Friday after class, we left to go
to Tainan City, which is in the south of Taipei, roughly 3 to 4 hours by bus. As
a side note, I am amazed at how clean the public rest stops are. Usually the
ones in the U.S. are grungy, terrifying, and usually filthy. The night we got
in, we went to another night market and grabbed dinner. This night market was
kind of different than the one we went to in Taipei in ways such as their
dessert offerings and seafood variety. There was more seafood, such as
grilled/fried cuttlefish and desserts such as foot long soft serve ice cream
cones.
Saturday we went to go see Fort
Provincia, Anping Fort and Eternal Golden Castle. Fort Proventia has three
squared shaped bases made of red bricks held together by a mix of water, sugar,
rice and grounder oyster shells instead of what I would have thought cement but
cement had not been created yet. I was
amazed at the ingenuity of the mixture honestly because it lasted hundreds of
years. Anping Fort was notable because of the Dutch influence. Fort Zeelandia
there as a defense base still had the southern brick walls on the outer fort
which signaled the Dutch period. We then went to the Dragon and Tiger Pagoda
(Picture below) that was really cool to go to. We had to enter through the
Dragon’s mouth first, which led us to carved murals. On the left side,
represented images of what heaven would be like, while the right side
represented the 10 levels of hell. The latter of which reminded me of Dante’s
Inferno as described by Dante Alighieri.
Sunday could be best broken down in
roughly two parts – Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center and the wedding.
Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial
Center (picture below), could be best described in one word as grandiose. A
word that neither brings a positive or negative connotation in my mind, but it
is the only appropriate word to describe it. I had expected the center to be
very simple and bare bones, but what we came across was much more modern and touristy.
At first, I was against the grandiose nature of the entire center. The
Starbucks, 7-11 store, and multiple food stations in the front reception hall
seemed to juxtapose with the entire Buddhist ideals. Being somewhat Buddhist
because of my parents, I felt that having those kinds of places was kind of
distracting to the simplistic nature of Buddhism. Someone in class today made
the point that Buddhism was not meant to cut yourself off from luxuries, like
ascetics do, but to have them within reach. I ceded to that point given the
context of our times. After class today, I moved to a more neutral position
regarding how to feel about the memorial center. I understand both sides
explaining how the type of displays were necessary yet an odd choice given what
to expect. What surprised me was the exhibit itself. It was much more advanced
and flashy, with lit-up displays, projectors, and television screens. The outside
of the center though was very simple and peaceful. I appreciated the level of
detail and care that went into the layout. The eight pagodas surrounding the giant
Buddha statue, four corners of the base representing the four noble truths, and
37 steps signifying the 37 ways to reach enlightenment.
The second part of the day, the
wedding. We went to wish Dr. Liu’s nephew and future niece in law the best in
their upcoming nuptials (which were the same day in two hours). It was very
exciting to see how traditional weddings are held and the sheer number of
guests at the reception. Seeing the rehearsal before the wedding was also
interesting because it was so last minute. In the United States, it is usually
the day before. In a way though it reminded me of the weddings I have been to
for my family, with the ceremony being conducted elsewhere as opposed to it
being at the hotel. The ceremony is usually at the pagoda or church, and then
the reception is held at a Chinese restaurant with a 7 course meal. (New
Fortune, Good Fortune, or China Garden are the 3 main restaurants for such festivities).
I think it was also the nicest gesture for her family to give us dinner on the
bus, considering we all came in very under dressed and essentially kind of
crashed the wedding reception. That really was touching since they did not have
to go through all that trouble. If we did that for an American wedding, we
probably would have not even been allowed on the same premises or gotten
strange glares. Instead we were welcomed.
Monday:
Today was the first day of our level one Chinese class. It
was overwhelming to say the least, but it was interesting for a few reasons. I
was paired up with two Japanese people who talked about their backgrounds. It
was really interesting to find out that one guy had quit his job to come here
and learn Chinese to be able to work in trading between Japan and China after
he finishes his studies. When he talked about that, I noticed the age
demographic of our class was older than what I expected. I am not completely
sure why that is, but if it is anything based from my encounter with my
Japanese partner, then it might be for reasons similar to why he is taking
Mandarin.
Other observation:
The Taiwanese really love their dogs. I thought dog sweaters
were a little extreme, a dog in a stroller more so but at the Kaoshiung night
market I saw someone with a dog bjorn and a sweater. The dogs never bark here
and they always stay with their owner, despite the lack of a leash in many
situations. The dogs are also mostly small-sized ones.
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