WANG QUIN WONG SITU'S REFLECTIONS

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REFLECTION ON VLOG 1

上个星期我跟士意做第一的视频。第一的视频我们介绍一下我们的两个视频。我们会教台湾的早上的文化。虽然我的第一视频很好，可是我们觉得视频的水平可以提高。第一，在手机的前面聊天很难，都让我们很紧张，所以下个时候我们得先练习，再录音。第二，我问台湾人问题的时候，我们觉得他们没听清楚。如果我们想跟别的人用中文聊天，我们得提高我们的中文。我们可以问老师怎么说很有用的短语。第三，有的时候我们一起聊天很多久。所以我们最好问老师多问题。

这个周末我们会录音第二的视频。我们会上些台北的早餐店去介绍一下台湾的早饭。我们一到餐厅，就会问台湾的人的早上习惯。

 Justin and I decided to do our series of vlogs about Taiwanese morning culture. Comparing it to the West, we saw that in Asian countries, breakfast places and fitness are important for their communities. As we both are passionate about fitness and food, I believe that this topic suits us. During the shoot of the first vlog, I realized how complex the process can be and the difficulties that we might encounter.

First and foremost, I struggle to talk to the camera. The day before I had so many ideas in my mind, however, we haven’t planned out most of them in a script. A vlog should feel like a conversation to the audience but having an objective as well. During the first shoot, we decided to go straight to the shooting without having a clear idea of what? why? And how? of our video. Because of that, we took more time than expected to shoot the video, to clear our ideas. To solve this, we will do a script or a storyline about our message for the next videos, as well as having a rough script that we can follow. However, we have to take into account that plans may not follow as we expect.

Secondly, another difficulty we might encounter is the language barrier. We noticed that people are mindful about their privacy. Without limited Chinese, we will have some difficulties asking for permission to film and interviewing people. To solve this issue, we will try our best to practice some useful phrases in Chinese to request permission. Besides, probably request the help of a professor to guide us through the interview process.

Thirdly, we had some difficulty reaching into our desired topic. We have discussed our topic of this series of vlogs was going to be. It took a long time for us to reach that we are going to talk about Mornings in Taiwan. A topic that we will be able to cover how Taiwanese people live in a broader sense that we want. To solve this issue quicker, we will ask the help of our mentor more often to seek a better solution.

For the next video, we will be talking about breakfast in Taiwan. We will be going to breakfast places in Taipei and introduce how their usual breakfast culture is compared to the West. We will interview people on the street and ask about their breakfast routine. Also, we will be discussing how Taiwan had shaped their breakfast the way it is. For the next vlog, we will start to practice talking in front of the camera, as well as having a good plan to follow to be as efficient as we can be. Furthermore, we will need to get deeper into the culture to create bonds with the people we are going to talk to.

REFLECTION ON VLOG 2

As many second-generation Chinese, my older brother and I haven’t realized the value of learning a new language and all the lessons about the culture that come with it. I believe that the biggest achievement of the second vlog is being able to interact with the culture and being comfortable learning the language. For instance, we interacted with a local with our limited Chinese proficiency.

Breakfast is taken very seriously in Taiwan. Many breakfast places open early morning to satisfy the masses looking for a hearty breakfast before heading to work. In the West, a lot of people tend to skip breakfast to go to work. In Taiwan, people are willing to wait for food. Restaurants can have a line up that could go around the corner and people would still wait for their food. In terms of food, Taiwanese breakfast places serve filling options mostly composed of floury, savory, and dense items like 蛋饼 egg pancake，饭团 rice rolls filled with pork floss and fried doughnut，萝卜糕 turnip cake, in addition to their homemade soy milk 豆浆(unsweetened, sweet or salty) and more. 

Breakfast places are not only popular between adults and elderly, but also young teens. Some breakfast places are set up next to universities and schools. Students line up to buy sandwiches 三明治and 豆浆，between other items. I appreciate that many of these breakfast places are family owned and sell very similar homecooked style items, nothing pretentious or branded, but very affordable and relying heavily on a Taiwanese traditional breakfast. From my point of view, in the West, there is a stigma that people must eat out in groups, however, it doesn’t feel the same way in Taiwan. Often you can see people dining solo in restaurants, breakfast places, fast food places, and convenience stores.

Taiwan is a very convenient country, if you don’t have time to go to a breakfast place, 7/11 are all over around the place. They also sell items like 包子 or 豆浆 and 三明治, always serving the Taiwanese palate. No time to go to a 7/11, you could go to a Bakery or Louisa café to get breakfast on your way to work.

