(This was written on Tuesday, on the plane ride home. My apologies for the delay in posting. I succumbed to the cold completely after getting home!)
Yesterday we visited the 9 labs in the Food Science Department. It was a great time to do it, because we had spent so much time with graduate students in the labs that we were very comfortable speaking with them. Unfortunately my cold has hit me smack dab over the head so I walked around in a fog more most of the morning. I'll have to see if one of the other students can tell you more about their research. What I did come away with is that there is a focus on food and it's health benefits. Unlike OSU's food science department, Nutrition was until recently, a joint department with food science, and a lot of interest seems to reside there, from probiotics to reducing the negative effects of frying oils.
After a fast food lunch delivered from Mos burger (say moss) that consisted of rice patties in the shape of hamburger bun filled with veggies and meats and a side of fried chicken (yum!) I was feeling quite awful, so I went back to the room to take a nap. The other students sat in on lectures in food analysis and sensory. I'm really sorry that I missed it! They then came back to the room for a quick rest before we all met back at the department for an ice cream treat. This happened to be the day that clubs do recruitment on campus and had booths set up on front of one of the cafeterias. It also is the one day per year that the food science club sells soft serve ice cream, one of their biggest fundraisers for the year. After that we all took the bus to a Shabu Shabu restaurant for dinner, and had a farewell party.
We got really good at figuring out public transportation while in Taiwan. Many of the students don't have another way to get around. The only other options for them are foot, bicycle, and scooter. Just you wait until I post pictures of the streets! I was fascinated by the seemingly chaotic nature of so many pedestrians, scooters, cars, and buses. I never saw anyone struck or any sort of fender bender and I have no idea how they manage it. Scooter drivers seem to be fearless, weaving in and around cars and buses much larger than themselves, and often with two or three people on them! Many times we saw a small child sandwiched in between two adults, and once we even saw a woman with a few children strapped to her! Being a pedestrian also means that you have to be quick on your toes. A crosswalk is fair game for the scooters at the front of a line of cars and buses, and I saw them weaving through crowds many times. I was assured that they would stop if you were in the way, but it did feel that there were a couple of close calls!
Dinner was another lesson in food culture, and was very similar to the hotpot that I had the first day. The best part about dinner, however wasn't the food, it was the time that we spent with the students. All of the students who had participated in any activities with us were there. It was a fantastic way to say goodbye to all of them and was much more special than I had imagined. I can't even count how many pictures I posed for, both in groups and one-on-one. We were also presented with gifts from our host Marie and specific groups of students. Honestly when the signed pictures of our time together came out I nearly cried. I had not expected to make so many connections with the students here and feel like this experience has been one of the best of my life.
That's all for now,
Emily
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Day 6- Sunday- A lesson in communication
(This post was written Sunday night)
Today Dr. McGorrin left and we were on our own! (Okay, not really.) We visited Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world. We took an elevator to the top that took us to the 89th floor from the 5th in 37 seconds, traveling at a speed of up to 60 km per hour. Unfortunately a typhoon had settled to the east of Taiwan, bringing low clouds and light rain, so the visibility wasn't as good as we had hoped. Nonetheless the view was amazing. I'll post pictures soon but they don't do it justice. There were free information headsets available in many languages and we learned a lot, not only about the building and it's damper ball, but famous landmarks visible from the top. We went out to the 91st floor to the observation deck and were treated to the whistling, whipping wind. We got out there just in time, because after about 10 minutes it started to rain and the deck was closed. As we left we were ushered through an entire floor of gift shops selling fancy coral, jade, and gemstone jewelry, statues, and trinkets, not something that poor students could really afford! However, they also had gorgeous examples of traditional carving and other beautiful art It was like a mini museum! It seemed to take forever to leave because there was so much to look at!
Today was a fascinating lesson in communication. We spent the day with students from a different professor's lab than yesterday, one of the groups that we have come to know quite well during our stay. After a wonderful dumpling lunch and a visit to the top of 101, they had less specific plans to take us anywhere and wanted to make sure that we did everything that we wanted to do. Unfortunately with 6 people it made it kind of difficult to decide. The students didn't seem to understand that we just wanted to wander around and not see anything in particular, and we had trouble communicating it to them. We came to realize that this was not only an issue with our students but among themselves. They really are just like us! We developed some wonderful camaraderie with them and because of this we opened a line of communication to compare cultural differences. This was really the first time that they had felt comfortable enough with us to ask US questions. We talked about curfew, food, traditions, and games. We taught them about U.S laws and customs and were treated to the the same. None of this was done on a formal basis, it was simply from spending time together and asking lots of questions. I learned so much about their culture from their perspective and I wish that I had time to tell you more about it.
