UBC GO GLOBAL CHIN234: LEARNING CHINESE IN A LIVING CLASSROOM IN TAIWAN
ASA SCHAEFFER
费衫
ABOUT ME
Hello!
My name is Asa Schaeffer, but in the Chinese-speaking world I am known as Fei4 Shan1， which I like to translate as “Marvelous Mountain” I am 5 feet 8 inches tall, and currently weigh 130 pounds. I had my first study experience in Taiwan during the summer of 2019.
Studying Chinese, for me, was more of a challenge than a necessity. In my time studying at a western university, I was exposed to eastern philosophy but was deeply entrenched in western way of thought. I have always admired the earnest way that Chinese people go about labor, be it practicing hip hop dance in the park on a saturday, or mastering calligraphy through repetition. So I enrolled in an introductory Chinese class in my Sophomore year of university, and as I grew to like the program I was invited to join this summer learning program. Here I am!
WHAT THIS PROGRAM BROUGHT ME
This summer program gave me a really important opportunity to rebuild myself. After a wonderful first semester of my sophomore year, my happiness, mental and physical health declined substantially and consistently leading up to this course. I went from studiously acing my first chinese class to barely passing the second semester, some days sleeping until 5 in the afternoon, figuratively drowning. I barely finished my courses and headed through the first half of summer in a daze. When the day came to fly to Taiwan, I was met with a most foreign feeling of excitement! The ability to take up my old chinese name, in a country where I had to labor to communicate even the most basic small talk ignited my passion for life that I had forgotten. Within one week of living in Taiwan, meeting the classmates, the teachers, and the regular people of Taiwan, I was feeling so joyful I could barely stand it. I worked hard to learn the grammar and the vocabulary of course, and so my Chinese greatly improved. Truly the gift this trip gave me was my self back.
LIVING EXPERIENCES:
国外中文项目
MY LEARNING JOURNALS
WHAT I SEE IN TAIWAN
I met a really cute and smart girl named Tita who likes to cook food. As I also wanted to learn some improvements to my “all-things-go-in” stir-fry, we worked on a vlog project together to learn more about the way Taiwanese people cook typical home foods. At first we planned to do a cooking show ourselves, but it turned out to be much more involved than that. We talked to some Taiwanese people in the supermarket about their cooking and eating habits, as well as the ingredients that are typical in the home. Next we headed to some restaurants to observe the kitchens and have dinner with some locals. Overall I would say these vlogs will prove useful if you want to try some Taiwanese dishes!
EXPLORING TAIWAN
Practicum Day
After four weeks in Taiwan, we were loosed on a long weekend with 5k TWD to run free on the island. I had two weeks between the end of the program and the start of my Junior year, and I planned to surf during that time. So, during the long weekend I took a few students with me to the south of the island to check out the beaches. We stayed up late chatting with the workers at our hostel, tried the sea-food and even visited the hospital. Many Taiwanese people believe that during the “ghost month” swimming (among other things) is very dangerous, and so they were very worried about us swimming at the beach without surfboards. Thankfully I was able to convince a little taiwanese boy to lend me his shortboard, and rent a board from the display stand of a restaurant. Overall I would say that the water in the south of Taiwan certainly is not warm and comfortable, and the waves are very crowded and there are none to spare. Of course the waters are filled with sharks and sharp reefs, and the ghosts are eager to pull in surfers. Most definitely it is not a place you would want to bring a surfboard and take my waves.