by Annie Liao
Are you tired of Santa Claus and Christmas trees? Or you really don’t understand what all non- Christians are happy about on December 25? If you think Christmas is just an excuse to spend money and get crazy, there is actually a bigger, longer, more glamorous holiday for you to unleash your inner party monster. Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday that lasts for eight days. The name might sound unfamiliar, but you must have seen an episode of Friends where Ross is wearing a ridiculous armadillo costume and trying to educate his 5-year-old son about something besides Christmas. They are talking about Hanukkah! It is celebrated according to the Hebrew calendar and usually falls around the same time as Christmas. This year, 2008, it starts on December 21st and ends on the 28th. The origin of Hanukkah dates back to 165 BC when Alexander the Great conquered the whole of the Middle East. After he died, the tyrant Antiochus IV outlawed Jewish rituals and forced the Jews to worship Greek gods. Eventually, the Jews stood up to fight this injustice and won. When they recovered Jerusalem and the Temple, a new altar was made and sacrifices were put up. However, the olive oil needed for the menorah (a Jewish candle holder) was only enough to burn for one day. Yet miraculously, it burned for eight days which is the required duration of the sacrifice and also the time needed to press and prepare a fresh supply of olive oil. The festival of Hanukkah was thus instituted to commemorate the miracle and the rededication of the Temple. Today, Jews (or anyone who really wants an excuse to celebrate) observe Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night and some families even exchange gifts every night. The candles or lamps should be placed at a prominent window to “illuminate” the world and to remind passers-by of the holiday miracle. Latkes (potato pancakes) are the traditional Hanukkah food. Other holiday foods include sufganiyot (fruit-filled doughnuts), Hanukkah dough balls, or Kosher foods that are fried or baked in olive oil to commemorate the original miracle. “Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,I made it out of clay; Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, Then dreidel I shall play!” Music is of course a crucial part of any holiday. But this well-known Hanukkah song “I have a little dreidel” is not only a song but also a game. A dreidel is a four-sided top and each side bears a Hebrew letter. The way of playing resembles gambling. It is said that the dreidel is a cover-up game to camouflage the fact that the Jews were studying the Torah when Greek solders came checking. Another very popular Hanukkah song is a modern piece by Adam Sandler depicting how Jewish children feel isolated during the Christmas season, and also includes a list of Jewish celebrities. Latkes recipe 4 cups mashed potatoes1 large onion, chopped1 ½ teaspoons salt2 tablespoons flour2 eggs Mix and stir all ingredients until smooth and fry in any size and shape you want. How to play dreidel 1. Get a group of people together. You can play with as few as two, but the more the merrier! 2. Distribute tokens evenly among all players. The tokens can be any little thing: straws, cookies, toothpicks, or even real money. 3. Each player contributes one token in the middle of the circle to create “the pot.” 4. Take turns spinning the dreidel. The dreidel will land on one of the four letters. According to the letter appearing, the player should perform one of the following actions: Shin (“shtel” or “put in” in Yiddish) - Put one more token in the pot. Nun (“nisht” or “nothing” in Yiddish) - Do nothing. Gimmel (“gantz” or “everything” in Yiddish) - Take all tokens from the pot. Hay (“halb” or “half” in Yiddish) - Take half the tokens in the pot. In case of an odd number of tokens, round up. 5. Pass the dreidel to the next player. 6. Keep playing until someone wins by collecting all the tokens in the pot! Whether Jewish or not, we can all learn something from the celebration of Hanukkah; to believe in miracles, to share the light, or just to make another exotic dish. So this holiday season, why not change things and light some candles in your house to celebrate the Festival of Lights!