The biggest challenge of the second vlog was finding a local willing to speak with us. Like any person, they most often wouldn’t be willing to speak to a stranger, and less if its in front of a camera. We were fortunate enough to come across with an auntie in our table that wanted to speak with us. During the filming of our second video, we decided to use a single restaurant to introduce breakfast places in Taiwan to avoid being redundant. We talked to a local and she kindly explained to us how to eat these items during our vlog. However, we wished that we could relate more to her and other locals. There were some limitations in our interaction with the local.  I feel that my Chinese is not enough to talk about their day to day with locals. However, I believe that with time we will reach that level soon. 

For our next vlog, we are going to talk about transportation. There are many ways to go around Taiwan and we want to know all of them. We are going to introduce to the audience how to take the train, bike, MRT, and taxis. We are going to wrap up the video by saying some key takeaways from our stay in Taiwan.

我爸爸妈妈是中国人，但是我在秘鲁出长大的。虽然我哥哥和我跟我父母一起住，可是我只知道说一点中文。我觉得拍第二的视频后，现在我不怕说错中文。所以我习惯学中文。习惯是习惯可是我也觉得中文的生词很多，也很难学。第二视频的时候，我们去了一家早餐店叫永和豆浆王。我们先了点了他们的有名的东西，再给大家介绍。一个阿姨教了我们怎么吃哪个东西。我们学了四个星期多了。我觉得我们的中文越来越好，可是我中文的水平没够跟别的台湾人聊聊天。下视频，我们会介绍台北的不同种类的运输。

REFLECTION ON VLOG 3

For our third vlog, we decided to talk about transportation in Taiwan. Transportation in Taiwan is very convenient and easy to use. Both Vancouver and Taiwan have some things in common. In Vancouver and Taiwan, both use either cash or card to pay for a ticket. However, it is more common to see in Taiwan that people use an Easy card to move around as it is more convenient. Once bought the easy card, you can use it to take the subway, bus, and rent bikes.

In contrast, transportation culture in Taiwan is more considerate than in Vancouver. For instance, people always stand on the right side of the escalator to let people in a hurry pass first. In the same way, there are designated zones to line up before entering the subway avoiding congestion in the doors. Besides, food and drinks are not allowed to keep the station clean. The methods they use are effective since I have only seen very few cleaners only on the busy stations.

It seems to me that the Taiwanese and Vancouver culture of transportation have some relevant differences. Taiwanese transportation culture makes everything more efficient for everyone to use. There are times that I wish Vancouver and Peru adopt a more efficient method like Taiwan.  

Taiwanese and Vancouver transportation are by far more efficient than Peru. One of the biggest problems in Peru is transportation. There are not many regulations that control the number of buses and taxis on the streets. More often than not, during rush hour people spend an hour and a half on the highway to get home when they should have only spent half an hour. Likewise, taking the train doesn’t get you very far, it is still very small compared to the extensive subways that run around Taiwan or Vancouver. However, unlike the capital, the Peruvian countryside is less crowded, but also less developed. Peru is a developing country full of amazing food and culture, but it is no match with the pace technology is developing in Vancouver or Taiwan.

Every time I study abroad, I am fascinated by how different the culture is to mine. I always try to assimilate the culture of the country I am visiting. I have been living and studying abroad for more than two years now. It was a journey for me to travel to Taiwan to study Chinese as it is my second time traveling to Asia alone, but the first time having more independence on my journey. During the program, I had enough time to travel around Taiwan and try new things in Taipei with amazing people in the program. Every time I travel on study-broad programs, I realize that the world is smaller than it seems.

Taipei is a vast city with culture and incredible people. Taiwan is developing at a fast pace, but at the same time being respectful about their food and culture traditions. This project brings me another perspective of Taiwanese culture I haven’t appreciated before. Taiwan has a different appreciation towards transportation and food, something that I could take back home.

第三的视频，我们介绍台湾的交通。台湾的交通很方便也很容易用。温哥华的交通跟台湾的都有一样的地方比方说，他们都用现金和卡付钱。但是，在台湾你常常看到台湾人用悠遊卡坐捷运。你买了悠遊卡以后，你还可以用卡坐巴士，还是租自行车。

我觉得台湾的交通文化比温哥华的好多了。在捷运，人每次上和下楼的时候，在右边站着去。要是别人想出去快点，他们可以在左边去。台湾人也先等里的人先下车，再上。捷运也很干净是因为在捷运里你不可以喝和吃东西。

台湾和温哥华的交通比秘鲁的好多了。因为秘鲁有太多巴士和出租汽车，所以高峰时间的时候，人慢慢地开车。秘鲁没有台湾那么方便。

我最喜欢海外学习是因为每次我学新的东西。台北是很有意思的地方。人很高兴，食物又很好吃，运输又很方便。我发现秘鲁比较我去过的国家有很多事可以提高。现在我认识更好台湾的文化。