We ended up going to Elite bookstore, similar to a Borders or Barnes and Nobles in the United States (More like Powell's books if you're from Oregon). It was different though in that it didn't just sell books. Elite takes up 6 floors, and each floor is dedicated to a different service. The first had a coffee and flower shop, the second through the 3rd had books, but there were also areas that sold various household items, handmade gifts, food items, and other crafts. The 4th floor is dedicated to children and doesn't only have books, games and toys but also 5 or 6 DIY craft areas. These were quite popular and I saw children of all ages making dolls, painting pottery, crafting tile stepping stones and working with modeling clay. I was fascinated by this and wouldn't have minded doing some of them myself if we'd had more time! The fifth floor had more little shops (each with their own cash register) and the sixth had a few fancy restaurants. The set-up of many small (independent?) shops in one area seems to be very common in the areas that we visited. It makes for a nice variety and gives you plenty to look at!
One more day until we head home. I've been suffering from what I thought was bad allergies for a few days but it seems that it is developing into a cold. I hope that it waits to hit me hard until I get home!
Emily
Today Dr. McGorrin left and we were on our own! (Okay, not really.) We visited Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world. We took an elevator to the top that took us to the 89th floor from the 5th in 37 seconds, traveling at a speed of up to 60 km per hour. Unfortunately a typhoon had settled to the east of Taiwan, bringing low clouds and light rain, so the visibility wasn't as good as we had hoped. Nonetheless the view was amazing. I'll post pictures soon but they don't do it justice. There were free information headsets available in many languages and we learned a lot, not only about the building and it's damper ball, but famous landmarks visible from the top. We went out to the 91st floor to the observation deck and were treated to the whistling, whipping wind. We got out there just in time, because after about 10 minutes it started to rain and the deck was closed. As we left we were ushered through an entire floor of gift shops selling fancy coral, jade, and gemstone jewelry, statues, and trinkets, not something that poor students could really afford! However, they also had gorgeous examples of traditional carving and other beautiful art It was like a mini museum! It seemed to take forever to leave because there was so much to look at!
Today was a fascinating lesson in communication. We spent the day with students from a different professor's lab than yesterday, one of the groups that we have come to know quite well during our stay. After a wonderful dumpling lunch and a visit to the top of 101, they had less specific plans to take us anywhere and wanted to make sure that we did everything that we wanted to do. Unfortunately with 6 people it made it kind of difficult to decide. The students didn't seem to understand that we just wanted to wander around and not see anything in particular, and we had trouble communicating it to them. We came to realize that this was not only an issue with our students but among themselves. They really are just like us! We developed some wonderful camaraderie with them and because of this we opened a line of communication to compare cultural differences. This was really the first time that they had felt comfortable enough with us to ask US questions. We talked about curfew, food, traditions, and games. We taught them about U.S laws and customs and were treated to the the same. None of this was done on a formal basis, it was simply from spending time together and asking lots of questions. I learned so much about their culture from their perspective and I wish that I had time to tell you more about it.
We ended up going to Elite bookstore, similar to a Borders or Barnes and Nobles in the United States (More like Powell's books if you're from Oregon). It was different though in that it didn't just sell books. Elite takes up 6 floors, and each floor is dedicated to a different service. The first had a coffee and flower shop, the second through the 3rd had books, but there were also areas that sold various household items, handmade gifts, food items, and other crafts. The 4th floor is dedicated to children and doesn't only have books, games and toys but also 5 or 6 DIY craft areas. These were quite popular and I saw children of all ages making dolls, painting pottery, crafting tile stepping stones and working with modeling clay. I was fascinated by this and wouldn't have minded doing some of them myself if we'd had more time! The fifth floor had more little shops (each with their own cash register) and the sixth had a few fancy restaurants. The set-up of many small (independent?) shops in one area seems to be very common in the areas that we visited. It makes for a nice variety and gives you plenty to look at!
One more day until we head home. I've been suffering from what I thought was bad allergies for a few days but it seems that it is developing into a cold. I hope that it waits to hit me hard until I get home!
Emily
Day 5- Saturday- A real Taiwanese experience
(This post was written Sunday morning.)
Sensory overload. Those are the first two words that come to mind when I think of how to describe my Saturday (and even though it has been less intense the rest of the time, the entire trip could be described by those words as well)
We first took a bus to Carrefour, a large hypermart or grocery store, (imagine Target on one level, and Safeway on the second), ate lunch in the mini mall below the store, caught another bus to the train station, road a train for 45 minutes (standing in the most crowded train I have been in in my life) then road another bus up a windy narrow road to Jioufen There we were crammed into narrow walkways filled with little shops that sold everything! This was followed by a ride back down the hill (very similar to a roller coaster ride) to Keelong and the night market there. Each place was more crowded than the last. The press of bodies, the the visual stimulation, and the smells all combined to form this amazing sensory experience that is frankly indescribable. I don't know how to begin to describe all of the smells: the smell of fresh seafood, of raw sewage, of frying oil, of cooking meat and the fuel used to cook it, of sweaty bodies, the very distinctive spice blend that seems to permeate everything, and of course the very distinctive smell of stinky tofu.
