Last Blog Post

Since the last blog post, Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we took part in the usual classroom activities in addition to a few outside of classroom experiences. Monday night we went to see an hour long Chinese Opera show which I surprisingly enjoyed. A lot of my friends back home are not huge fans, and they have described their experiences to me, so naturally I was skeptical about it. Although the singing is not what I am a particular fan of, the acrobatics and some of the comedic timing were excellent. The choreographed fight sequences and weapons display were some of the surprising yet best live displays of coordination as well as showiness I have seen in recent years.

Tuesday we went to a vegetarian buffet which was really good! Though I am not a huge fan of vegetarian “sashimi” which essentially felt like a jelly. It was also Erica’s birthday so Travis, Cindy, Elaine and Vina all took us to karaoke which was fun. It was also less expensive than in the states, with a total being $15, including a buffet and soft drinks. In the states, a room costs anywhere between $100 an hour for a small room that fits about 5-7.

Wednesday after class we visited the National Palace Museum which surprisingly only holds a really small fraction of the entire collection (about 20%) with the rest still in Beijing. We walked around and learned about the different dynasties and saw some of the exhibits that held porcelain, bronze vessels and other things. We saw the famous jade bok-choy with two insects. I was surprised to learn it represented a woman’s purity and fertility. We also saw a rock that looked like braised pork in soy sauce.

Thursday was just the usual class and we learned how to make Chinese Opera Masks. I am still not finished painting it, but will do it back in the states!

Observation theme: Efficiency

Taiwan is surprisingly efficient. In retrospect, I suppose the entire country has to be efficient given the dense living conditions and lack of space per person. In terms of crowds forming along the platform at the MRT, to our visit to the Tamsui campus of Tamkang University, to our fast food excursions, and to our water bottles, everything just screams efficiency through their process management, which relates to my Operations Management major. To see what theories and concepts I have learned in my major related classes (such as Six Sigma) have been implemented in a large scale to my observations in Taiwan.

At the Tamsui Campus during our tour in the Memorial Library, there was one panel that talked about how Tamkang University implemented the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) in streamlining its education offerings to its students as well as providing the best quality with continuous improvements throughout the years.

On our water bottles, and in some buildings I have seen, they have all been marked ISO 9000/9001 and/or 14000 or 140001. ISO stands for “International Organization for Standardization” and getting certified with either of those numbers are recognized/ certified for meeting their management standards. Those marked with some variation of 9000 are recognized for quality management standards, while ISO 14000 is for environmental management standards. For something as minor as a water bottle, to have that claim is impressive, at least to me. In water bottles in the states, only in recent years have companies begun to incorporate greener practices in their bottle design for instance, using about 20% less plastic by making the caps shorter and using less plastic in the overall bottle. The overall urgency to be green and efficient is not just a forced mandate but a way of living. In the states we take a lot for granted, and so much waste is created but never recycled smartly.

Last two days here and it’s time to eat as much as I can because once I’m in the states, the abundance of cheap food within walking distance will be nonexistent.

Pictures (in no particular order of listing because my internet is lagging and won't display them):

Exterior of National Palace Museum, ISO listing on water bottle, Chinese Opera shot, City night picture from the 11th floor laundry room, our last night market, and a guy making glass animals right in front of us.

1/10 Friday- 1/13 Monday

1/10 Friday

We stopped by a greenhouse of sorts that had a lot of plants on sale among other products such as coffee and whiskey. One of the notable attractions that was there was the

We stayed at Toucheng Leisure Farm on Friday night, which was kind of hidden away in the mountains. It ran on a “DIY” mindset which meant the guests did some of the work themselves. What this entailed was: a get your own dessert station, make your own bowl of noodles station, and cleaning up your dishes after every meal. We took a short tour of the surrounding area, saw animals, and learned about plants. One of the activities the guide had planned for us involved painting with the leaves we found along our walk on either bags or t-shirts. He said something deep that kind of struck a chord with me— “Time makes it beautiful.” In short, I have not done this much arts and crafts in years—which makes me realize that I need to take a step back to incorporate more time to undertaking such hobbies.

Saturday was a quick brewery tour at Kavlan, the single malt whiskey company. I didn’t realize that there were 8+ steps in the brewing process. I was aware of the fermentation process but the finer details were lost upon me.

Going in between each city, it was just interesting to see how they differed from Taipei. The east coast cities had their industries more centered the seafood and rice industry which resulted in a different city layout than what you would find in Taipei. Taipei is a more typical metropolitan type of city that you would expect. With a more mountainous geography and along the coastline, the towns were not as dense. Buildings were laid out with more space in between them, and depending on the town you’d pass by, were surrounded by rice paddy fields.

Observations:

                A few of us had decided to grab fast food here, so we have been to both Mos Burger and Burger King, both of which are delicious. At Mos Burger, I was definitely surprised that the default side for a combo meal meant chicken nuggets, not French fries, which you had to ask for. I am not totally quite sure why that is but it is a minor pique of interest.

