The Countdown Begins

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Hey everyone!

After a hectic week of tests, presentations, and retaking the crazy difficult placement test we took at the beginning to evaluate our improvement, the Tunghai program has come to an end. On Friday, we retook the placement test. I think it was a different version of the same test, but the listening portion this time felt more difficult, as the topics were less familiar and used more of the newer vocab we learned, and they spoke faster. The recordings were also only played once, with the actual question at the end, which definitely didn't make things any easier! Having the question first would have given more context to the dialogue; for some of them I had no idea what was even happening until they got to the question, by which point the entire dialogue had already passed over my head. Somehow I ended up with a higher score (42 out of something like 120, versus 40 out of the same). We were taking the same test as students who were definitely more fluent than we are, and everyone in my group ended up with scores in the same range, so in the grand scheme of things, I didn't do too badly, thank goodness. Regardless of what the evaluation test told me, I do feel like my Chinese has improved, and although I am still nervous about speaking to others, I am more willing than I was at the beginning of the trip! Anyways, after the test we had the afternoon to ourselves, and that evening we had a farewell dinner with all of the teachers. The dinner was fun and relaxing, and at a pretty upscale Hakka restaurant. I have discovered that I really like the Hakka food 粄條 (bǎn tiáo), a type of rice noodle that is wide and flat, and typically either served dry with a kind of meat sauce, or in soup. Speaking of soup, I was surprised to discover that soup is often served as one of the last courses here, either at the same time or right before a dessert of fresh fruit. This is still pretty weird to me, as soup is always one of the first things brought to the table in the US, regardless of what type of cuisine you are eating. Also, many times spoons are unnecessary when it comes to soup. The more traditional ones have large chunks of meat (on the bones, of course) and vegetables in a light broth. First you use your chopsticks to eat the large pieces, then you sip the soup directly from the bowl. It's a bummer that it comes last though, because by then I am already stuffed from all the other tasty food!

After the dinner, we each received a certificate of completion (which states that we have done 160 hours of Chinese (that's so much!), and a Tunghai mug. Lots of pictures were taken, of course! Before we left, KC gave Bai laoshi a large stack of receipts, which sounds weird, but I promise it actually made a lot of sense. In Taiwan, in order to encourage people to buy more stuff, the government set up a lottery system based on receipts. On each receipt is a lottery number, and every two months the government announces five eight-digit numbers and three three-digit numbers. People who have receipts that match the full eight-digit numbers receive the most money, the set amount depending on which number they match (the highest prize is NT$10,000,000 - about USD$300,000). Then, people whose last seven to three digits match one of the winning number's last seven to three digits also win money. The lowest prizes go to people whose last three digits match the posted three-digit numbers. More info here: http://www.tealit.com/article_categories.php?section=living&article=lottery. TL;DR, with every purchase you make at a store (no receipts for buying things at night market stands or places where you can bargain) you are entered into a lottery. No throwing your money away to enter into a lottery necessary! And since none of us will be here for the next drawing of winners, we all saved up our receipts and gave them to various teachers or Taiwanese friends. The system is actually pretty cool, and while I'm not sure it inspires people to spend more money, I'm sure no one complains about the chance to win free money!

