By John Yuan
Sick of clichéd soap operas or corny shows? Now you have another option: reality shows. Live, unscripted, and unedited, reality shows have swept the world with their unthinkable genuineness. Far more dramatic than TV dramas, they appear too real to be true! Reality shows cover a wide range of themes. From business to fashion and modeling, prepare yourself for cut-throat and vicious backstabbing among business partners or ugly catfights between posh models. You may be “Auf’d” by Heidi in Project Runway or be told by Donald Trump in The Apprentice that “You’re fired.” Like they always say, this is a competition and I am here to WIN! But only one person can laugh in the end. Who has what it takes? And who will be eliminated tonight? That’s something that keeps our eyes trained on the tube every week. How do reality shows keep us so spellbound and intrigued? How could reality shows feverishly rage on for so many years? It all comes down to one factor: a good use of psychology. Subconsciously, we identify themselves with the characters on TV. When we watch American’s Next Top Model we may be diehard supporters of one of the contestants. We register our empathy onto the figures who seem to be like us and come from similar backgrounds. We bond with them. This catalyzes our addiction to reality shows. Human nature inevitably plays another big role. As we are fed up with plain and cheesy shows, we need something spicy to stimulate our appetites. Crystal-clear as it is, every one has a talent for dishing it out and chewing the fat, and the intricately interwoven relationships and maliciously ugly feuding among the contenders are good gossipy topics for a sunny afternoon. Furthermore, reality shows satisfy our craving for prying into people’s privacy and digging out scandals. We may curse a badmouthing boy for being such a calculating jerk. But we may also shed tears for a girl who was set up as a scapegoat. The feelings we have for the participants are direct and intense, because it’s not just a show, it’s real. A global phenomenon, Taiwan also has its signature reality show, the Starwalk singing contest. Perhaps our version doesn’t have as many vicious fights on the screen, and the relationships between the contestants is relatively benevolent and cohesive. But we still recall how many times we cried over a sad good-bye to one of our favorites, as the others still in the competition also burst into tears. And after the debut album of the winners, ”Star Gang,” all the participants were assembled and enjoyed the fruits of joint popularity and fame. Though reality shows vary with regions and countries, their worldwide fever is the same. But is this just a passing fad? Or will it grow even bigger? We can only be sure of one thing: audiences always want something “real.”
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By Wei-Fan Yang
Namaste![1] Are you tired of eating at campus but not knowing where to grab a bite? If so, you must try Namaste Curry, the only authentic Nepali restaurant in Taiwan. Located at a narrow street full of exotic restaurants, Namaste Curry, because of its special tastes and alluring curry fragrance, always attracts many people and wins two thumbs up! Don’t believe me? Let me show you the menu and explore how this Nepali restaurant seizes every customer’s appetite! Nepali Pancakes – the must-order in every customer’s mind Different from pancakes made in bakeries and coffee shops, Nepali Pancakes are famous for their strong smell of butter and milk. The flavor of warm pancakes spreads in your mouth as soon as you take a bite. You can also add a piece of pancake to the cream of mushroom soup, another recommended dish, for another fantastic taste, delicious but not greasy, yummy but low in calories. No wonder so many customers have become addicted to Nepali Pancakes after tasting them only once. Nepali Flavor Roast Chicken/ Fried Chicken/ Thyme Beef/ Lamb Curried Rice - “one more, one more” Eating each of these main courses is like traveling to a new place full of surprises. When eating a spoonful of rice you discover a familiar but somehow different taste, wonderful but hard to tell what the flavor is composed of. In fact, the chef blends different kinds of rice in perfect proportions to make it one of a kind. Curry, the most important part, is mixed with different spices and boiled with fresh soup-stock for a long time in order to give it a true Nepali flavor – unlike Japanese curry, which is too mild, Indian curry which is too spicy, or Thai curry with its heavy taste of coconut milk. As for the chicken, beef and lamb, the chef uses very little seasoning, such as salt and sugar, to keep its original taste. With tender and crispy chicken, beef, or lamb, and the sweet smell of curry and other sauces, it is common to hear “one more, one more” throughout the restaurant. No one worries about gaining weight, and no one will say like Othello, “One more, and that’s the last!” Nepali Flavor Milk Tea – the true color of nectar With cinnamon, lilac, and cardamom, Nepali Milk Tea appeals to everyone of all ages. Nepali Milk Tea, according to the manager, is