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by Frank Lin
Attracted by the sunlight and the mild climate, filmmakers gravitated to Hollywood about a hundred years ago. This marked the beginning of the Hollywood movie empire. Since then, thanks to the power of the media and the growth of communication technology, the influence of American culture has spread to every corner of the world. The Oscars supposedly represented the peak of international fame. In recent years, however, the Hollywood throne has been facing many new challenges. In fact, the largest movie capital today isn’t even Hollywood. It is Bollywood in India. Every year it produces approximately 1000 movies, which is ten times more than Hollywood. Now Bollywood movie film companies are major investors in Hollywood films. This June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the largest entertainment company, Reliance ADA Group, which is Indian, will invest six hundred million US dollars in DreamWorks SKG. When it comes to blockbusters, what flashes into your mind? Romance or Horror? Comedy or Disaster? War movies, in fact, have always been one of Hollywood’s favorite productions. Why? Because most of the time war films arouse nationalism. This practically guarantees that the film will be a blockbuster. Due to big production requirements, only companies that can collect huge amounts of capital are able to shoot them. However, even war films are no longer a Hollywood monopoly. Taegukgi, a South Korean film, is also the word for the country’s national flag. The movie tells the story of the effect of the Korean War on two brothers. This film was the biggest success in Korean film history. It attracted over 10 million people, over 20% of the South Korean population. As the thirteenth largest population in the world, South Korea is also one of the world’s most prosperous economies. Another war film, Assembly, holds the second place record for box office sales in China, inferior only to Curse of the Golden Flower. The movie tells the story of a veteran army captain who has experienced both the Chinese civil war and the Korean War, upholding his company honor. It has earned more than two hundred and sixty million RMB. How about fantasy films like Pirates of the Caribbean or The Lord of the Rings series? These films usually require complex visual effects in order to create a fantasy world of magic, the supernatural, and make-believe creatures. A large budget is essential to making fantasy films, which again might seem to be possible only in Hollywood. Night Watch, however, is the first big-budget Russian fantasy film and one of the first blockbusters after the collapse of the Soviet film industry. The film was produced by a government-owned TV channel. In order to create its countless visual effects more than sixteen different studios were involved and shots were created in different time zones. The film has become the highest-grossing Russian release ever, 16.7 million USD in Russia alone, which easily beat out its major competitor at the time, The Lord of the Rings. So why is Hollywood getting overthrown? Patriotism may well be the answer as to why domestic films are getting more and more attention in local markets. Just look at the names of the movies and you will find signs of patriotism propaganda. Both Taegukgi and Assembly contain obvious patriotic messages, so the Korean and Chinese governments put great emphasis on promoting the films to their citizens. People could show their patriotism by going to the theater, and slogans were created as well, like “As long as you are Chinese, you must watch Assembly,” or “I am Korean and I am proud of my Taegukgi.” Government promotion has also helped Night Watch, which was made by a state-owned company. Another reason is the rise of localization in the world, which we might call a modern Renaissance. For years Hollywood movies represented nothing but American culture. Most of the time this embodied exaggerated plots and numerous special effects. But Hollywood films are becoming less popular now; the United States is no longer the only actor on the world stage. People are tired of Hollywood, and we are living in a new era in which all people should be given a chance to speak out and to express their own cultures. by Cindy S.Y. Chang
Just as the summer hit Cape No. 7 (海角七號) continues to prosper at the box office, Taiwan’s enthusiasm for the film is not likely to end anytime soon. Having received numerous awards in the 2008 Taipei Film Festival, Cape No. 7 reflects the lives of ordinary Taiwanese people with such authenticity that it has well deserved it many honors. But how exactly does it entice us to so much laughter and tears? The movie is set in Hengchun (恆春) , a little town on the southern tip of Taiwan. The story begins when the main character, Aga, returns to his hometown to take on his aged neighbor’s occupation as a mailman. At the same time, Tomoko, a sweet Japanese music agent, begins her job of putting together a local band in which Aga performs part-time as the main vocalist. Together they discover seven unsent love letters written at the end of WWII, unfolding a complex love story that intertwines narration of the past and the present. In general, Cape No. 7 vividly presents a shared Taiwanese experience. It combines various elements of reality and art, ranging from history and local politics to music and transnational romance. Unlike typical Hollywood films, this movie touches the essence of daily life in Taiwan, including scenes of gossiping neighbors, hawking