The visual stimulation has been constant since we arrived. Signs are everywhere: sides of buildings, banners on awnings, paper, neon, glass windows, cars, busses. Everywhere. When you can't read the written language you tend to not focus on it as words but rather it blends into this giant canvas of art. There are English words in many places and I find my eyes leaping there, for some sort of understanding of what is written. Are they selling car insurance or shoes? Telling you to eat healthy or giving directions to the nearest bathroom? I am learning to communicate by recognizing symbols that I need to know like exit, bathroom, and learning to recognize the symbol for New Taiwanese Dollars. Pointing and gesturing usually works to purchase something, though sometimes we have needed translation by our student guides. They have been so patient and tolerant of our constant questions, educating us about the culture, and making sure we all get to the right places at the right time (have you ever had to herd 18 people through a market so crowded that you could hardly breathe?). We would not have been able to see nearly so much without them and there are not enough words to thank them for the time that they have spent with us.
I can see that due to the crunch for time that I'm going to have to continue to write posts even after I have returned. There are so many things that I could speak about, food, culture, transportation, the places that we've been. I can only hope that I am able to find the words to describe them.
Today we are going to downtown Taipei to visit Taipei 101 and a few places around it. This is the last day of touring and shopping. On Monday we will be sitting in on food science classes with FJU students and then will be headed home on Tuesday. I told someone on Thursday that I would have been happy enough with just the one day that we had already spent here. Each consecutive day brings a new understanding of foreign culture, personal growth, and a litany of experiences to share. I will probably sleep for a week when I get home!
Until next time,
Emily
Sensory overload. Those are the first two words that come to mind when I think of how to describe my Saturday (and even though it has been less intense the rest of the time, the entire trip could be described by those words as well)
We first took a bus to Carrefour, a large hypermart or grocery store, (imagine Target on one level, and Safeway on the second), ate lunch in the mini mall below the store, caught another bus to the train station, road a train for 45 minutes (standing in the most crowded train I have been in in my life) then road another bus up a windy narrow road to Jioufen There we were crammed into narrow walkways filled with little shops that sold everything! This was followed by a ride back down the hill (very similar to a roller coaster ride) to Keelong and the night market there. Each place was more crowded than the last. The press of bodies, the the visual stimulation, and the smells all combined to form this amazing sensory experience that is frankly indescribable. I don't know how to begin to describe all of the smells: the smell of fresh seafood, of raw sewage, of frying oil, of cooking meat and the fuel used to cook it, of sweaty bodies, the very distinctive spice blend that seems to permeate everything, and of course the very distinctive smell of stinky tofu.
The visual stimulation has been constant since we arrived. Signs are everywhere: sides of buildings, banners on awnings, paper, neon, glass windows, cars, busses. Everywhere. When you can't read the written language you tend to not focus on it as words but rather it blends into this giant canvas of art. There are English words in many places and I find my eyes leaping there, for some sort of understanding of what is written. Are they selling car insurance or shoes? Telling you to eat healthy or giving directions to the nearest bathroom? I am learning to communicate by recognizing symbols that I need to know like exit, bathroom, and learning to recognize the symbol for New Taiwanese Dollars. Pointing and gesturing usually works to purchase something, though sometimes we have needed translation by our student guides. They have been so patient and tolerant of our constant questions, educating us about the culture, and making sure we all get to the right places at the right time (have you ever had to herd 18 people through a market so crowded that you could hardly breathe?). We would not have been able to see nearly so much without them and there are not enough words to thank them for the time that they have spent with us.
I can see that due to the crunch for time that I'm going to have to continue to write posts even after I have returned. There are so many things that I could speak about, food, culture, transportation, the places that we've been. I can only hope that I am able to find the words to describe them.
Today we are going to downtown Taipei to visit Taipei 101 and a few places around it. This is the last day of touring and shopping. On Monday we will be sitting in on food science classes with FJU students and then will be headed home on Tuesday. I told someone on Thursday that I would have been happy enough with just the one day that we had already spent here. Each consecutive day brings a new understanding of foreign culture, personal growth, and a litany of experiences to share. I will probably sleep for a week when I get home!
Until next time,
Emily
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Day 4- Friday, a little space to breathe
Today began with a tour of some of the Research and Analysis Laboratories of the Taiwanese Food and Drug Administration. We began with an introduction to the TFDA and a question-and-answer session about the way things are run there. They base their system primarily off of the US FDA and have many of the same concerns regarding food safety, testing procedures, food analysis and trace-ability. Some of the things that struck me as very different are the concerns over allergens and labeling issues, and the emphasis on foreign imports regulation and testing. Allergens are not something that are tested for and are not required to be declared in a food. This also makes sense because it seems that they do not have any labeling requirements for food products. (I will apologize in advance if I misunderstood anything that was said. I don't have time to verify my information at the moment either!) There is a high emphasis on testing for the presence of GMOs, heavy metals, and chemical residues in food that is produced and imported into Taiwan (as opposed to the microbial concern that is a focus in the U.S.) Foreign imports are especially important, as almost 17% of the food consumed comes from outside of Taipei. (Taiwan has 23 million people in a landmass that is less than 1400 square miles.) The primary import is agricultural crops and the highest percentage comes from the United States.
