Fun at the Chinese Learning Center

When I first began my Chinese classes it was an exciting adventure because I always love learning and experiencing new things.  However, by the halfway point of the semester I was really starting to wonder if I would ever be able to speak this challenging language.  Thankfully I had an awesome teacher, wonderful classmates, and Jesus of course :)  Now with final exams completed I can look back at the past 10 weeks and realize just how much I've learned and how far I've come!  

The  Chinese Learning Center (CLC) does a great job in creating a fun learning environment.  Not only do they do a fantastic job at teaching us the Chinese language but they also host a number of cultural activities and other great events for all of us foreign students.  Over the past 2 and a half months I've made some great friends and we've had many good times and have shared much laughter.  Here are some of the highlights:

The beautiful pond right outside the CLC
Perfect studying environment, right???

Trip to the Aboriginal Cultural Park

Taiwan continues to boast of it's rich history and culture of the native aboriginal people that inhabit the island.  There are currently 14 different aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, most of which live in the rural mountainous regions.  Although the aboriginal tribes have many commonalities, each tribe has their own specific tribal language, clothing and customs.  It was fascinating to learn more about each tribe and to participate is many of their traditions first hand!

Cherry, Jess and I snagging a photo with this tribesman

Men and women representing all the different tribes

A Tribal canoe

Learning the art of making glass beads

Dancing in the streets

Tattoes and warrior cries from Jess and I

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is celebrated at the beginning of the lunar calendar, not on January 1st as we do in Canada.  It is probably the biggest holiday of the year in Taiwan but also the busiest because pretty much the whole country has these days off of work and school.  The Chinese Learning Center made it a fun experience for us foreign students by teaching us how to make dumplings and write Chinese calligraphy.  

2014 is the Year of the Horse

Dumplings anyone?

Dumpling filling: pork, green onions, spices.
Pretty easy but still delicious! 

Learning how to "bag" dumplings

Group consensus: yum!

The "shū fǎ" (Chinese calligraphy) master

Manuel and Pablo scoping out my work.
Take my word - it's harder than it looks!

Happy New Year!  

Reading Competition

Every semester the CLC holds a competition where every class has to perform a specific Chinese act. This semesters it was a reading competition so our class performed a very popular children's poem called "Bàba bǚ yú qù" (translated as Don't Go Fishing Dad).  Our teacher got creative and changed it into a song so it was a hit with the judges as they were all flooded with nostalgic memories of elementary school.  We were supposed to be judged based on our pronunciation but even despite our mistakes, our charisma was enough to win us 2nd place!  The prize?  Pizza and chicken wings.  Kind of funny to have Western food as a prize considering we are Chinese language students!  It was delicious nonetheless and it was so fun to see the other classes' performances.

A1 class gets creative with yellow rain jackets

A2 class' pronunciation is spot on

A3 class reciting a famous children's poem, Bàba bǔ yú qù

A3 class - So maybe we weren't quite perfect but
what we lacked in skill we made up for with our enthusiasm!

Congrats A3 class - 2nd place winners!

Hot Pot

One thing you will notice right away when you come to Taiwan is that their culture is all about food.   Going for hot pot with a group of friends is particularly popular, especially during the "winter" season (I say "winter" in quotation marks because even though it's winter it's still sunny and 25 degrees outside).  All over Taiwan you will find hot pot restaurants, most of which are all-you-can-eat buffets.  Each person gets their own heated soup container so you can choose which kind of soup broth you'd like and control the temperature individually.  You then get to pick from a wide array of noodles, meat, seafood, vegetables and other edible goodies to put in your soup.  There are also many other non-hotpot dishes as well as fruit, ice cream, fondue and other desserts.  It's one of my fave outings because it's a great place to socialize and also because you can literally eat for hours!

Manuel and Pablo can't wait to get there!

Vincent and Cherry enjoying hot pot with Tián Lǎoshī

Full but very satisfied!

The girls with Yè Lǎoshī (Teacher Yè)

Thumbs up from my class:
Pablo, Jeremy, Robyn, Kinu, Jess, Jamillah, Pablo
Me, Téng Lǎoshī

ChinEASY???

Although I continue to help at Ray of Hope, God set it on my heart that my main purpose for this year in Taiwan is to study Chinese and to learn the language as fluently as possible.  So back to school I went.  Honestly, people must think I'm one of those eternal students who spend their life in school after 6 years of university, 2 years in Bible college, Christian Counselling courses, a Teaching English as a Second Language program, and now studying Chinese.  It might seem like I LOVE school but really I'm just trying to follow as God leads! 

Currently I'm enrolled in classes for one year at the Chinese Language Centre (CLC) at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU).  I'm really grateful because NCKU is one of the top universities in Taiwan and their CLC is very reputable and well-known.  I'm also thankful that I live in Tainan and not Taipei because there are fewer foreigners, which means that I have more opportunity to practice speaking Chinese, rather than defaulting to English all the time.  