sausage vendors, county hall performances, and boisterous outdoor banquets. On the other hand, Cape No. 7 subtly displays clashes between local values and different cultures, along with conflicts between the older and younger generations. We see problems of local bribery, chaotic street traffic, the ever-widening urban-rural gap, and disappointments towards the BOT system, all of which are genuine reflections of contemporary Taiwan society. Beside its appealing plot, Cape No. 7 is also successful in terms of its technical aspects, and this is quite unprecedented for Taiwan’s local film industry. Director Wei Te-Sheng (魏德勝) has skillfully blended tradition and innovation in order to achieve this. In addition to sentimental music, Cape No. 7 plays Taiwanese Spring Scream Pop and Japanese songs every once in while, which naturally merge into the storyline to enhance the mood. Furthermore, the abundant use of melodrama and slapstick also increases the story’s comic effect. The audience applauds to characters’ rough-mannered straightforwardness and, of course, all their Taiwanese slang. One cannot deny that once you’re Taiwanese, you are Taiwanese forever. But behind the surface, we are at the same time searching for our identity within the two hours. We are born into a generation mixed with confusion and pride. The recurrent rainbow in the film is a symbol of hope, and Cape No. 7 depicts the pursuit of dreams of both ordinary individuals as well as the community. It is not a heroic epic remote from real life. The old love letters tell a sad story of forced separation, but now Aga and Tomoko choose their own destiny to be together forever. Like other domestic films such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s (侯孝賢) A City of Sadness (悲情城市), Cape No. 7 exhibits an understanding of what we’ve gone through, but it also replaces the emotional burdens of our past with humor and the simplicity of local humanity. On the other hand, some critics think that the movie’s interpretation of the past is too shallow to survive through time. The president of the Japan Research Institute of Taiwan, Shu Jie-Lin (許介鱗), has pointed out that regardless of its acclaimed success, Cape No. 7 is nothing but a fusion of sub-cultures lacking any philosophical depth or worldview. There are also scholars who see the film as a shadow of Japanese colonization providing a false sense of nostalgia. This film’s theme music is an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s South of the Border, West of the Sun; the idea of south of the border symbolizes a tropical utopia for the Japanese, who live in the far north. But it is never exactly our idea of utopia as Taiwanese. Nevertheless, we all have different opinions of our history. At least there is no denying that Cape No.7 is a fresh new start for Taiwan’s almost-dead local film industry. After all, the ending of an era leaves behind not only nationalistic hatred and regret, but also countless stories of ordinary individuals, which to later generations may be the most everlasting and touching elements of a fragmented past. by Peggy Chang
Germany seems to be worlds apart from Taiwan geographically, but its food is not so far away as you might imagine. There are actually many Taiwanese counterparts for German food, differing only in terms of style. Let’s discover just how close German food is to our own! We could begin with Hauptgerichte, or main dishes, and the most representative of all are Schweinshaxe and Eisbein. These are German style pig’s knuckles, though in Taiwan pig’s knuckles are seldom deemed as a main dish. Eisbein, just like Taiwanese pig’s knuckles, requires a long preparation. In order to achieve the tender texture and aroma, pig’s knuckles must be braised for a very long time. Unlike Taiwanese pig’s knuckles, which are stewed and seasoned with soy sauce, Eisbein is merely pickled and boiled. Schweinshaxe, on the other hand, is baked or grilled and thus gives a crispier feeling. While Eisbein is more popular in northern Germany, Schweinshaxe is more common in Bavaria. Incidentally, Eisbein tastes, as far as I am concerned, a lot like the soy sauce stewed pork shank (often sided with stewed bamboo sprouts) served at Taiwanese wedding banquets. Frikadellen are the German cousins of Taiwanese meatballs. At first glance they might not seem alike, as Taiwanese meatballs are round or spherical and Frikadellen are more flattened; their ingredients, nevertheless, are quite similar. While Taiwanese meatballs are made of minced pork along with starch, Frikadellen consist of more complex ingredients: pork, veal or beef, eggs, chopped onions, milk, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Unlike Taiwanese meatballs, which are boiled and often appear in soup, Frikadellen are pan-fried and are eaten with bread. I will never forget the first time I bit into a Frikadelle sandwiched in bread, with the hot, juicy meatball combined with hard, crunchy white bread. It is simply a heavenly symphony for the mouth. Yet another example are sausages, or Würste. German food features an enormous selection of sausages: Bratwurst (grilled sausage), Currywurst (curry sausage), Frankfurter (Frankfurt sausage, or hot dogs in the United States) and Wiener Würstchen (Vienna sausage), to name just a few. While Taiwanese sausages are either grilled or fried, German sausages are prepared with more diverse methods: boiling, grilling, roasting, or pan frying. Also, as Taiwanese sausages are seldom categorized as a main dish (though an exception may be the gigantic