By Jack Chou
The bell tolled, a welcome usurper in the afternoon lull: once in urgency, twenty times in redundancy, and the echoes raced an unruffled breeze across sunwashed campus grounds, under an endless autumn sky. Chairs groaned in relief as their weighty payloads sprung free; footsteps exploded down halls and stairs, trailed by shouts of laughter, cries of relief, and perhaps a prayer of thanks. In the teacher’s lounge where Mr. Petersen has been gracious enough to meet me, the parallel between the rambunctious celebration outside and our sober interview was not lost on us, and while my fellow students were celebrating the end of a long day, we were about to discuss the end of a brilliant teaching career. For this year will be the last at NTU for Ole Bay-Petersen. As I sat across from this renowned educator, I became aware of the way his eyes, sharp as a hawk’s but patient as the sky, shone in our little piece of unspoiled tranquility. I took a deep breath and began: Jack: You’ll forgive me if I seem nervous, but it’s like interviewing a legend. I mean, you’ve been here so long. This will be your 20th year here at NTU? Petersen: Yes. J: Why are you leaving the university, and Taiwan? P: Well, I’m perfectly happy teaching in Taida, living in Taiwan, but I’ll be 60 next year. And having been here 20 years, I think it’s time for a change. Another reason is that my wife has a very demanding position in Taiwan, and I think she feels that it’s been a very exhaustive job and that it’s time to leave. Finally, I was a bit taken aback when one of my students last year said that I reminded her of her grandfather. I’m sure she meant to be kind, but somehow I feel maybe grandfathers ought to retire. J: And in the future? P: I think that probably the first six months or so I’ll just have to adapt to a new situation. I think it could be a bit difficult at first, not actually having a job anymore, but at the same time I’m looking forward to having the time to read all the books that have been waiting for me. I’m also a keen chess player, and in Taiwan it’s really impossible to find anybody who plays western chess. So I’m looking forward to joining a chess club. Also, I’ve probably seen more of Asia than I have of Europe, so when I go back I want to do some traveling, in Europe and especially in England. J: Do you have any particularly fond memories of your years in Taiwan? P: I suppose when I go to England and think about my time in Taiwan, my fondest memories will be about the many students I’ve had the privilege to teach. Not just the outstanding students, but also the average students, and some of the bad ones, too. Also, I’ve been lucky to have had some very friendly colleagues, and I would like to emphasize that as a foreigner in Taida I’ve been very impressed by the teaching assistants I’ve had. They’ve been extremely helpful and kind to me, and I probably couldn’t have functioned as a teacher but for their help. J: Do you have any bad memories? P: Well, certainly the worst memory was the big earthquake in September 1999. My wife was in the Philippines at the time, and I was alone with our dog here in Taipei. That earthquake was very frightening. I think anybody who experienced it would’ve been frightened by it—I certainly was! On a more personal level, I have had the sad experience that two of the undergraduates I’ve taught chose to take their own lives. I’ve never really understood why. I had no suspicion they were going to do it, and I feel a sense of helplessness whenever I think about it. I find it extremely sad that two such young people should feel that life was not worth living. J: Why Taiwan though? Why not some other country? P: Well, that was mainly because of my wife. She was offered the job she has now, an information officer for an international agricultural organization. It seemed very tempting. I had previously traveled throughout Asia, but I never had the chance to come to Taiwan. J: How has your time here changed you? P: I was almost 40 when I arrived, so I think my character had already developed. Although I’ve learned a good deal about Taiwanese and Chinese culture during my time, I don’t think what I learned has really changed me. Partly because several of the values I’ve been taught in Denmark are also values that are shared by the people in Taiwan. Values such as courtesy and honesty, compassion, and consensus rather than confrontation. Although there were obvious cultural and historical differences between us, I think what I realized was that in fact we also have a lot in common. J: Are students now very different from students twenty years ago? That’s what our parents like to tell us. P: I think all parents like to say that. Personally I don’t think they’ve changed a lot. There is one difference, which is we now get far more students who’ve spent time in English speaking countries, and they arrive in our department with a much better command of English than what used to be the case. J: 20 years from now, you return. What changes would you expect to see? P: That’s a very difficult question. As for our campus, I would expect there to be more buildings, and fewer trees and lawns. When I started working here, a lot of places that have now been built on were open fields. So I think the campus itself will shrink. As for the students and teachers, I have no idea what teachers will be like in 20 years! The students may have become even more westernized than some of them are now. And there would probably be more students with weird hairdos and strangely dyed hair. (Smiles) J: 40 years from now, you’re writing your memoirs. What tidbits from your years here would you include? P: Well, 40 years from now I’ll be about 100, so I doubt whether I’ll be alive; and if I were alive I’d probably be so senile I wouldn’t be doing much writing. But if I could I would certainly devote a very long chapter to Taiwan. It’ll probably be the longest chapter, because after all I’ve lived much longer in Taiwan than in England, and almost as long as I have in Denmark. J: If you could take a piece of NTU with you as a souvenir what would you take? P: I think I might take a cutting from a tree I think of as the ‘flame tree’. It’s the one near the college bell which has orange leaves in June. I find it extremely delightful when it blooms in spring, I think it is one of the most wonderful trees on campus. J: You know that famous quote from General Douglas MacArthur, that ‘Old soldiers never die, they just fade away’. Do you think it’s the same with teachers? Do you have your own motto about retiring teachers? P: I think it obviously depends on the individual. A motto I have for myself is: ‘I don’t personally believe in a life after death, but I do believe in a life after teaching’. What I mean is I want to start learning again. I want to read a lot of books and perhaps attend classes in Cambridge and various other universities, what they call a university for the 3rd age—that is, the elderly. That seems to me a very good idea. I hope not just to relax, but to become a student again. *********** I walked out into the sunset, to watch Mr. Petersen leave. The light was fading fast in the west, and a brisk breeze was picking up. Nothing lasted forever, not classes, not vacations, not even twenty years devoted to a calling, and a lifetime of reading and traveling, teaching and learning. After twenty years of devotion, all he asked for was a mere cutting of a nameless tree. There was a deep insight in that wish, in the absence of regrets and in the harvest of memories, that made me realize I had another question, more important and profound than all those I had already asked. I started forward but could no longer find him; for in the flow of youth and gaiety, in the blend of light and shadow, he had vanished without a ripple. a
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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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