Tonight we were hosted by last year's Food Science Club officers. It has taken nearly 3 days to better form an understanding of how their club is set up. First, admission to the University is not done the same way as in the United States. You must take a test in your senior year of high school that helps to decide where you are allowed to go to school. (It seems much more serious than the SAT.) From there it sounds like the testing scores also play a roll in what major you can choose, but I am still a bit confused as to how that works. The club is something that you must join as an incoming freshman food science student. It costs $4000NT for 4 years (to get to US dollars divide by 29 or 30, depending on the exchange rate) and seems a bit more like a student union than what we think of as a club. Third year students are the officers in the club and are elected in a similar manner as at OSU, self-nomination and election-style. They make and sell soft-serve ice cream, waffles, and jam at specific points during the year but because of University regulations they must use mixes, and are only allowed to sell one time throughout the year. This is very different from the emphasis that the OSU Food and Fermentation Science Club paces on the learning opportunities that we gain by getting together and preparing food. We also get around the issue of selling food by making it more about the production experience than the final product. FJU students were very surprised that we make cheese, sausage, and especially beer (though I know a few clubs in the US that would also love to be able to do that as well).
The most fascinating thing is how integrated culture and performance is with the club. They are in charge of the new student welcome celebration, freshman camp, graduation party, and other events like a Halloween party. Each event is accompanied by a form of entertainment (or two or three) such as music, dance, acting, or other performance. For example, we were treated tonight to a baton routine, a fire-rope spinning routine, a traditional Chinese flute solo, and some spontaneous dancing. This is all something that they work on as a group and is integral to the club. They participate in athletics, hold a Food Science singing competition as a form of fundraising, and do various other events throughout the year that are not focused on food. We had been asked to share a talent that we had as a group to the students and after much deliberation we chose to sing. Marlin played a borrowed guitar and we sang Hotel California (a very popular song here) as well as a few others. It was a very eye-opening experience and we had a great time sharing stories and trading differences about cultures. It was by far the most relaxed that we had been with the students since we arrived.
(Have you ever tried to explain how big the United States is? We started using Taiwan as a size comparison. Tim is from Chicago and lives 9 Taiwan lengths from home in Corvallis. Pretty funny, especially when maps started getting drawn!)
It's about midnight now, and tomorrow is going to be a long day. We've got sightseeing things planned in Ruifang, Jeioufun, and will be going to the Keelung Night market, so I expect the number of pictures that I've taken to top 1000 any time tomorrow. (This is one of those times that I really wish that I had more than a point-and-shoot camera!) I'll have to post this once I get to wireless internet again, I'm definitely not used to being without it!
Until next time,
Emily
Tonight we were hosted by last year's Food Science Club officers. It has taken nearly 3 days to better form an understanding of how their club is set up. First, admission to the University is not done the same way as in the United States. You must take a test in your senior year of high school that helps to decide where you are allowed to go to school. (It seems much more serious than the SAT.) From there it sounds like the testing scores also play a roll in what major you can choose, but I am still a bit confused as to how that works. The club is something that you must join as an incoming freshman food science student. It costs $4000NT for 4 years (to get to US dollars divide by 29 or 30, depending on the exchange rate) and seems a bit more like a student union than what we think of as a club. Third year students are the officers in the club and are elected in a similar manner as at OSU, self-nomination and election-style. They make and sell soft-serve ice cream, waffles, and jam at specific points during the year but because of University regulations they must use mixes, and are only allowed to sell one time throughout the year. This is very different from the emphasis that the OSU Food and Fermentation Science Club paces on the learning opportunities that we gain by getting together and preparing food. We also get around the issue of selling food by making it more about the production experience than the final product. FJU students were very surprised that we make cheese, sausage, and especially beer (though I know a few clubs in the US that would also love to be able to do that as well).
The most fascinating thing is how integrated culture and performance is with the club. They are in charge of the new student welcome celebration, freshman camp, graduation party, and other events like a Halloween party. Each event is accompanied by a form of entertainment (or two or three) such as music, dance, acting, or other performance. For example, we were treated tonight to a baton routine, a fire-rope spinning routine, a traditional Chinese flute solo, and some spontaneous dancing. This is all something that they work on as a group and is integral to the club. They participate in athletics, hold a Food Science singing competition as a form of fundraising, and do various other events throughout the year that are not focused on food. We had been asked to share a talent that we had as a group to the students and after much deliberation we chose to sing. Marlin played a borrowed guitar and we sang Hotel California (a very popular song here) as well as a few others. It was a very eye-opening experience and we had a great time sharing stories and trading differences about cultures. It was by far the most relaxed that we had been with the students since we arrived.