not only distinguished for its intense flavor, but also its healthful ingredients. I remember I hesitated the first time I ordered a cup, because the color was dark and the smell was like honey and peppers. However, as I sipped it, I thought of Proust in Swann’s Way: “an exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.” Just like the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology. But don’t worry! The prices are not expensive compared to other exotic restaurants near campus, and the atmosphere is comfortable and relaxing. On the walls are beautiful pictures of Nepali landscapes and culture. Let’s go to Namaste Curry and satisfy our appetites! [1] Namaste, in the Nepali and Hindi languages, is a greeting or parting phrase as well as gesture. It is translated literally as “I bow to you” in English (citation from Wikipedia). By Lu Kuan Chung Every student in NTU knows or should know that the bell which chimes twenty-one times between classes is a reminder of spending three hours thinking every day. Whether we spend our time loosely or efficiently is a fundamental issue of life. An artist may spend five hours meditating, a scholar may spend ten hours doing research, and a businessman might spend twelve hours making decisions and yelling at people who will get fired. What do students do? How do we manage our precious time? Time management is never a small issue. Anything can go wrong if it is not properly scheduled. According to statistics, 70-80% of people who are unsatisfied with themselves have problems dealing with time. Their anxiety often results from their inability to accomplish assignments on time. They are caught in the trap between their expectations and time limits. Do you also feel pressured by time and the anxiety of deadlines? The main idea of turning over a new leaf is to know what is the most important thing, what is the second most important thing, and so on. It also means knowing what the least important thing is. There are always too many things to do in limited amount of time. If we fail it is often because we place too much emphasis on unnecessary things. This kind of feeling is most familiar to procrastinators. But different people will also have different priorities. Since we are students our main priority is studying, but that doesn’t mean our purpose is purely practical. It may be a dream that we want to fulfill, or a hope that keeps us going. Getting a degree is a general purpose, for instance. How to put it into practice? 1. Examine the life we have right at the moment. How we spent our time and how we collect the results and whether we are satisfied with it. 2. Organize the time we use the computer. No matter we are watching videos, checking email, chatting, we should not abuse technology. 3. We can organize our schedules into precise time periods, but we also need to make these schedules plausible. 4. Keep the schedule up to date. Remember that if one thing has been repeated on your schedule but tit is still undone, it means you need to make time or it may never be done. 5. Finally, make good use of the resources to save your time. You may wonder whether learning these habits will make us live happily ever after. Well, I’d like to give you a positive answer, but there are too many surprises in life. We deal with the present and the past, but what we face is the future. The future is unpredictable and we cannot just stay where we are now. We have to think ahead and detect problems before they arise. By Jen-ching Kao On September 26, 2007, the largest protest in Okinawa took place since 1972, when the island was returned to Japan by the United States. The rally was against the government’s order to textbook publishers to modify sections which said that the Japanese army distributed hand grenades to the island’s residents and commanded them to kill themselves instead of surrendering to the US army. This fact was supported by historical research and by testimony from the victims’ relatives. The controversies were triggered by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, composed of right-wing scholars, and the publication of Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho or New History Textbook, which was published in 2000, in order to soften the image of Japan’s brutal wartime conduct. Large-scale demonstrations were organized in major cities in China and Korea, raging against indirect descriptions or omission in the New History Textbook of several historical events during WWII, such as comfort women and the Nanjing massacre. They also protested contemporary issues including the prime minister’s visits to the Yasukuni shrine and delimitations in the East China Sea. Similar cases have appeared in the textbooks of other countries, both democratic and non-democratic. In March 2006, for example, a lawsuit was brought by the Hindu American Foundation against the Board of Education in California, because certain textbooks on ancient South Asian history for sixth-grade students promoted anti-Hindu sentiments by employing a number of statements which were considered frivolous or biased toward the role of Hindu women, the