Ghost Festival and Buddhism Con't!

So.
I returned to the same spot with Esther and found our lady, who was ecstatic that her two foreigners (gawky and noticeable in the Taipei civilian crowd) had returned. She hurried us off to the tables, where at least 30 volunteers were rolling out mochi (again explained, rice gluten flour-dough that is eventually boiled) balls. They must have made HUNDREDS before we arrived. Turning the corner I could see more clearly that the prayer tables were set up on the grounds of an elementary school. Unlike our own schools, the halls of most Asian schools (Japan, China, Taiwan, not sure about Korea) have sinks outside in the corridors so kids can clean up before and after school. After washing our hands, we immediately got to work. Rolling out the dough in our hands, I started breaking off pieces and quickly got reprimanded: "太小了" and then "太大了 - 人吃不下!” ("too small" and then "too big- people won't be able to swallow them!"). After that, it wasn't too difficult! Just roll the dough, and pick up the next piece. It was at that point that I decided to strike a conversation with the ladies next to us with my savvy Chinese skills. It went something like this:

me: "There's a lot of these" (pointing to the mochi balls)
lady: **doesn't glance up**
me: **re-attempting, embarassed** "There's a lot of these - how many have you all made?"
lady: **blank stare**
Esther: (to me in English) "I don't think they understood...."
me: **what if they speak Taiwanese.....** "Are you all from Taibei?"
ladies: "Yep." **smiling**
me: **contact made! woohoo!**


It was quite a bit less daunting after that initial barrier of miscommunication (or lack thereof). However, that didn't stop me from not understanding quite a few words that they used....
After an hour and a half or so, we decided to clean up and walk around to see what else was going on. It turns out that this was quite a large event with quite a few 表演 (performances), not in the least including a dragon dance. They also had elementary kid setups with shime drums (small, beat-keeping drums about the size of a snare drum) for a drum performace. Some monks were preparing for a festival speech, while elementary girls in leaf ballet costumes were complaining about the heat. I do not blame them - it was hot. Not wanting to wait 30 minutes for the performances to start (we had other places to go), we decided to head out. On the way, we grabbed some of the mochi soup (the mochi balls were now cooked an in a very sweet syrup） and fish noodle soup. Both were delicious. We then left, and by the time we came back that evening all the tables we taken down and the people had all gone. The festival was over.

Ghost Festival and Buddhism

Held on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month (based on, obviously, the Lunar calendar as opposed to our Gregorian one), this is a holiday celebrated by both some Chinese, Taiwanese, and Buddhist monks (specifically the Mahayana sect). Offering food to their ancestors and surrounding a shrine with fruit, water, bowls of rice, and noodles, local Taipei onlookers and volunteers are swarming around in a elementary school near the bus stop I usually take. Having seen some of the preparation work the evening before, Esther (a friend I met in my housing complex) and I talked with some of the workers. After slowing down their rapid speech, we caught that if we came back the next day we could actually help make the mochi balls (rice flour dough that is boiled and usually very sweet) for the people who would be arriving to pray to their ancestors. We gratefully accepted, and returned the next day at 1pm.

Sick Day

Ah, yes, the inevitable (at least for me).

Yesterday afternoon I started falling asleep at my office. My eyes hurt. Everything else was fine, but then around 3:30pm - 4pm, my head exploded......I finished the day, and had to break it to my friend that no, I could not go to the Shilin night market. It was hard to walk.
I fell asleep (after Ibuprofen and some water) immediately. Still setting my alarm for the next day, just in case I was better. I was, but only a little. I called my boss and told her in very brusque Chinese that my head hurt and that my body was hot and that I didn't want to come into work today.....she agreed that it would be a bad idea. I fell asleep again and woke up at 10am feeling great and had miscellaneous thoughts of calling my boss again and letting her know I was okay! and then I fell asleep yet again and did not wake up until 4pm. I feel alright as of the moment. not 100% better, but my eyes don't hurt anymore, and I can walk.

Which brings me back to an earlier point - you will get sick in Asia. Be prepared. Don't get that silly notion that you are invincible, because when you are vomiting well into the night, you will not feel like it anymore AND you will have failed to bring pepto bismol (and they do not sell it here). ^.^ just a warning......

Ibuprofen, gastreX, and immodium are godly drugs! do not take them lightly when you pack....