So just a little background on me...studying Chinese was definitely not my first choice.  If I had a choice I would have moved to Japan and learned to speak Japanese fluently, for the obvious reason that I am Japanese.  My entire family is Japanese and most don't speak English.  I can just imagine how wonderful it would be to have a full conversation with my Grandma without my mom translating for me.  But God has a purpose and ways beyond what we can see with our own eyes and so here I am learning this strange language!  I also know that there will be a time for me in the future to focus on and learn Japanese.  I don't know how many languages He intends for me to learn but I know that whatever He will help me with whatever He asks me to do :)

Another reason I preferred not to learn Chinese is because it is such a difficult language to learn!   Chinese is what you would call a tonal language, which means that you can say the same syllable with a different tone and it will have a different meaning.   For example, take the syllable "ma".  Depending on the tone you use, "ma" can mean "mother", "horse", "hemp", or "scold".  It takes a well trained ear to be able to hear the differences in the tones and also to be able to speak with tones.  Chinese is also so difficult because of their complex writing system.  Instead of using an alphabet like English does, Chinese uses over 3000 characters.  Take the word "Taiwan".  In Chinese it is written as "台灣" where the 2 characters represent the 2 syllables "tái" and "wān".  In order to be able to read and write you basically have to memorize the sound and meaning of all these characters!  I often laugh because my Chinese teacher always says that Chinese is easy.  Chinese is not so easy!        

Being Asian has both advantages and disadvantages for living in Taiwan and learning Chinese.  The main advantage is that people think I'm Taiwanese so they automatically speak to me in Chinese and I get a lot of practice in my listening skills.  But the main disadvantage is also that people think I'm Taiwanese so they automatically speak to me in Chinese.  When I answer in my poor Chinese they are confused and then I have to explain that I'm actually Canadian and that my parents are Japanese.  The often look somewhat disappointed in me so I think they don't believe me.  It must be a complete mystery to them that although I'm Asian, I can't speak Chinese fluently.  It's all quite funny to me and I'm really just thankful to have any opportunity to practice my Chinese.  

Learning a second language (or third, or fourth for that matter) is definitely not a piece of cake.  It takes time, patience, hard work, diligence, humility, and much, MUCH practice.  Most people study years to even come close to fluent in a new language.  I have such a deep appreciation for people who have immigrated to a new country and culture, learned a new language, and lived, studied and worked using their new language.  I am reminded to always be kind and patient with foreigners back in Canada who are learning English because now I know what it's like to be in their shoes.  It takes a lot of courage to be willing to try to speak a new language in a foreign country because making countless mistakes is inevitable.  Taiwan has been a wonderful place to learn though because the Taiwanese people have been incredibly gracious and have made it a fun experience.  I thank God continually for this journey and am excited to learn more over the rest of the year!

Back in the Taiwan groove

Hi again!  So it has been about 2 and a half months since I returned to Taiwan and for many reasons it has taken me a little more time to get settled in this time around.  Prolonged jet lag, overcoming the flu, starting school right away, getting to know new people, learning my role at Ray of Hope, figuring out the culture and language, as well as being more independent to find my way around town are just some of the things that took some time to adjust to.  I definitely can say that I now have a new found understanding of the numerous challenges that people who have moved to a different country, culture, and language face!  But thank God that He helped me through it all!  He also placed such wonderful people in my life to help me.  I don't know where I would be without my family, good friends, other missionaries, my co-workers at Ray of Hope, my classmates, an incredible church in Calgary, a wonderful church family here in Taiwan, and even random Taiwanese people.  With each passing day, I felt God's grace to adapt well to life in this beautiful country and to also understand His purpose in all of this.  Praise the Lord!

Last year when I was helping at Ray of Hope, I mostly worked with pregnant moms who were in a crisis pregnancy and helped to take care of them.  This year I am working in a supportive role for a couple of the women who are a part of the Mama's Training Program.  This is the program I described in one a previous post, that assists women after they have delivered their babies.  The women live at the Bedwell Home and Ray of Hope helps them to get back on their feet again by providing them with ongoing counselling as well as helping them with setting goals and planning their future, learning practical life skills such as budgeting and cooking, and giving them on the job training and work experience.  I also help out at Ray of Hope's Thrift Store one day a week.  The more time that I spend with these women, the more I realize that each woman has their own specific circumstances and challenges and that the decisions that they face are incredibly difficult.  It's not an easy area of ministry but God continues to guide me and give me wisdom.  With time, patience, and a loving and supportive environment these women are able to let their hearts be healed.  They are champions in my eyes, for having the courage to face adversity and to be willing to learn and change.  

It really has been an eye-opening experience for me.  Through all of this God is continually teaching me to love like He does - unconditionally, impartially, without judgment, without holding back.  I thought I had a pretty good idea of what love is but now I realize that I have hardly scratched the surface in discovering the unending ocean of His love.  He's teaching me to see people how He truly sees them, like a little baby in the arms of a loving Father.  A baby who has nothing to give but is still loved just because.  I don't always get it right when I'm trying to help these women.  I make mistakes and don't always act lovingly but then God reminds me that I, too, am like a little baby in the arms of my loving heavenly Father - loved just for being me and not because of my good works (or lack thereof).  What an awesome God He is and I give thanks every day that I will know Him for all of eternity!