caste system, and theories of migration. In Taiwan, high school and middle school history textbooks used to be published by the National Institute of Compilation and Translation, an organization established and run by the government. History textbooks in Taiwan used to mention only the Cairo Declaration, the document which legitimizes the Nationalist Party’s rule over Taiwan. But after 2000, when the Democratic Progressive Party came into power, textbooks were no longer written and published by solely the Institute. Private publishers and writers were now allowed to compose textbooks as long as they had been examined and endorsed by the Ministry of Education. As a result, most of the history textbooks available today contain a longer chapter about Taiwan’s legal status and its historical development, such as the fact that the Cairo Declaration is not legally binding, and that the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco did not specify the successor of Japan’s waived rights in Taiwan. They also covered the Taiwan Relations Act and the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758. Although this additional information provides students the rationale for why the government is now striving for an independent Taiwan, what students read is still partial and prejudiced. For example, none of these textbooks mentions the statement made by Dean Acheson about the legal status of Taiwan after the Potsdam Declaration, and none mentions the story behind the Treaty of Taipei. The message to readers in Japan’s New History Textbook clearly states that “We must continue to learn, with humility, from other nations. But we must not forget that by blithely placing foreign nations on a pedestal, we risk turning into a spineless nation with no spirit of independence.” The authors of every textbook have their own agenda, whether personal or favoring the powerful. In the passage about the attack on Pearl Harbor, the New History Textbook never calls it a “surprise attack.” Instead, it has been described as a justifiable military success: “On December 8, 1941, the Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, inflicting damage that destroyed most of the U.S. Pacific Fleet … Japan declared war on the U.S. and Great Britain, maintaining that this was a war for survival and self-defense … The U.S. government told the American people that the assault was a cowardly act, calling it a ‘sneak attack.’” How history is interpreted and conveyed to readers is usually determined by those who are dominant, whether they are aware of it or not. They can be the government, the majority, the prevailing culture, or a convincing school of thought. In China’s history textbook for middle school students, the Great War is depicted as “an unjust war of exploitation brought by imperialism,” while the Second World War, on the contrary, was “the victory of a war against fascism, which diminished the power of imperial states and liberalized the working class, laborers, and oppressed nations worldwide.” In one textbook for six-graders in California, The Ancient South Asian World, old Hindu tales are written with euphemistic mockery: “The Brahmins sometimes made fun of the Dasa and said that they spoke as if they had no noses. (Pinch your nose and see what you would sound like.)”; “The monkey king Hanuman loved Rama so much that it is said that he is present every time the Ramayana is told. So look around—see any monkeys?” 12-year-old Californian children are thus told to imitate what Dasa sounded like and to look for monkeys in class, simply because there is no majority of Hindu students in any European or American classroom. As a result, students are educated in South Asian history through the perspective of a dominant ethnicity, religion, and culture. As we have been educated in Taiwan, where everyone is required to submit “one correct answer” to every question posed on the test sheets throughout grade school, high school, and sometimes even in university, textbooks are likely to become juggernauts in what we believe to be true. Without enough latitude granted by our education system to think independently, our perception of facts, reality, or the truth, is susceptible to manipulation. Mencius encouraged his students to be skeptical about what they read in books 2300 years ago, and his maxim is printed in all our textbooks. With the convenience and accessibility of modern technology and libraries in the 21st century, we are definitely privileged to cast doubt on what we read, hear, or see. By Chun Hsia Fan When it comes to the Department of Foreign Languages, the first language students usually think of is English despite the fact that there are many other languages being studied. So this time, instead of interviewing yet another English teacher we would like to present a professor of Spanish – Pablo Deza Blanco. Question: Why did you come to Taiwan? “By mistake” Although this is Prof. Deza Blanco’s second year in Taida, apparently this isn’t the first time he has been here. Ten years ago Prof. Deza Blanco randomly applied to Providence University in Taichung and was hired even though he hadn’t