Pinglin

Pinglin was great! Only about an hour's ride outside of Taipei city, Pinglin is has beautiful mountains and scenery. There you may find tiers/layers of tea leave plants on the slopes. Moving my eyes away from the scenery back to the exhibits at the tea museum, I read about how tea is picked, dried, rolled, dried again, tumbled, and pounded into its to-be sold form. Amazingly, the machines to do this kind of work have not dramatically changed over the years. Sure, they have gone from manual labor to manually operated, but the design of the roller and drying racks still hold onto antiquity.
After Pinglin, our crew of 8 headed out to Shifen's "Old Street". The town is divided in two by a train that passes through the center, reminiscent of the days when it shipped out Taiwanese coal to the rest of the nation. More famous than its coal mine, which is now shown off by its last work and his wife, is the lanterns. Standing about 3 feet tall, these paper balloons are fired by oiled paper and let go into the night sky, soaring high above. Ironically we are asked to calligraphize (is this even a word?) our hopes and dreams onto the balloon before it is released. Let dreams soar.

What can I say? I ate deep fried tea leaves and green tea noodles and watched my hopes and desires float away....

Excursion

Off to Pingling - the tea place! I will write more after I am finished on my lucky day excursion, sponsored by TLI (Taiwan Language Institute)

Work experience?

So what does a Philosophy/Asian Studies major do while interning in Taipei at a social welfare NPO? Whatever they want me to do, which, currently, is to design and format their website - a talent far removed from what I have studied in school. However, after interning this summer as a proto-chemistry intern at a solder making factory, I am used to being asked to step outside of my "normal" academic and talent bubbles. While I do not qualify myself as a website designer, there have been quite a few advantages for doing this type of project abroad:
1) Having the time to look up words and lingo on an online dictionary (as opposed to being at a conference and not knowing even the topic because they speak so quickly). So far my vocabulary list has expanded from Taiwanese slang (like using "shiyou" instead of "tongwu" for roommate)to include computer terms (website design 網頁設計， homepage 網站首頁，link 連結， etc...), but also the material that needs to be posted (NPO 非營利組織, social change 社會變遷(which is a lot simpler in simplified chinese....), seminar 研討會 etc...). AND say them all - which I'd better learn quickly. I have a meeting tomorrow morning for my plan of this website.....

The Begonia Foundation

A couple of you have been wondering what kind of work I would be doing at the Begonia
Foundation. Before I elaborate on my current projects, what the Begonia Foundation (海棠金会 @ http://www.npocenter.org.tw/) is and what they do needs to be further discussed.
The Begonia Foundation was founded in 1993 and served as Non-profit Organization (NPO) seeking to train and expand other NPOs and NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations). They currently offer a variety of services, such as training courses and consultations, to many organizations around Taiwan and, more recently, China. The training programme that the Begonia Foundation organizes helps instruct these NPOs/NGOs in how to manage the formal documentation (filling out proper legal forms: 公文), distribute jobs efficiently through the NGOs’ personnel, approach theoretical situations (such as providing shelter, food, and legal assistance to flood damage victims) in a practical manner, and many more. Unlike many current NGOs/NPOs, the Begonia Foundation specializes in training organizational management rather than a particular “aid” service (i.e. saving Taiwan’s endangered butterfly (Actually, I met this guy. He was really nice – there is a certain butterfly native only to Taiwan, and, unfortunately, it was also a “flood victim”. Last year’s huge typhoon knocked out a lot of nests.)). Because of these management courses, the Begonia Foundation has helped train around 5, 000 NGO/NPO participants. Their network is vast, but the organization itself only consists of 8 people, 4 of which seem to be the main workers, and the people I always see in the office.
Taiwan is the not the only place that the Begonia Foundation seeks to help out other NGOs. In the past couple years this group has put a larger emphasis on outreach to the international community. While they seek mainly to unite similar Taiwan and mainland Chinese NPOs/NGOs, in hopes that a larger group will better develop their ideas of social change, they also participate and help host numerous international conferences as well. As a Taiwan organization with very limited working persons, their English communication is greatly lacking. This is where the St. Olaf 4-week intern comes into play.
While I will not have the opportunity (or have the Chinese skills!) to participate or assist in any current training courses (I missed a large conference when I came in), there are other ways that I am aiding the Begonia Foundation to achieve, at least in part, their goal of moving international. The first project I started was a simple task: translate the “thank-you” notes from the most recent international conference. It was not easy, even after studying Chinese for 4 years. As I was doing it, I realized how lucky I am to know English (sophisticated English). Most international things that I will do in my life will be that much easier. I will not have to struggle for 6 years to perfect this widely spoken language. However, this being said, I am more than happy to spend those years learning Chinese instead. But it’s one less hindrance for a possible career, and it makes me feel good.
My more recent project is a little more exciting. But I’ve written enough today, so I’ll tell you more about it later. 再见！