                In general to better illustrate the observation I had, I am going to use one of Hofestede’s cultural dimensions, in this case gauging a country’s collectivist vs individualistic nature. Hofestede also evaluates a country’s culture on a scale of other dimensions such as uncertainty avoidance, feminist/ masculine culture, level of context, and power distance.

                Taiwan is a very collectivist country, not only evidenced by other observations regarding the emphasis on filial piety, but also subtly evidenced by something as partially trivial as the fast food menu. In the U.S., Burger King offers different types of burgers, sides, desserts, and drinks more catered for individualized customization. However here there was a prominent selection of family style group meals. In the U.S. this is only seen in fast-food chains such as Popeyes and KFC. In Mos Burger and Burker King there were the concept of shared meals and group meals, which highlights the cultural dimension of collectivism.

1/6/14, Monday

Yesterday in our culture class we discussed the “strawberry” generation, which is what the young adults here in Taiwan are known as. The reason for such a name is because strawberries are easily bruised, and the young adults do not want to undertake such hardships and do not have the same work ethic as their parents did. They are taking longer to decide what they want to do with their life and have jobs that do not exact the return on investment from their education. Usually people equate any university degree with a high paying job. This perpetual problem among the young adults in Taiwan is becoming a huge issue. Many adults upon turning 18 have to take a test if they want to go to university and do so. If they choose not to, they also have to participate in a mandatory one year military service. For the most part though, they have different aspirations than what is typically found in their American counterparts. In class, apparently most would love to open their own small coffee shop and partake in that. I was kind of surprised to hear that.

In the states, at least in my personal academic environment, we are all ambitious in some form. We all pursue a relentless amount of jobs, extracurricular activities, research positions and classes just to make ourselves unique among the hundreds of other applicants for either grad school or full time entry level positions. At the same time though, we as the young adults are labeled either the “now” generation as Cody mentioned in class or the “millennial” generation which has been associated with words such as lazy, entitled, impulsive, and impatient. Honestly, the same kind of dream popped into my mind. If I had enough capital, I would be interested in opening a small café of sorts. It’s Plan D on my list of back-ups if all else fails.

So globally speaking, is every young adult between the age of 18-27 (or up to 30?) plagued with the same problems of undirected ambition and goals? Because we view work and life in a different way than our parents, how will that affect our future?

I wonder also is there enough jobs for those university graduates in the first place? In class, there was some mention of how workers from other countries were coming to Taiwan to take certain jobs, but do those jobs even require higher education? In our room, we talked about the job market here, and the salaries for an occupation such as housekeeping. Supposedly housekeepers here can make up to $30 an hour, which is more than $60,000 a year, which is definitely more than I would make in an entry level position. The money is enticing, and the work though tedious, is not difficult.

The same issues with the value of college education and post graduate jobs plague the U.S. What is stated in the media does not always match up with reality. The value of a college degree is constantly scrutinized given the rapid rising costs of tuitions at private and public universities, with the tentative fear of a student debt loan bubble. Why invest upwards to $60,000 (tuition, room and board) for private universities, only to be able to find jobs that pay around $30,000-$40,000?

Decimal Places

                I appreciate how prices are calculated here in Taiwan. Tax and/or tip is already calculated into the final price (unless it’s a large party/ nice restaurant, then a 10% gratuity is added). But it’s nice having to pay only whole numbers instead of something like $1.06 (6%) tax in MD, and ambiguous tipping usually suggested at 15% but some people go as far as not tipping at all.

                Learning how to say decimal places in mandarin was a whole other system. I was so surprised at how elaborate it was, for lack of a better word. The use of “measure words” which isn’t found in English to that extent. On one hand, in English we do have certain words that go together to signify “one thing of this” such as “a slice of pie” or “a piece of fruit” but for the most part, it’s more interchangeable I feel like. We learned between the uses of phrases such as “yi ge [one thing]” or “yi ben shu [one book].”

Last day of class at Level 1, Tuesday

                I was paired with a Viet girl, who did not speak English, except for “No understand.” That was interesting to get through. She had a Southern accent, while my parents speak with a Northern accent. Both are very different from each other, with different emphasis on certain letters and completely different words not found in the other language.

                Unintentionally while trying to find out more background info about each other, she kind of gave me a guilt trip. She asked me questions like “Why am I here?” “How do I know Vietnamese” and “Do I know how to read Vietnamese?” The last question I shook my head no because my parents felt that formal learning for Viet wasn’t necessary. She silently judged me. It makes me rethink about some of my resolutions. During school, I don't really have time to just do something outside of work and class. But in five months, I'll soon no longer have to take classes. I still want to learn, so this course is making me want to pick up another language seriously and brush up on the ones I do know. 

  

Wednesday: 

 We visited the Tamsui campus of Tamkang University and took more guided tours.

Pictures: