anything and just thank the other person. The 6th grade teacher didn’t think so. Instead, she complained openly about her gift in a joking manner which can only be done when everyone is friends at the table. We were all laughing as she compared her new water bottle (which was actually really good - but pink) to each new gift opened. Other gifts included Starbucks cookies, a car charger and speaker, and another water bottle like hers, but it was accompanied by chocolate and cookies. I think Sean won best gift chosen as he got a kid’s camera while I got a gift set that allows you to build a pencil cup out of tiny bricks and real cement. Not sure what I will make or when I will use the gift, but I have to give my gift giver (the Dian Guang art teacher) props for creativity.
Saturday ended with hanging out with the other Taitung ETAs and some of the past Taitung ETAs at a hotel room Kendra booked to celebrate her birthday. There was pop, wine, and pizza for everyone just to talk as a group before everyone moves around next semester. One last party to ring in Christmas with friends.
With one more day left of the weekend Sean and I decided to go into town to watch the new Wonder Woman movie. It was alright. At times we laughed at things we found funny that were definitely not supposed to be funny. The story was also a thinly veiled replica of the world today and Trump. I’m glad I saw it because at the very least I was supporting a female director in a male dominated industry and a male dominated genre of film. Seeing the film led to a serendipitous happening as well. In trying to find parking around the teacher, Sean and I came across a religious parade that evokes so many parallels to the bombing of Master Han Dan ceremony that we had to ask multiple people to check that it was a different event. Firework, firecrackers, and streamers were being shot off. I’ve never been so happy to have had my mask for the theater ready so I didn’t breathe in all the smoke particles.
The end of December brought together Western tradition and aboriginal culture. I don’t think I will ever get another experience or opportunity to take part in a culture so unlike my own. Taitung truly does keep one on their feet as there is always something to do and an event to stumble upon.
Happy Holidays everyone!
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