yet completed his studies. He had to head back to Spain to finish them a year later. However, Prof. Deza Blanco is thankful for this “mistake” because during that unexpected year he met the woman who became his wife. They married shortly afterward, and after he finished his studies they went to live in Hong Kong for a few years — then last year he decided to come back to Taiwan. Question: Why National Taiwan University? “Finding job vacancies as a Spanish teacher is hard in Taiwan,” says Prof. Deza Blanco. When he first came back to Taiwan he went back to Providence University but felt that the atmosphere had changed and he would rather find opportunities elsewhere — luckily NTU had an opening so he applied and was hired. Question: Have you ever considered asking your wife to teach you Chinese? “It doesn’t work” Prof. Deza Blanco met his wife in the Spanish department when he got to Providence University, and they soon started dating. As a result, although he wanted to learn the language he never really had much need for it, since his wife always ended up helping him to ask questions in Chinese whenever it was needed. “If you take Chinese courses then you have to learn it but I don’t have time for that; if you ask your other half to teach you the language at the end of the day you will only end up coming with reasons to avoid it since you are tired already.” Question: What is your favorite Spanish dish? “Paella” As a student in Taida, I’ve always been curious about how authentic foreign restaurants are here. After talking to Prof. Deza Blanco, apparently all the so-called authentic Spanish restaurants are really a hybrid of Chinese and Spanish cuisine. That’s understandable since they have to appeal to a Taiwanese population. However, Prof. Deza Blanco did mention that there was a truly authentic Spanish restaurant in Kaoshiung. Question: Any Taiwanese cuisine you abhor? “Um…you know, stinky tofu” For some reason, he doesn’t find the smell acceptable. Then again, people either love or hate the dish so it seems that he falls in the latter category. The overuse of sauce also confuses Prof. Deza Blanco. “It’s like you’re no longer eating the food but eating sauce.” He said he would rather taste the natural flavor of the food and the sauce should enhance the flavor, not cover it. Question: How different is it being a teacher in Spain and in Taiwan? “Quite” Being a teacher in Spain does not bring you as much respect as it would in Taiwan; in fact, Spanish people tend to think that teachers do not do much beside improvising in class and just talking. “The students here see their teacher almost like a father and you will always remain a teacher to them even though they are not your student anymore.” Prof. Deza Blanco also finds the students here very shy but I suppose we all know how that is speaking in another language we aren’t familiar with. He mentions that he is also the same when it comes to English and Chinese. Question: What do you think of the students here in Taiwan? “Over pressured” Prof. Deza Blanco remembers seeing young students dozing off in the MRT at times as late as 11:00 PM. It seems usual for those who grew up in Taiwan and accustomed to going to cram-schools right after school but apparently, Prof. Deza Blanco feels that so much work is not necessary. He also mentioned that he felt that young girls are wasting money and time on too much make-up. “I teach my class in the morning and see girls that are really well dressed up and think to myself that that must have taken two hours in the morning. I would rather sleep more than spend time on that.” Question: Has not being able to speak Chinese gotten you into any trouble? “It makes me feel bad when I go visit my parents-in-law” Prof. Deza Blanco has never learned Chinese until he came to Taiwan, but since he met his wife so early on he didn’t really need to communicate with many other people since she took care of it all for him. However, when he goes to visit her parents his inability to communicate with them makes him feel bad since his wife also knows Spanish and can therefore talk to his parents. Question: What is your Chinese name? “白保羅” The administration at Providence University gave him this name since Pablo is 保羅. Spanish names ended with two surnames—the paternal and maternal sides each have their names in their child’s name. However, since most Taiwan names only have one letter the administration chose to use Blanco, which literally means white (白). “My mother is happy when people call me 白先生 because they use her name but my father isn’t too thrilled about it.” Question: Future Plans? “I like it here in Taida and would like to stay” After hearing Prof. Deza Blanco talk about coming to Taiwan from Spain and spending some years in Hong Kong I couldn’t help but ask if he planned on traveling more. He doesn’t plan to go anywhere, however; Prof. Deza Blanco really likes the atmosphere and environment in Taiwan in general, since his wife is also Taiwanese. “If possible” Prof. Deza Blanco says, “I’d like to stay here until I retire.” Question: Three words you would teach someone who doesn’t know any Spanish.
