Taiwan tea, please!

Taiwan Recording

高山 茶 友好 一座 坐车 茶园 一种 娱乐 先生 种茶 天气 空气 信 佛教 教义 珍惜 大自然 休息 关系 冷 热 天空

Gāoshān chá yǒuhǎo yīzuò zuòchē cháyuán yī zhǒng yúlè xiānshēng zhǒng chá tiānqì kōngqì xìn fójiào jiàoyì zhēnxī dà zìrán xiūxí guānxì lěng rè tiānkōng

tall mountain tea friendly one ride car tea field one type enjoyment sir, husband grow tea weather air believe Buddhism teachings treasure nature take a break connection cold hot sky

雾气 摘 茶叶 每一片 生活里面 走进去 拿着 篮子 怎么 不行 香 工作 久 累 问 请问 回去 台语 不懂 茶壶 热水 杯子 倒一杯 闻 一点点

wùqì zhāi cháyè měi yīpiàn shēnghuó lǐmiàn zǒu jìnqù názhe lánzi zěnme bùxíng xiāng gōngzuò jiǔ lèi wèn qǐngwèn huíqù tái yǔ bù dǒng cháhú rè shuǐ bēizi dào yībēi wén yī diǎndiǎn

fog, mist pick tea leaves each piece in life walk into holding basket how to nope fragrant work long time tired ask excuse me go back Taiwanese language don’t understand tea pot hot water cup pour a cup of smell a little bit

“台湾 有 高山，也 有 水，所以，我们 茶 很 好喝！”

一个 很 友好 的 女生 跟 我 说话。我 在 台湾 的 一座 很高 的 山上  坐 车。

这个 女生 要 带 我 去 看 他的 茶园。

“我们 台湾人 很喜欢 喝 茶。喝 茶 是 我们 台湾人 的 一种 娱乐，但是，为什么 我 和 我的 先生 种茶 呢？种茶 也 是 一种 娱乐。在 高山 上，天气 很好，空气 很好。我们 信 佛教。佛教的 教义 说，我们 要 珍惜 大自然，我们 也 要 休息休息，想一想，我们 跟 大自然 有 什么 关系。”

我们 到 他的 山上 的 家。天气 不冷，不热。天空 上 有 很多 雾气！

“跟 我 来。我 给 你 看 怎么 摘 茶叶。摘 茶叶 的时候，你 要 爱 每一片 茶叶。你 要 对 每一片 茶叶 很好。你 不要 想到 你 生活 里面 的 不好。你 要 想 到 茶叶。”

我们 走 进去 一个 很 大 的 茶园。 我 拿着 一个 很大 的 篮子。我 跟 她 说，

“那，我 怎么 摘 茶叶？ 茶叶 都 可以 摘 吗？”

“不行！小的 茶叶 最 香。很大 的 茶叶 不太 香。”

我们 在 山上 工作 了 不久，但是，我 很 累！我 问 他 说，

”请问，我们 可以 喝 茶 吗？“

“可以！跟我 来！”

我们 回去 她的 家。里面 有 她 和 她 三个 朋友。她们 说的话 不是 中文。 他们 说  台语。在 台湾，很多 人 会 说 中文，但是，很多 人 也 会 说 台语。我 不懂 他们 说 的 话，但是， 他们 给 我 看 怎么 喝 我的 茶。

他们 给 我 一个 小小 的 杯子。他们 放 茶叶 在 茶壶 里。他们 放 热水 在 茶壶 里。他们 倒一杯 茶 给我。我 闻了 那 杯 茶水。 很 香!

我 喝 一点点。很 好 喝！

TASK: Answer the following questions in English and provide textual evidence in Chinese to support your answer:

1. How is growing tea important to Ms. Zhang?
2. Describe the process of picking tea leaves and drinking the tea.

“Táiwān yǒu gāoshān, yěyǒu shuǐ, suǒyǐ, wǒmen chá hěn hǎo hē!”

Yīgè hěn yǒuhǎo de nǚshēng gēn wǒ shuōhuà. Wǒ zài táiwān de yīzuò hěn gāo de shānshàng zuòchē.

