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) 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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