1. Hola – Hello 2. Adios – Good Bye 3. Te quiero – I love you Question: What is your favorite personal saying? Antes de hacer nada, por favor, piensa. (Please think before doing anything) By Yu-Lin Liao
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Steven Spielberg? Jurassic Park or Catch Me If You Can? We can think of dozens of blockbusters he has directed and produced. But how about Darfur? This is not his latest movie but a place in western Sudan where innocent people are being brutally murdered, children are starving to death, women are being raped, and genocide has been occurring for nearly five years. Spielberg’s name is linked to Darfur because he has been asked to serve as an Olympics consultant for China, and China is one of the main supporters of the Sudanese government. Under pressure from humanitarian groups as well as his Hollywood colleagues, Spielberg now is threatening to quit his post unless China stops supporting the Sudanese government and these terrible acts of genocide. Darfur, a piece of bleak land the size of Texas located in western Sudan, is the epicenter of this humanitarian catastrophe. The conflict began in 2003 when rebel groups representing non-Arab farming communities mounted an insurgency against the Sudanese terrorist government. This act was triggered by decades of famine, drought, desertification, and overpopulation. Instead of taking measures to relieve their citizens’ plight, the Sudanese government responded in a brutal way. The government armed and supported the local militia, “Janjaweed,” loosely translated as “devils on horseback.” Their members are mostly Arab nomads and they ride on camels and horses destroying non-Arab villages, raping women or taking them in as sex slaves, and murdering and torturing civilians. The government even joined in the attack with bombing and helicopter raids. The fight between these two ethnic groups has escalated into genocide and claimed as many as 400,000 lives and left 2.5 million people homeless. The numbers are still climbing fast, and the survivors are living in a hell on earth. Now the violence has even started to spread to neighboring countries. Since 2004, there have been numerous peace talks and peacekeeping forces have been deployed, but these efforts have all ended in failure. Humanitarian aid groups such as the Red Cross and the U.N. World Food Program have worked hard but can do little due to the volatility of the area and the obstructions of the Sudanese government. Sanctions and cease-fire agreements didn’t affect this regime a bit; civilians are the only ones who suffered. The Sudanese military even paints their attack aircraft white - the same color used as U.N. humanitarian aircraft - to confuse the villagers. Death is not the most horrible thing that can happen. Disease, starvation, and separation from family make living harder than dying. The government-backed Janjaweed even use rape as a weapon. In Sudanese culture, rape is taboo. Families often ostracize rape victims so a rape not only destroys the woman but also breaks up families and even communities. Even worse, women are being raped while their husbands and children are forced to watch. The impact and hurt is beyond our imagination. Journalists who try to get information are constantly being injured, kidnapped, or even killed. Genocide is not just a scene in movies. It is not some horrible thing that happened far way and a long time ago. Genocide is happening right now and while we are watching. It has been almost five years since our fellow human beings are being trampled while we live in safety and prosperity. But, on the other side of the world, what can we do? With advances in technology the other side of the world is just a mouse-click away. So don’t think your effort is just a drop in the bucket, your attention and action can really make a difference! Here are a few things you can do to help stop the genocide. 1. Find out more about the genocide and tell your friends and family about it. Help raise public awareness about this issue. 2. Contact the media. Tell them you want better coverage of Darfur. Stop putting up with junk journalism and demand in-depth news that really matters to our lives. 3. Support education and relief efforts in Darfur. Make a donation to the Red Cross, the World Vision Organization, or other humanitarian aid groups. Helping Darfuris in the most practical way is the least we can do. 4. Communicate with decision makers about the need to provide humanitarian assistance, protect civilians, stop the violence, and promote a solution to end the genocide in Darfur. World peace is not a cliché, it is what we really need right now. Don’t stand idly by while our fellow human beings are brutally murdered. You never know, someday you might need others to do the same for you. Find out more about the crisis in Darfur, go to www.africa-taiwan.org or www.darfurgenocide.org. By Allen Cheng BAM! Have you ever wondered if life ever changes? How do those on TV go through such miraculous changes and, somehow, become totally different? Having to live through a series of monotone days, should you try something new or just be some sort of stick in the mud? Doing something totally unexpected and trying