Study Abroad: Jim Pease in Taiwan

September 24, 2006

It's a Sunday morning and I'm sitting in Daan Park in Taipei, Taiwan. Daan Park is Taipei's largest municipal park and scores of people are here already, walking, running, doing tai chi, for exercise and enjoyment. The Taiwan Heart Association has demonstrations going on, too, encouraging people to get their hearts checked and to exercise.

It's a misty Sunday morning here in the tropics and I'm enjoying a coffee mocha. Coffee? Yes, Taiwan has lots of tea shops but they also drink coffee. Taipei is a large (~6.6 million people in the metro area) and very cosmopolitan city. Just on this morning's walk, I heard English and German and some unknown language being spoken, besides Chinese, of course. Actually, Taiwanese is a bit different than Chinese, having a strong Japanese influence. The Japanese occupied Taiwan for over half a century (until the end of WWII) and developed a lot of the current infrastructure here, including roads and some universities. There are some 14 different languages/dialects spoken on the island, with a strong Mandarin influence.

I have spent most of my first week not in Taipei but in and around Taichung, a city of about 1 million people south of Taipei on the west side of the Taiwan strait about half way. I've given lectures at 4 different universities on a variety of topics, from interpretation to ecotourism development. They have gone well but have made me wish I could speak Mandarin Chinese. English is studied in all schools here beginning in elementary schools, but translation is still necessary in most lectures, even if I speak slowly. (Think about the Spanish or French you studied and try to listen to radio or TV stations in those languages-if they spoke more slowly it might help but doesn't give you total comprehension.) My Spanish and Portuguese don't help, unfortunately!

I'm living in a nice, modest apartment near National Taiwan Normal University, the university that is sponsoring my visit here. It is the result of my work with a Taiwanese graduate student, Sz-ting Huang, who came to ISU a couple of years ago. You never know where some things will lead you!

NTNU is a former teacher's college that is now a full university, similar in history to UNI, I think. It is one of many universities here in Taiwan, public and private, as Taiwanese highly value education. I am looking forward to working more closely with graduate students at the Graduate Institute of Environmental Education over the next few weeks and learning more about EE in Taiwan. I attended a conference last weekend of the Taiwan Association for Environmental Education and met many educators from around Taiwan.

I also have had a chance this past week to visit a very beautiful national park, Yushan, and see how interpretation is implemented there. Taiwan is very mountainous and has some 200 peaks that exceed 3000 meters. Jade Mountain, in Yushan NP, is the tallest at 3,952 meters.

I hope to visit several more of their 6 national parks before I return. I've visited with interpreters and biologists at the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute and seen a world-class bird collection there. I've also had a chance to bike on one of the first "rails-to-trails" bike trails in Taichung. It is not only a great trail with many amenities along it (picnic tables, benches, lily ponds, etc.) but also has spawned many small businesses (vendors, bike rentals, interpreters on bikes, etc.) along it and is heavily used, even during the weekdays.

A few random observations from this week:

• Beards, or even mustaches, are a rarity here. Even though Confucius had a long beard, I seem to get a lot of surprised looks!
• Traffic lights at intersections often come with clocks, letting pedestrians know how long they have to cross the street and, if they can see them, drivers how long they have to wait for a green. What a nice invention!
• There are millions of motorbikes here (Moped-type) that are used by all ages, often 2-3 people on one. They save both gas and space. In a tightly-packed city of millions of people, that's important because parking is at a premium. Streets in the older parts of the city are very narrow. You can park 10-12 motorbikes in the space that would hold only 1 car.
• People are incredibly polite and usually that is a real plus and promotes harmony. For example, you rarely hear a horn honking, despite the constant traffic jams. And no shaking of fists or other 'salutes" either. Taxi drivers are as crazy here as they are in all cities around the world but, amazingly, they usually lay off their horns. Pedestrians actually obey the traffic lights, too!
• I haven't had much time to bird but I've seen some bird species that are new to me. They include: Mountain Hawk-Eagle, House Swift, Mountain Scops Owl (heard), Grey Treepie, Black-naped Monarch, Styan's Bulbul, the White-whiskered Laughingthrush, and Steere's Liocichla. Now only about another 390 to go...!
• Everything is recycled here. Everyone separates paper, plastics, foil, cardboard, and even food. I wonder, if folks here living in very high density can recycle, why some of us have trouble even returning cans and bottles for a deposit?
• The Metro Transit System in Taipei is very advanced and used heavily. All the signs and the announcements on the trains and in the stations are in both Taiwanese and English. It not only makes it easier for folks like me, but also promotes bi-lingualism in the population. Perhaps more of our signs should be in Spanish as well as English? The Canadians seem to fare well with English and French....

A large earthquake here in 1999 killed over 2,000 people and has had a major effect on building codes and on people's psyches, especially in Taichung (near the epicenter). I was at one of the memorial interpretive sites last week on the anniversary and was very moved by it. We have our "911"; Taiwan has its "921".