Zhège nǚshēng yào dài wǒ qù kàn tā de cháyuán.

“Wǒmen táiwān rén hěn xǐhuān hē chá. Hē chá shì wǒmen táiwān rén de yī zhǒng yúlè, dànshì, wèishéme wǒ hé wǒ de xiānshēng zhǒng chá ne? Zhǒng chá yěshì yī zhǒng yúlè. Zài gāoshānshàng, tiānqì hěn hǎo, kōngqì hěn hǎo. Wǒmen de zōngjiào shì fójiào. Fójiào de jiàoyì shuō, wǒmen yào zhēnxī dà zìrán, wǒmen yě yào xiūxí xiūxí, xiǎng yī xiǎng, wǒmen gēn dà zìrán yǒu shé me guānxì.”

Wǒmen dào tā de shānshàng de jiā. Tiānqì bù lěng, bù rè. Tiānkōng shàng yǒu hěnduō wùqì!

“Gēn wǒ lái. Wǒ gěi nǐ kàn zěnme zhāi cháyè. Zhāi cháyè de shíhòu, nǐ yào ài měi yīgè cháyè. Nǐ yào duì měi yīgè cháyè hěn hǎo. Nǐ bùyào xiǎngdào nǐ shēnghuó lǐmiàn de bù hǎo. Nǐ yào xiǎngdào cháyè.”

Wǒmen zǒu jìnqù yīgè hěn dà de cháyuán. Wǒ názhe yīgè hěn dà de lánzi. Wǒ gēn tā shuō,

“nà, wǒ zěnme zhāi cháyè? Cháyè dōu kěyǐ zhāi ma?”

“Bùxíng! Xiǎo de cháyè zuì xiāng. Hěn dà de cháyè bù tài xiāng.”

Wǒmen zài shān shàng gōng zuò liǎo bùjiǔ, dànshì, wǒ hěn lèi! Wǒ wèn tā shuō,

” qǐngwèn, wǒmen kěyǐ hē chá ma?“

“Kěyǐ! Gēn wǒ lái!”

Wǒmen huíqù tā de jiā. Lǐmiàn yǒu tā hé tā sān gè péngyǒu. Tāmen shuō dehuà bùshì zhōngwén. Tāmen shuō tái yǔ. Zài táiwān, hěnduō rén huì shuō zhōngwén, dànshì, hěnduō rén yě huì shuō tái yǔ. Wǒ bù dǒng tāmen shuō dehuà, dànshì, tāmen gěi wǒ kàn zěn yāo hè wǒ de chá.

Tāmen gěi wǒ yīgè xiǎo xiǎo de bēizi. Tāmen fàng cháyè zài cháhú lǐ. Tāmen fàng rè shuǐ zài cháhú lǐ. Tāmen dào yībēi chá gěi wǒ. Wǒ wénle nà bēi cháshuǐ. Hěn rè, jiù hěn xiāng.

Wǒ hè yī diǎndiǎn. Hěn hǎo hē!

Coming of Age in Tainan

What does it mean to "come of age" exactly? Well, in many cultures, Chinese culture included, people celebrate various ages moreso than others. For example, we celebrated my daughter's first birthday in very unique fashion. Besides the normal birthday cake and gifts, we also put items such as a computer, a ball, paper, a book, and some blocks. The goal is simple - the one year-old will determine what he/she will become when she is older. Take a look at what our daughter decided. Certainly, she will be a physicist.

In Tainan, Taiwan, I had the chance to attend another coming-of-age ceremony celebrating girls who are aged 16. According to many locals, this is the age that traditionally, girls become women. The girls and their families give thanks to the goddess Chiniangma who protects children up until the age of 16. View the video below to see some of the other traditions associated with this ceremony.

To the Markets We Go!

Markets in Taiwan stand out to me as being truly unique. You can get almost anything at these markets, however, what you will find depends on what type of market you visit. I was able to visit traditional local markets, which mainly sell daily staples such as fruits, veggies, meats, rice, noodles, beans, and any other foods locals consider to be important. The other type of market I visited was a night market, something which many locals say you can only find in Taiwan. Night markets here are packed with people who generally are both looking to hangout with friends, get a snack, and/or check out the latest fashions in clothing.