On another note, because of the Typhoon the other week, whatever maintenance that required shutting off the electricity that was supposed to happen that weekend didn't happen (though we lost electricity for most of the day anyways). Today was the rescheduled day for that, so from about 8am to 5pm we were supposed to be without electricity, although it didn't actually come back on until sometime between 6:30 and 8; while we were at dinner with Penny. Because the dorms got so terribly stifling, Sarah and I decided to take advantage of the day and wandered down to the jade market, in search for a bracelet for my sister. Originally, I had planned on spending something like NT$2-300 on a bracelet, and budgeted thusly. However, I quickly recalculated, because Sarah and I asked about prices at three different stands and at each the prices were something like NT$3000 (about USD$90). Obviously, I didn't have that kind of money. In fact, this morning I only had about NT$1800 total cash, with the $1000 set aside for a bus to Taoyuan, a night in a hostel, and a taxi if Sarah and I end up needing to take one. I had only brought $800 with me, and on top of the bracelet needed to save some to feed myself for the next day and a half. The third vendor we spoke to (in a very awkward, simple Mandarin) was VERY pushy. The bracelet I was originally eyeing she priced at $3500, which was definitely not going to happen. She encouraged me to give her a price that I would pay, and after lots of discussion with Sarah (I wasn't sure what the lowest price I could state was that wouldn't totally offend her), I admitted that $500 was the most I could pay. She was, of course, appalled, and was adamant that it was impossible. I was bummed, but since that was absolutely the most I could afford, ready to walk away. The vendor, however, kept insisting that because it was high quality, and so pretty (which it really was), there's no way that she could go that low, etc. After chattering on for a while about the quality of the bracelet, I'm pretty sure she told me that there was an ATM next door to the market, and I could go and get money and come back, and asked if that was the case, how much was the highest I could go? I considered that option for a while, because I really did like the bracelet, but even still decided that I didn't really want to withdraw more money, since I am leaving so soon and will need the money while I am in Beijing. After a while longer of trying to convince me to withdraw money, she pulled out some other bracelets from a box below her table. I'm not positive that even the one I was looking at originally was real jade, but I am sure that the ones she pulled out were most likely glass (which I warned Sarah of ahead of time, and she gave me the okay on a fake, glass bracelet). These ones were cheaper, but the vendor was still adamant that $500 was too low, and insisted that she wanted at least $1300. She suggested the ATM thing again, and then that I have Sarah loan me some money (I'm not sure how that was supposed to help, because then I'd still have to pay Sarah back). When she realized that I wasn't going to offer up more, and was ready to walk away - Sarah and I were actually trying to figure out how to walk away, as she kept trying to convince me to buy the bracelets, and I kept trying to tell her that I just couldn't buy it or that we would come back or something - she finally just told me to pick my favorite among the cheaper ones she pulled out, and ended up selling it to me for $500. So mission accomplished, I guess? It was seriously stressful, though, because I didn't understand most of what she was saying, and she was really determined, even though I did tell her flat out that I was American and was studying Chinese. Even though I'm sure she could tell that I couldn't understand most of what she was saying, she kept going and going. In the end, I think Sarah and I were "talking" with her for at least 20 minutes. But I guess I can count this as my first successful bargaining deal, right? $1300 to $500 is a pretty big jump, and I ended up getting what I was looking for for a price that I was determined to stick to so I'm going to count that as a success.

On Saturday morning, Trini and Makenzie left for the airport. Their leaving definitely made the end seem more real. The rest of us just kind of hung out in the dorms for the day, and for dinner KC and I went to get beef noodle soup for the last time. KC left this morning, and Annastasia left this afternoon. The dorm room feels so empty without roommates! Only Sarah and I are left, and we leave the dorms on Tuesday, will stay in a hostel in Taoyuan for the night, and fly to Beijing Wednesday afternoon. SO SOON! And because I'm not a super huge fan of change (I'm definitely someone who likes having a routine), I am kind of secretly freaking out a little. Well, maybe more than a little. But I'm sure it will be a good change, and at the same time I am excited about Beijing and all that it will entail (especially the food. I've heard good things about food in Beijing). I am also a little sad about leaving Taiwan, though, because I have kind of sort of fallen in love with Taichung. The city is wonderful, the food is wonderful, and the people are super friendly. I love that even though Taichung is a large city (2.72 million people, according to Google), it definitely doesn't feel the levels of dirty and crowded that I associate with large cities (looking at you, NYC). I also feel a lot safer here than I would in any of the large cities I have been to in the US, as I never felt nervous taking the bus at 10 pm with only one other friend, or walking around Dongbie at night. Granted, I never put myself in situations where I should have felt unsafe, but I tend to be slightly paranoid about being out at night whenever I am outside of Boulder - and Boulder at night feels safe because I know which parts to avoid. But anyways, I really love Taichung and will be sad to leave, and definitely recommend it as a place to visit if you're ever in Taiwan!

That's all I have to say for now, and my next update will come from Beijing! Eep! Until then!

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Photos

Final calligraphy piece
I'm pleased that it turned out halfway decent! Admittedly, I didn't practice as much as I should have during the week/over the weekend, but I am happy with how it turned out!

All of us with Molly laoshi
Our joint gift to each of our teachers was a framed photo with us and each of them, and we each wrote a note (in Chinese, of course) around the edge of the photo. Unfortunately Rachel was not included in this, as she left early... =/
From left to right, front to back: KC, Makenzie, Trini, Molly laoshi, Annastasia, me, Sarah
Photo cred. one of the CLC students

Farewell dinner
From left to right, front to back: Trini, Bai laoshi, Director Cheng, Molly laoshi, Annastasia, Claire, Makenzie, KC, me, Yu laoshi, Sharon, Sarah, Penny
Photo cred. waiter at Hakka

With our certificates!
From left to right, front to back: me, Trini, Molly laoshi, Penny, director Cheng, Makenzie, Bai laoshi, Yu laoshi, KC, Sarah, Annastasia
Photo cred. either Sharon or Claire

Comments

[Terry May]

Taichung, Zaijian
Katie, Sounds like it's time say goodbye to Taichung and hello to Beijing. You've worked on your speaking, writing and bargaining skills - you're ready! After reading your posts from Taiwan, I will definitely put it on my list of places to visit (winning the Colorado Lotto would help speed things up- I like that receipt lotto idea). Speaking of Starbucks......their new blend is 'Kati Kati' - you should be able to find it in Beijing. Terry