something that’s so not you, that’s what High School Musical is all about. High School Musical, originally a Disney TV-film, is a contemporary revised happy-version of Romeo and Juliet; it is a fabulously composed musical in which we see characters just like you and me trying to liberate themselves to be who they are. Being entertaining, profound, and certainly bouncy, High School Musical is something no one should miss. High School Musical – [We got spirit, YOU hear it!] Troy Bolton (portrayed by Zac Efron), leading jock of East High, captain of the Wildcats basketball team, meets Gabriella Montez (portrayed by Vanessa Hudgens), a shy, educationally gifted hot girl, during a karaoke contest. Both awe the crowd with their “Start of Something New,” which is where the music in the musical kicks in. When the two meet again at school, they just can’t help but let the music out again. They audition for the school’s winter musical. The school’s stars, however, are twins, Ryan (portrayed by Lucas Grabeel) and Sharpay Evans (portrayed by Ashley Tisdale), and they won’t just sit there being pretty. Being the leads in every school play and chairmen of the drama club, there’re going to make sure that what’s theirs stays theirs. Full of enthusiasm, Troy and Gabriella completely challenge the hierarchy in school. Their friends notice they are doing something out of their nature and try to stop them, worrying about an upcoming basketball game and a scientific decathlon. A jock and a nerd are trying to fight their way into the world of music? Will they break free from the obstacles or will they stick to the status quo? The Phenomenon – [Bring In’da Noise, Hold Da funk] High School Musical, though not on the big screen, has become so popular with it’s great songs and exciting plot that it has created something other films seldom can – a phenomenon. Take a look at its impact: In the U.S., High School Musical had nearly 8 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in 2006, while in the U.K. about 800,000 viewers, making it one of the most successful original Disney movies. It was also the first Disney original ever to be broadcast on the BBC. The major reason HSM is such a hit is that the songs are just, to be exact, heavenly. Each and every song is wonderfully composed and nine of them made Pop 100 or Billboard Hot 100. “Breaking free” even achieved a record 82-point jump in its second week, going from #86 to #4 on the Hot 100 list. In November 2006, “High School Musical: The Concert” kicked off, playing in major cities all over America. Numerous towns were blessed by its music. It featured the entire original cast except for Zac Efron, who was replaced by Drew Seeley, the actually voice for Troy’s songs in the original movie. The concert was an even bigger hit. Disney, however, won’t let this cash cow go so easily: High School Musical has also been made into a stage musical, an Ice show, and a book series, proving once again its great popularity. Music that never stops – [Something Bouncy This Way Comes…Again and Again] High School Musical is a movie filled with entertaining music and simple but profound meanings, but certainly it’s not going to stop there. High School Musical 2, the sequel, was recently released and also proved to be a hit. Not conveying the same conception as before, HSM2 also shows depth along with great songs. From the looks of it, we cannot only anticipate a sequel but many of them. That’s who I am – [To be or not to be…Me] High school - a time of wonder, hazard, stars, and nerds. This is when your best friend becomes your girlfriend, your greatest enemy becomes your best friend, and your girlfriend becomes your greatest enemy - chances are this all happens before October. Though turbulent, high school is when you start defining yourself – what you want to be, what you want to do, and most importantly, who you are. This self-defining process goes on in college and never stops until the day you stop. What we really have to notice in this seemingly trivial musical is that we sometimes spend too much time focusing on what we cannot do. Being a “steed” or a “nerd,” or the “girl-friend who’s never the girlfriend,” we all have some sort of place in our circle. But we often shy away from doing even those things that we have potential in since we might say to ourselves: “it’s so not you.” Yet the “you” in that phrase usually means some other “you” - what others think of you and what they think “you” are. The reason High School Musical has had such an impact is that, together with its upbeat music it conveys a very straightforward idea – never limit yourself to what others think of you. I myself even took up the courage to perform the song “Bop to the Top,” which was something I would never have even considered doing before. The fact that I realized that somehow I could sing, though not so well, and dance, definitely not the best, gave me a whole new perspective on myself. It didn’t feel good, it felt great. Something interesting now comes into the picture: what’s “you?” The answer is very simple: anything. As long as you are interested, who has the right to deny you from trying? P.S.: All HSM music can be found at http://www.youtube.com/. Search for “HSM.”
