By Natasha

Natasha is a member of the 2023-24 DGYP cohort.

January – March 2024

2024, the year of the dragon! If I could describe what celebrating the lunar new year in Taiwan was like in a few words, it would be energetic, reverent, colorful, electric. The start of my 2024 was encompassed by witnessing Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, volunteering at a few schools in Kaohsiung, and (finally!) a break from school after 4 consecutive months of study— winter break!

Wrapping Up the Winter Term

After much nervousness preparing for the final exam of the term, I completed my second term at WZU’s Chinese Language Center with success! Some of my favorite memories in the classroom and in my school community were writing 春聯 / spring couplets, wearing 漢服 / traditional Chinese attire in celebration of the new year, and singing in Taiwanese Hokkien with my classmates as a part of the Chinese Language Center’s singing competition (where we won second place)! I also took the TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language) as a measure of my language progress up to this point.

 

 

Off campus in my host community, something that was also interesting to observe was the election process in action. Being in Taiwan during an election year provided insight into Taiwanese political discourse that I don’t think I would have otherwise experienced.

Listening to the perspectives of my teachers, friends, and host family made me think a lot about my unique positioning as a student on a United States national security program, and that reality reminded me even more of the importance of listening. I remember the tension felt on election day, and the experience of going to a local polling place with my host family to watch the poll workers count the vote (yes, this is something you can do!). Quite different from the largely electronic vote-counting system in the U.S., poll workers manually grabbed hold of each paper ballot, yelling aloud the result of that ballot for everyone watching—and the person manually tallying the vote on a large paper taped to the wall—to hear. And if a poll worker were to make a mistake, an older uncle was very quick to correct it!

Elementary School Teaching Exchanges

With my cohort, I volunteered at two local elementary schools in Kaohsiung, participating in a teaching/culture/language exchange. We first volunteered at an experiential elementary school for Indigenous students (Bunun tribe), where we shared our elementary school experiences, quirks about the American education system (public school lunches, no 補習班 / cram school!), and taught them popular American games, dances, and songs of my childhood. The students and teachers at the school also exchanged with us indigenous traditions, and invited us to wear traditional clothing and participate in a number of activities.

 

 

One of the challenges of teaching the students wasn’t so much preparing a lesson in Chinese, but learning to adapt and respond to their responses! Their excitement was a lot to manage, but also really fun. In the few weeks of volunteering at these schools, using Chinese to communicate with the students and answering questions, I felt the most growth in my language abilities.

Miscellaneous Travel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunar New Year’s Preparations and Celebrations

The lunar new year was easily one of the busiest times of the year in my host community. Lunar new year’s markets opened, and streets were packed full with people. Night markets were busier than ever, and a new market only open during this time of year shut down several miles of the street to accommodate food stalls and other stands. Light festivals were some of my favorite, and the biggest I’ve ever seen! (The most unique lantern was a 10 foot dragon drinking 珍珠奶茶 / boba milk tea…) The lunar new year was time for family and reflection, sharing food and drinks, singing, games! One of my favorite memories throughout my gap year was having a big dinner with my host family and their extended family, singing karaoke, and playing 老鼠牌 / Rat Cards / 12 Zodiac cards, a card game matching animals in the Chinese zodiac. Cooking Jamaican rice and peas and sharing Jamaican spice bun during the lunar new year was also really special to me, as I got to share with my host family dishes that I grew up eating on special holidays.

In contrast with the high energy of Kaohsiung’s night markets and lantern festivals, going to temples, preparing religious offerings, and preparing the home for the new year was even more meaningful. Praying / “拜拜” with incense, burning ghost money/joss paper (金紙, golden paper), and taping up new spring couplets on the host family door were all important in preparing for the new year. In spending so much time with my host family, I felt my relationship with them deepening, and I felt I hit a new “high” in my language progress. Upon reflection, speaking Chinese 24/7 during this break, where I spent most of my time with my host family, really pushed my thinking and fluency in a way where I felt more comfortable and confident in my abilities! Prior to this point I think I was really hard on myself and set lofty goals, so feeling the satisfaction of conducting my day entirely in Chinese without interruption was a great motivator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024台灣燈會在臺南 / Taiwan Lantern Festival in Tainan

Cohort Excursion to Kinmen 金門

Finally, visiting 金門 Kinmen/Jinmen (translated as “golden gate”) during winter break, a group of islands in the Taiwan strait, was a physical reminder of the political and social tension between Taiwan and Mainland China. Being able to see the coast of Xiamen, a city in China’s Fujian province, illustrated to me the sheer closeness in proximity of the two regions. Each relic on this island told stories of war, resistance, and death, yet also life.