Check out what I found at the local tradional market:

Taiwanese or Chinese? That is the question.

I have been quite busy over the last week meeting new people and learning more about who the people are here in Taiwan and how they describe themselves. I was lucky enough to sit down with two professors from the Chinese language department at one of Taiwan's top universities, National Taiwan Normal University. My main question to them was this: "Would you describe yourself as being Taiwanese, Chinese, or both? And if you would describe yourself as being both Taiwanese and Chinese, which identity seems to affect your daily life and beliefs most? "

The question was complicated and it took me a few tries using Chinese to make sure they fully understood what I was asking. This is ultimately the challenge of learning a second language, there are always times when you want to say something and you just don't have the exact words needed to express yourself. In this situation, all I could do was try to use the vocabulary that I knew and explain what it was I wanted to learn about them. Eventually, they both understood and our discussion lasted nearly 3 hours.

The first professor, Zhu Laoshi, made it clear that she is first and foremost, Taiwanese. She explained that while she certainly feels a connection to her ancestors that came over to Taiwan from Guangdong Province, her connection is to the older customs and traditions of ancient Chinese culture, not the current culture of China that she believes has changed drastically. She went on to explain that many teachers, scholars, and well-educated people from China immigrated to Taiwan, and with them, they brought a deep understanding of Chinese culture and traditions. She is very proud of this fact that she celebrates festivals the way they were celebrated hundreds of years ago. With all this said, she professed a hope that China and its people will re-learn those traditions that she says many people in China have forgotten. For example, she said that while she was teaching in Beijing for a year, one of the more important festivals, Dragon Boat Festival, was approaching. She asked a student if he was looking forward to celebrating and his reply was, "Celebrating what?" She then proceeded to teach the student, a college student at one of China's top universities, the various traditions related to the celebration of Dragon Boat Festival.

I'll write more on this topic later.

Shrimping.....Taiwan Style

The last week has been wonderful. I have a ton of things to share with you all! First, I sat down with two professors from one of Taiwan's top universities. I wanted to get some professionals' ideas about what I should expect as I wander Taipei talking to local people about why they are proud to be Taiwanese. Both of the professors, 朱老师 和陈老师, seemed to feel a very strong connection to China; however, the China they spoke of was not the China of today, but rather, the China of the past. They both mentioned how proud they were that Taiwan and its people have been able to continue to practice many of the ancient customs practiced in ancient China. 朱老师explained that she believes Taiwanese people possess a strong sense of community, and people's kindness and generosity is something that is cyclical and continually gets passed on from one person to the next, creating a harmonious and pleasant society. We certainly have felt this kindness each and every day. People here make sacrifices for one another. For example, every time we have gotten on the train, people jump out of their seats to let Baea and my wife sit down.

In other news, about a week ago, a typhoon hit Taiwan and nothing was open. School and work was cancelled and my plans to visit a local museum were also rendered useless when I found out that the museum was also closed. Luckily, there was one place open that I had wanted to visit for some time, the 掉虾场or shrimp fishing place

About a week ago, a typhoon hit Taiwan and nothing was open. School and work was cancelled and my plans to visit a local museum were also rendered useless when I found out that the museum was also closed. Luckily, there was one place open that I had wanted to visit for some time, the 掉虾场or shrimp fishing place

We arrived at around 10 am and it was quite empty. However, to my surprise, as we were leaving around 1 o'clock, the place began to fill up with people. I asked around to learn more about the activity and while many were able to explain why they enjoyed it, only one person seemed to know when it first started. According to him, fishing for giant Thai prawns started about 30 years ago. People enjoy leisurely activities and loved these giant shrimp and thus, people began raising them on farms in Taiwan. Slowly, people began to develop an interest in fishing for them. Today, you can find a number of these shrimping houses in more rural areas of the island. It certainly was a challenge and I was only able to catch two in three hours of fishing. At 300 New Taiwan Dollars an hour, it ended up being a pretty small and expensive meal, but, it was well worth the experience.