(Have you ever tried to explain how big the United States is? We started using Taiwan as a size comparison. Tim is from Chicago and lives 9 Taiwan lengths from home in Corvallis. Pretty funny, especially when maps started getting drawn!)
It's about midnight now, and tomorrow is going to be a long day. We've got sightseeing things planned in Ruifang, Jeioufun, and will be going to the Keelung Night market, so I expect the number of pictures that I've taken to top 1000 any time tomorrow. (This is one of those times that I really wish that I had more than a point-and-shoot camera!) I'll have to post this once I get to wireless internet again, I'm definitely not used to being without it!
Until next time,
Emily
Friday, September 16, 2011
Day 3- Company Tours
Finally, a bit of a break! We've been so busy that we've hardly had time to sleep, let alone use the internet. I'm stealing a bit of a break between club activities and dinner to catch you up on the last two days, so no pictures yet, but maybe I can add them soon!
Yesterday we toured two food manufacturing facilities about an hour northwest of New Taipei City where we are staying. The first, a mid-sized tofu and soymilk concentrate producer, was a good representation of some of the major differences between food production in the United States and in Taiwan. For example, their food product is produced using a HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point for those of you who are not foodies.) This safety plan is not required by the government and is a point of pride for those who use it. In fact, it is declared on the label. The production environment however, is majorly lacking in some areas. They are not able to say that the building is GMP certified, and again, are not required to do so.
I wish that I knew more about the required practices in Taiwan, because I saw a few things that would not be allowed in the US such as dirty ceilings. We had a good discussion about genetically modified crops, and we learned that most Taiwanese do not want them in their food. They do not have an "organic" certification like the U.S. (which requires that you meet other checkpoints), but instead can declare "No GMOs", again a point of pride.
We ate lunch on the bus and then traveled to a large company that manufactures a lot of food products. The difference between this and the last food company was startling. This is an international company with a very large reach, something very apparent as soon as we walked in the door. We were given a short tour of the frozen pastry production line and then given samples of them to taste. We were also introduced to the company, the products that they produce, and the practices that they use to guide the company. It was very interesting and I'd like to talk more about it, but I think that I'll save it for another time.
We got back to FJU just in time to leave again. This time, we rode the city bus (As opposed to the chartered bus we had been using earlier in the day) with students into Taipei City. We got off at a place that looked like Times Square. Neon lights everywhere! It was really funny to see many brands that looked familiar such as KFC. There were also a lot of knock-off stores, like Forever 26 (as opposed to Forever 21). We toured a little mall and then headed to a karaoke place. Boy was that an experience! I'll have to finish catching you up later. It's time for dinner!
Emily
Yesterday we toured two food manufacturing facilities about an hour northwest of New Taipei City where we are staying. The first, a mid-sized tofu and soymilk concentrate producer, was a good representation of some of the major differences between food production in the United States and in Taiwan. For example, their food product is produced using a HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point for those of you who are not foodies.) This safety plan is not required by the government and is a point of pride for those who use it. In fact, it is declared on the label. The production environment however, is majorly lacking in some areas. They are not able to say that the building is GMP certified, and again, are not required to do so.
I wish that I knew more about the required practices in Taiwan, because I saw a few things that would not be allowed in the US such as dirty ceilings. We had a good discussion about genetically modified crops, and we learned that most Taiwanese do not want them in their food. They do not have an "organic" certification like the U.S. (which requires that you meet other checkpoints), but instead can declare "No GMOs", again a point of pride.
We ate lunch on the bus and then traveled to a large company that manufactures a lot of food products. The difference between this and the last food company was startling. This is an international company with a very large reach, something very apparent as soon as we walked in the door. We were given a short tour of the frozen pastry production line and then given samples of them to taste. We were also introduced to the company, the products that they produce, and the practices that they use to guide the company. It was very interesting and I'd like to talk more about it, but I think that I'll save it for another time.
We got back to FJU just in time to leave again. This time, we rode the city bus (As opposed to the chartered bus we had been using earlier in the day) with students into Taipei City. We got off at a place that looked like Times Square. Neon lights everywhere! It was really funny to see many brands that looked familiar such as KFC. There were also a lot of knock-off stores, like Forever 26 (as opposed to Forever 21). We toured a little mall and then headed to a karaoke place. Boy was that an experience! I'll have to finish catching you up later. It's time for dinner!
Emily
Day 2- Wednesday Fu Jen Welcome
(This post was written early Thursday morning. Sorry about the formatting and picture quality, there isn't much time for edits!)