By Su Li
For sightseers on tour buses the Tour Eiffel means France, the Brandenburger Tor means Germany, and the molens, the Netherlands. For drinkers beaujoulais is French, bier is German, and genever is Dutch, even if they have never been to Beaujoulais, heard of the Reinheitsgebot, or visited the museum of gin in Schiedam. But what do people associate with Taiwan? I first thought figures like Ang Lee or Chien-ming Wang or brands like Giant and Acer would be inseparable from Taiwanese identity. However, after spending a year abroad as an exchange student even the skyline with Taipei 101 faded from my memory. I realized the most indispensable part of my Taiwanese identity is in fact quite humble: a cup of pearl milk tea. If you think this is my obsession only, look beyond the island. In China pearl milk tea has been brought to every big city by Taiwanese investors. These shops are easily recognized because they always advertise Taiwan as part of their authenticity. I spent two months striving to find a legitimate cup in Beijing, but none passed my test. I often heard people in China criticize pearl milk tea as nothing special. At first I thought this was politically motivated, but then I realized that the problem was not politics but the quality of the tea sold there. My friend Lambert is not an aficionado of pearl milk tea. In fact, he rarely buys it in Taiwan. But in Beijing, he also tried some of these imitations to see how authentic they are. We both agreed that pearl milk tea was something we can associate with, something that retains its Taiwanese identity in all Chinese cultures. Pearl milk tea is also bubbling in North America. Spreading out from Chinatowns, it is gaining fame under another name, bubble tea. Once on my train to Berlin I met a student from Seattle studying in Prague, who was dying for Starbucks after three months away from home. But her eyes lit up when I told her I was from Taiwan. “Bubble tea, right? I’m a big fan. It must be your Starbucks.” Reminded of pearl milk tea, I was suddenly dying for my favorite cup: mint, half-sugar, no ice. But this desire was not easy to quench overseas. We can’t just stop by a random branch in Berlin like we can go to Starbucks. I asked my mom to send over the raw materials to make the pearls myself. Many hours were dedicated to boiling, braising, cooling, and honeying the pearls. For the milk tea, ordinary black tea and cream is satisfactory. But for different flavors, I collected thé au caramel from France, Minzetee from Germany, and teas from all over the world at the oldest teashop in the Netherlands, Klaverblad, on Zijlstraat in Leiden. But of course the slurping sensation could never be complete without those special thick straws made in Taiwan, thoughtfully sent along by my mom. I also found that serving handmade cups of pearl milk tea brings friendships that transcend all cultural boundaries. Fervet olla, vivit amicitia, while the pot boils, friendship endures. Now you can travel all the way to Paris and have your expensive cup of pearl milk tea at Zenzoo. However, we can also cherish our next cup just around the corner. The whole world is bubbling for its Taiwanese pear milk tea! (boxes) Do You Remember… “Cut a cup of pearl milk tea daily for the budget of arms purchase” was flagged by our Prime Minister of National Defense some years ago. It stirred a riot not smaller than the recent catchword “UN for Taiwan.” The cafeteria of the Ninth Girl’s Dormitory offers the best bargain in town, if not on the planet, 20 NTD (0.43 euros) for a tall cup. The running family of the cafeteria has served NTU students for decades. Nothing is more satisfactory then a hearty meal finished with a handy cup. A-Shui Teahouse, another chain store, has a branch in the cafeteria of the First Girls’ Dormitory. They offer daily special with discounts and longer service hours till 22:00. “Frientea” opened a new branch in the First Student Activity Center. Every cup is made according to a strict “tea score” and offered with a 5% discount for NTU members. The owner, Ms. Xiang, has two children graduated from NTU and her attention to details even covers the temperatures to cook different teas. “Be serious, otherwise quit” is her motto. The oldest vendor on the campus for pearl milk tea, since 1986, is the famous fried chicken stand “Sisterhood” at the Second School Shop. Although the sisters are always busy frying chicken, they still want to offer a suitable drink to company the equally famous Taiwanese snack. Grease-free guaranteed for your tea. |
Authors
The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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