Family Ties

On the other side of the world...

My trip to Taiwan this summer has many reasons behind it. As a Chinese minor, pragmatically, I know that there is no better way to learn a language than to immerse oneself within a language community. Coming to Taiwan, and particularly to the relatively smaller town of Pingtung, has provided the best sort of experience of this kind. Last year, as well, I found that teaching English was a really rewarding experience. Given the opportunity to repeat this work, I felt compelled to come. In short, the opportunity for a unique language and work experience have been at the forefront of my thinking about this trip since the beginning. However, these were never the only motivating factors.

For as long as I can remember, I have known that my uncle Ben was Taiwanese, but for most of my life this had little bearing on my relationship with him. When I was young, for example, this information was filed away in the category of factoids, along with the knowledge that one uncle liked to work with computers, or that another lived on a farm.

As I began to consider studying Mandarin Chinese, though, this aspect of my uncle's life took on new significance. At least part of my decision to pursue the language was due to growing up with an internationally inflected extended family. Yet, despite this, I never knew my Uncle's extended family well, and rarely met them. It is worth noting, too, that his family speaks primarily the Taiwanese dialect of Chinese, not Mandarin. Although the older generation learned Mandarin under Guomindang rule of Taiwan after World War II, my uncle's generation emigrated at a young enough age that Mandarin, also variously known as "Guoyu" (the national language), "Putonghua" (the common dialect), or "Beijinghua" (Beijing dialect), was not a language that ever much influenced their lives. This meaning, of course, that linguistically at least, my Chinese education did linguistically connect me to my uncle's family.

Culture, though, is another matter. In three years of studying Chinese I have been impressed by how textbook knowledge of a language is entirely distinct from experiential cultural knowledge. Understanding of the consensuses that drive social norms, the milieu in a regional community, or the daily breathed rhythms of thought and life are a different matter altogether. Last summer, especially, I found what an expansive sense of culture shock one encounters in stepping into a new region, even after years of study. This is obvious to anyone who has travelled to a country where they speak another language. Still, the combined influence of so many day-to-day "culture surprises" (the repeated experience of: "Oh, you find that offensive? I see...") had the effect on me of alienating my own knowledge of Chinese from my sense of myself as a social person. Again, culture shock maybe common phenomenon, but to feel it in connection with one's own chosen direction is at the very least a little disconcerting.

Condundrum. But of course the solution is one that has been near to me all along. Against the background of this experience, only this year did it finally dawn on me that my own family, with extended relatives living on either side of the Pacific, might be able to help me to ease this conflict between knowledge and life. Despite some apprehension about reaching out to distant family members I had never met, my experience that followed has been a deeply fulfilling connection with a side of my family that had until now been strangers.

The organization of the trip itself has been entirely dependent on the goodwill and generosity of my Taiwanese family. My position helping at the Carrick's English school was the direct result of a recommendation from my uncle (to stretch the term, he is my uncle's uncle) Ray. In the final leg of my trip, I will be staying in Taipei, with the great fortune of a roof over my head due to the kindness of another relative, my uncle Tom (also my uncle's uncle**).

Even more than this sort of logistical aid, though, I have been overwhelmed by the sense of truly being welcomed into Taiwan. Last year, I was greeted at the Nanjing airport by an organizational representative, a wonderful help and great kindness which nonetheless constitute any kind of intimate connection. This June, on the other hand, I arrived in Taipei to be greeted by uncle Tom, who came on his own to pick me up. After one feast that first night, a trip around Taipei with distant cousins, and a truly outstanding connection with uncle Ray in nearby Kaohsiung, I feel almost overwhelmed by the show of support I have found. Since then, I have felt completely uplifted by the helping hands and homes of family members whose kindness has really been the greatest gift, even more than the professional and language experience, this summer has yet had to offer.

Wishing you all the best,

-Eli



**If anyone can tell me the precise English term for this relationship, I would be very appreciative!