Yesterday was a very busy day! We woke up about 7 and finalized our presentation for the food science club. Then we met with some students for breakfast. They took us to a restaurant just off campus that served traditional Taiwanese breakfast. We had milk tea, dumplings (potstickers), some sort of rice and raw radish cake, and a thin pancake wrapped around ham (spam) and egg. Everything was delicious! It was also very cheap. We spent the equivalent of about $1.25 each. We then met Marie at the food science building for a presentation and tour of the department. We chatted for a while and then went to lunch at a restaurant off-campus.
You'll start to notice a trend in my posts. Everything revolves around food in Taiwan! We were fed so much food today that by the end of the day it was very difficult to stay polite and keep eating. We noticed that many students did not eat breakfast with us but instead just sat and chatted. When we questioned this, they said that they do not usually eat a morning meal, and when we got to dinner time, we understood much better!
Lunch was a little complicated, because there was only one menu in the entire restaurant that had English descriptions. Without our guides, I'm sure it would have been even more confusing! We met with Emily, the head of the Hotel and Restaurant Management Department, who was very helpful. I ordered a pork hot pot with kimchi soup. I thought that I was familiar with hot pot but looking back I don't think I had ever had it before. It's hard to tell the scale, but these bowls are huge! As you can see I got a bowl of broth on a gas burner and a bowl literally stuffed full of vegetables, mushrooms, tofu in various forms, and a few pieces of seafood, including half of a head of cabbage! I was a little overwhelmed but Emily assured me that she would help me to prepare it. She explained that this is normally a dish that is served family style for special occasions. Preparation of food is continuous as things are deposited into the pot for cooking and eaten once thoroughly heated. The mother in the family is always busy preparing the next set of food and I can see why this is done usually for special occasions! It turned out to be a very interactive lunch and was very instructive as to the Taiwanese food culture.
(See what you get when you order iced coffee! I was dying for some black coffee before too long. Even the instant coffee that I bought has milk and sugar in it.)There was way too much food for me to eat on my own, so I shared around the table, and helped to feed Dr. McGorrin while his lunch took the forever to arrive. (Note to self, ordering "spagetti" means that you will get a baked ziti sort of dish once everyone else is done eating!) . A sweet custard dessert was served at the end of the meal that was very similar to flan.
The Dean of the College of the College of Human Ecology met us part-way through and then joined us for a tour of campus. The College is comprised of Food Science, Nutrition, Textiles, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Graduate Museum studies, and a few others. She has very close ties to Oregon State as her daughter is a student there, and has visited at least six times in the last six years. She was very fun to talk to! The tour of campus was fascinating. There are many student-run stores and restaurants on campus that emphasize the major that they are studying. For example, this shop in the textiles building that sells student-made items and a tea shop that wasn't open yet because it's only the second day of their fall semester! We stopped at a little convenience store on campus, toured a cafeteria, and were gifted with sweetened green tea while we explored.
After the tour we were given presentations by food science students about two various product development products that they had developed. In their junior year students spend two terms developing a product and covering everything from prototyping to marketing strategies. It was really interesting! (Not for the first time did I wish that OSU offered something similar.) Then we gave a presentation about our department and our club to the students, but not without first being fed Boba tea! That lasted until early evening and we had just enough time to go back to our rooms for a few minutes before we were treated to a welcome party hosted by the juniors in the food science club.
There was a TON of food, and they all wanted us to try everything. I wasn't even remotely close to being hungry at that point and was kind of starting to feel overwhelmed by all of it. I politely declined the pork's blood cake (which everyone else tried, so you'll have to ask them how it was) and took a small bag of sweet potato puffs, lemonade and some dumplings. Once I sat down I was brought a tub of soft bean curd served in a sweet caramel sauce that had a similar flavor to the custard that we ate earlier that day. I only had a few bites of everything, but after talking with Vicky, a student in the club, she explained that I wouldn't be rude to not eat everything, something that I was definitely worried about! She also told me that the bean curd normally has clams or pig's intestine in it. You never know what you're going to get!
We were then treated to a talent-show kind of performance by the students, and boy was I surprised when it became apparent that we were part of the entertainment! Games were taught to us and played, music was sung, and Marlin even got up for a little performance! We were told that we'd be expected to show off some of our talents on Friday afternoon but I'm pretty sure that we can't come even close to the troupe spinning lighted ropes along to a Linkin Park song!
The party lasted about 3 hours, and by the time it was over I was exHAUSTed. Jet lag had really set in by that point and the little sleep was catching up with me. We went back to our rooms and tried to have some students fix the internet problems. Only Marlin's laptop seems to be able to connect so I made a brief post and went to bed by 10:30. I woke up at 2:30 and again at 4. I wasn't able to fall back asleep so I decided to write this post before I forgot everything that had happened. It's now about 5:30 and I have just two hours before we're meeting Dr. Bob at the 7-11 on campus for breakfast. It's not as crazy as it sounds. They have many local foods there that are easily microwaved or eaten fresh. Then we're going to be leaving campus for a field trip of a bean curd/ tofu manufacturer and a ready-to-eat rice company. I'm pretty excited about that! That will take most of the day, and then the students are taking us out for karaoke this evening.