Taiwanese sausages sold in the Shilin night market), German sausages are often large enough to be a main dish. Of all the sorts of German sausage, I especially recommend Currywurst, which is easily available in food stands on the streets of Germany. Their feel is delicately tender, and they go well with slightly spicy ketchup. By the way, German people are not accustomed to spicy sauce as in Taiwan; dishes labeled as extra scharf (extra spicy) on German menus are, in my opinion, merely slightly spicy. Then there are the side dishes (Beilagen). Side dishes often include Sättigungsbeilagen (which allows for saturation, for example noodle and potato) and Gemüsebeilagen (vegetables). Here I would like to introduce Sauerkraut, or picked sour cabbage. While in Taiwan sour cabbage is often used either in hotpot as broth or in vegetable dishes, Sauerkraut is often served with pig’s knuckles or sausages as a relish. Unlike sour cabbage in Taiwan, which is pickled with salt, Sauerkraut derives its distinctive sour flavor from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferments the sugars in the cabbage. Personally I don’t find Sauerkraut very tasty for I cannot adjust to its unique sour flavor. When eating greasy dishes like pig’s knuckles or sausages, however, Sauerkraut functions extremely well as a relish and adds a refreshing touch to a heavy main dish. Last but not least, I would like to talk about Imbiss (snacks). A good example is Kattoffelkuchen (hash browns). Just as in North America, hash browns in Taiwan are pan-fried and served with ketchup. Kattoffelkuchen, however, go with Apfelmus or apple sauce. I was amazed the first time I saw a food stand selling hash browns with apple sauce. I wondered whether the dish would be good, since it was a combination of salty hash browns and sweet apple sauce. The apple sauce, however, turned out to be a perfect match. Incidentally, Kuchen means cakes or pies in German and Brot is bread, and the difference lies in the texture: Brot is hard and Kuchen soft. A German is mostly likely to think that all the breads sold in Taiwanese bakeries are Kuchen, for here in Taiwan the texture of bread tends to be much softer. James Beard once remarked that “food is our common ground, a universal experience.” German food and its Taiwanese counterparts are brilliant examples of this statement. by Kevin Lee
For the fashion-conscious or those who are simply fans of reality TV, the phrase “auf Wiedersehen” brings to mind German hostess Heidi Klum’s way of sending away contestants who have lost on her show, Project Runway. Project Runway, simply put, is a reality show where some fifteen out of thousands of auditioning fashion designers are chosen to vie for fame that is all but impossible to obtain, and for prizes that are too good to be true. Ever since its premier in 2004, the show has boasted millions of loyal viewers around the globe. Six other local versions have also been made in places such as Australia, Canada, and the Philippines. What the show has always been striving for is, in my view, variety. Season after season, the themes have been anything but predictable. Once, they were designing for high-schoolers going to prom, with the help and “supervision” of the girls’ moms. Another time they were asked to work for the Miss USA pageant. The different backgrounds of the contestants is another aspect of the show’s variety. Apart from this, the prizes are also appealing features of any reality show. In Project Runway the winners might get an internship with a famous designer and the chance to market their own lines of clothes. This certainly inspires creativity and entrepreneurship, not just a random quest for styles that are “in.” All things said, however, the show has also inspired its share of negative opinions. We are all familiar with the criticism that reality shows are the farthest thing from being real. Everyone behaves just as they are instructed to, not to mention various kinds of manipulation by the post-production team. However, reality shows, by themselves, are meant to be dramatic. Contestants without a doubt are portrayed in a certain way in order that viewers can relate to them. With all sorts of stress and unrelenting deadlines as part of our daily routine, reality shows offer an escape. We can imagine a lifestyle far from us and people whom we might never be. We ourselves might be afraid to be the object of such cruel comments in public, from the judges or the other contestants. The shows offer us relief as well as enjoyment. Though some of the restrictions may seem a bit absurd, like the extreme time constraints which the designers have to struggle with, these elements only increase the entertainment value of the show. In the case of Project Runway, it’s more than amazing to see a few yards of raw material end up as an awesome piece of clothing going down the runway, whether it be an evening gown or casual sportswear. Seeing how creatively people can work under all sorts of limitations inspires us to apply our ingenuity to tasks and projects of our own. Also, one of the great highlights of the show is to see winners walk away with all their prizes. We can read follow-up stories about how the winners now run their businesses, real-life accounts of inspiring entrepreneurship. Project Runway might not be “realistic,” but it is also a show that presents us with more than meets the eye. |
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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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