That's it for now! I apologize for the lengths of the posts. It's really hard to shorten up such a busy day, and I want to make sure that I don't leave anything out. This trip is already ranking on the top experiences that I've ever had and we've only been here a day! I'm going to be taking my laptop to Dr. Bob's room in the hostel to see if it will work with his ethernet cable. If that works these posts will go up today. If not, well, I'll keep trying! Hope that you are all looking forward to reading them!
Miss you all!
Emily
Yesterday was a very busy day! We woke up about 7 and finalized our presentation for the food science club. Then we met with some students for breakfast. They took us to a restaurant just off campus that served traditional Taiwanese breakfast. We had milk tea, dumplings (potstickers), some sort of rice and raw radish cake, and a thin pancake wrapped around ham (spam) and egg. Everything was delicious! It was also very cheap. We spent the equivalent of about $1.25 each. We then met Marie at the food science building for a presentation and tour of the department. We chatted for a while and then went to lunch at a restaurant off-campus.
You'll start to notice a trend in my posts. Everything revolves around food in Taiwan! We were fed so much food today that by the end of the day it was very difficult to stay polite and keep eating. We noticed that many students did not eat breakfast with us but instead just sat and chatted. When we questioned this, they said that they do not usually eat a morning meal, and when we got to dinner time, we understood much better!
Lunch was a little complicated, because there was only one menu in the entire restaurant that had English descriptions. Without our guides, I'm sure it would have been even more confusing! We met with Emily, the head of the Hotel and Restaurant Management Department, who was very helpful. I ordered a pork hot pot with kimchi soup. I thought that I was familiar with hot pot but looking back I don't think I had ever had it before. It's hard to tell the scale, but these bowls are huge! As you can see I got a bowl of broth on a gas burner and a bowl literally stuffed full of vegetables, mushrooms, tofu in various forms, and a few pieces of seafood, including half of a head of cabbage! I was a little overwhelmed but Emily assured me that she would help me to prepare it. She explained that this is normally a dish that is served family style for special occasions. Preparation of food is continuous as things are deposited into the pot for cooking and eaten once thoroughly heated. The mother in the family is always busy preparing the next set of food and I can see why this is done usually for special occasions! It turned out to be a very interactive lunch and was very instructive as to the Taiwanese food culture.
The Dean of the College of the College of Human Ecology met us part-way through and then joined us for a tour of campus. The College is comprised of Food Science, Nutrition, Textiles, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Graduate Museum studies, and a few others. She has very close ties to Oregon State as her daughter is a student there, and has visited at least six times in the last six years. She was very fun to talk to! The tour of campus was fascinating. There are many student-run stores and restaurants on campus that emphasize the major that they are studying. For example, this shop in the textiles building that sells student-made items and a tea shop that wasn't open yet because it's only the second day of their fall semester! We stopped at a little convenience store on campus, toured a cafeteria, and were gifted with sweetened green tea while we explored.
After the tour we were given presentations by food science students about two various product development products that they had developed. In their junior year students spend two terms developing a product and covering everything from prototyping to marketing strategies. It was really interesting! (Not for the first time did I wish that OSU offered something similar.) Then we gave a presentation about our department and our club to the students, but not without first being fed Boba tea! That lasted until early evening and we had just enough time to go back to our rooms for a few minutes before we were treated to a welcome party hosted by the juniors in the food science club.
There was a TON of food, and they all wanted us to try everything. I wasn't even remotely close to being hungry at that point and was kind of starting to feel overwhelmed by all of it. I politely declined the pork's blood cake (which everyone else tried, so you'll have to ask them how it was) and took a small bag of sweet potato puffs, lemonade and some dumplings. Once I sat down I was brought a tub of soft bean curd served in a sweet caramel sauce that had a similar flavor to the custard that we ate earlier that day. I only had a few bites of everything, but after talking with Vicky, a student in the club, she explained that I wouldn't be rude to not eat everything, something that I was definitely worried about! She also told me that the bean curd normally has clams or pig's intestine in it. You never know what you're going to get!
We were then treated to a talent-show kind of performance by the students, and boy was I surprised when it became apparent that we were part of the entertainment! Games were taught to us and played, music was sung, and Marlin even got up for a little performance! We were told that we'd be expected to show off some of our talents on Friday afternoon but I'm pretty sure that we can't come even close to the troupe spinning lighted ropes along to a Linkin Park song!
The party lasted about 3 hours, and by the time it was over I was exHAUSTed. Jet lag had really set in by that point and the little sleep was catching up with me. We went back to our rooms and tried to have some students fix the internet problems. Only Marlin's laptop seems to be able to connect so I made a brief post and went to bed by 10:30. I woke up at 2:30 and again at 4. I wasn't able to fall back asleep so I decided to write this post before I forgot everything that had happened. It's now about 5:30 and I have just two hours before we're meeting Dr. Bob at the 7-11 on campus for breakfast. It's not as crazy as it sounds. They have many local foods there that are easily microwaved or eaten fresh. Then we're going to be leaving campus for a field trip of a bean curd/ tofu manufacturer and a ready-to-eat rice company. I'm pretty excited about that! That will take most of the day, and then the students are taking us out for karaoke this evening.
That's it for now! I apologize for the lengths of the posts. It's really hard to shorten up such a busy day, and I want to make sure that I don't leave anything out. This trip is already ranking on the top experiences that I've ever had and we've only been here a day! I'm going to be taking my laptop to Dr. Bob's room in the hostel to see if it will work with his ethernet cable. If that works these posts will go up today. If not, well, I'll keep trying! Hope that you are all looking forward to reading them!
Miss you all!
Emily
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Day 1- Monday/Tuesday Travel to Fu Jen University
(I finally have some time and a reliable internet connection! This post was written Tuesday evening.)
Okay, so I was a little confused as to the time difference between Taipei and Oregon. Apparently we are 15 hours ahead here. I'm typing this from my dorm room at Fu Jen University. It's just after midnight (9/14) here and 9 am (9/13) at home. I woke up at 7 am on 9/12 and, with the exception of a few catnaps on the plane, I've been up for over 24 hours. It was a good day though, even if it was long. It was really interesting flying over the date line. It meant that it was never dark outside for the entire trip to Tokyo-Narita. I had a window seat and the sun was beating on it for quite a while. I burned my head on the sun shade more than a couple of times! They fed us a TON on the plane and even though it was airplane food it was pretty interesting. (I'll post pictures of all of the food later.) They also played 4 feature films and plied us with free beer, wine, and sake so all-in-all the time went pretty quickly.
It was really cool to fly in over the farmland of Japan (I never knew how integrated it is with the rest of society) and to explore the airport for about an hour (after a very rudimentary security screening).There are a lot of fancy perfume, jewelry, and purse stores, duty-free shops, and even a McDonalds (that was quite expensive from what I can tell). I only bought a bottle of water with my debit card so I didn't have to worry about the currency exchange. Then came a 3.5 hour flight to Taipei. By then the sun had set so unfortunately we didn't get to see almost anything the entire way there. The only thing that was really worth seeing was the lights of Japan, once you got up high enough. It was really beautiful, seeing the rivers of lighted roads, the dark lines of real rivers, and watching the brake lights from cars drive on the wrong side of the road! To be honest we were all pretty tired by that point, so it was probably a good thing that we couldn't see much.
When we landed in Taipei we had to go though customs and were scanned with a thermo camera that was looking for people with high fevers. We also saw an adorable sniff beagle whose job it was to find animal and plant products to prevent them from being brought into the country. One of our hosts Marie met us at the airport and sent us to the University with a hired van. Fu Jen is a lot farther from the airport than I had previously thought, about 30 minutes. Having never been in another country before, it was fascinating to see so many signs that I didn't understand, and look at all of the foreign cars on the road. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city in the daylight. We got into our dorm rooms, took a quick jaunt to the campus 7-11 (What better way to see cool new foods?), and are all getting ready for bed.
We haven't been able to get the internet to work in the dorm rooms so this post will go up some time tomorrow (hopefully!). I'm a little frustrated with my inability to contact my family to let them know that I've made it, but I'm sure that it will all get worked out tomorrow. The melatonin tablets I took are starting to kick in, and I've only got a few short hours before we are due up for breakfast with our hosts. We've got a few things on the schedule tomorrow, but I'm just taking each day as it comes, so I don't really know what! I'll keep taking pictures and try to update you all soon.
Later!
Emily
Okay, so I was a little confused as to the time difference between Taipei and Oregon. Apparently we are 15 hours ahead here. I'm typing this from my dorm room at Fu Jen University. It's just after midnight (9/14) here and 9 am (9/13) at home. I woke up at 7 am on 9/12 and, with the exception of a few catnaps on the plane, I've been up for over 24 hours. It was a good day though, even if it was long. It was really interesting flying over the date line. It meant that it was never dark outside for the entire trip to Tokyo-Narita. I had a window seat and the sun was beating on it for quite a while. I burned my head on the sun shade more than a couple of times! They fed us a TON on the plane and even though it was airplane food it was pretty interesting. (I'll post pictures of all of the food later.) They also played 4 feature films and plied us with free beer, wine, and sake so all-in-all the time went pretty quickly.
Later!
Emily
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)