October 2, 2006

I'm beginning my third week here and just had curried squid and rice for lunch, so I thought I'd write a bit about Taiwan food. As any student or Extension staffer who has traveled abroad with me can tell you, I tell them that they must have "an open mind and an open palate" to travel. It is the best way to experience the culture of a country! And food is such an integral part of Taiwanese existence. It is, quite literally, everywhere. I have not traveled all over Asia or Africa or many parts of the world, but I think I'd be hard-pressed to find anyplace that had more eating places per capita than Taipei. I say "eating places" because while there are many sit-down restaurants (yes, they have McDonalds but I refuse to eat there...), even more common are the thousands of small shops and stands that sell food of all kinds. Particularly in Taiwan's famous "night market" areas, these stands are abundant. I don't know how they all make a living because the competition is fierce. But then, so is the "walk-by" business! (I do wonder if Taiwanese middle class ever use their kitchens to actually cook. Food is abundantly available and cheap.)

The night markets each have their own "flavor". While the night market near Sidha (the Anglicized and abbreviated version of "National Taiwan Normal University"-sort of like saying "ISU") is mostly food plus some places for shoes, clothing, and cell phones, I was in a night market on Saturday night in a more rural area of Taiwan, the town and county of Ilan. (That's the way it's spelled on my map but on the road signs it says "Yilan". There are 4 different ways in Taiwan to spell out the English version of a Chinese name, I'm told, so it's very easy to get confused!) The night market there appeals to a different market of people, one with lots of small kids. As a result, there was lots of food, to be sure, but also lots of game areas for kids to play various versions of ring-toss and non-electronic pin-ball and miniature basketball games and the like. It was a more family-friendly atmosphere.

The night market at Ilan also had some foods that I don't see in Taipei. It's not that they are not here, just not at the market that I have been to. I like seafood and it comes in an almost infinite variety. I've had squid several ways-pickled, breaded and fried, mixed with rice for breakfast-but my favorite is whole, on a stick, seasoned with a "secret" seasoning of the local aboriginals, and barbequed over an open fire. It occurred to me as I ate it earlier this week (at a wonderful private EE center in the mountains east of Taipei) that, since it's on a stick, it might sell at the Iowa State Fair! I've also had eel, sea cucumber, shrimp, of course, sea kelp, various unidentified fish, oysters (in an omelet, no less), and abalone.

Also very common in the Taiwanese diet are chicken and pork and, less so, beef. Vegetarian options are almost always available and restaurants with all-vegetarian menus are easily found, at least in the large cities. But there are some (how should I put this?) "distinctive" dishes that most Westerners would shy away from. Some of my Taiwanese friends were surprised to find that I like chicken liver and heart and all the seafood. "You are unusual," I am told. (My wife says the same thing....) Still, there are some things that will not likely pass even my relatively open palate: pig blood ricecake, chicken feet, chicken and duck necks (complete with heads), and intestines. Nothing, it seems, is wasted. I'm not squeamish about these things, I just have no desire to consume them. You're welcome to my share!

Tofu, for those of you considering switching diets after that last paragraph, is here in abundance and in many forms. I've eaten the "stinky tofu" (a fried version that I thought was pretty tasteless and not very stinky compared to some of the cheeses I love), fresh tofu, cold sweet tofu soup with soybeans (seems a bit redundant, but good), hot tofu soup, tofu in a green salad, and tofu that I thought was mushrooms. Iowa soybean farmers should be proud of me (if they grow tofu soybeans, that is.) While not an item that I crave (I like strong tastes if you haven't figured that out already), tofu in all its amazing variety is good and certainly a healthy alternative (especially to the pig blood ricecake...!)

Taiwan also has a famous sweet tooth. While hot tea is often consumed "straight", coffee seldom is. (Again I heard "You are unusual.") Deep-fried donuts are readily available on the street markets and stands (look out Dunkin'!) and sweet baked rolls of amazing variety are available in the many bakeries. While I avoid the donuts, I must say that my favorite rolls are a flaky pastry filled with an unknown dark fruit (likely plum) and a roll with coffee-flavored chocolate powder in the layers. Teas are also available sweet, and my favorite so far is "milk tea" that has various sized "pearls" in the bottom, sweet starch balls of a tapioca consistency. (Students bring these to their professors in the afternoons...what a nice idea!) The bridesmaids at weddings traditionally get a large wedding cake as a thank-you gift from the bride, a poundcake type of sweet about 8 inches in diameter and wrapped in a beautiful box. Traditions change, of course, and now there is a second layer added of individually prepared and wrapped candies and other sweets.

Most food is eaten, of course, with chopsticks. Even though soups come with a spoon, I've noticed that the larger ingredients in a soup are eaten with chopsticks. Large pieces of meat (like a chicken leg, for example) are picked up with chopsticks and then pieces are bitten off from there. I'm fairly adept with chopsticks ("you are unusual" is a recurring theme...) and the sticky rice is no problem, but I do find noodles to be a particular challenge. They are the reason, I argue with Taiwanese friends, why forks were invented! And, in case you're wondering, I've only flipped food across the room a couple of times with my chop sticks...so far!

Despite all this eating, the unfortunate desire of many Taiwanese young women is to look like the anorexic Asian models that are all over magazines, billboards, and television. As for me, my belt is now on its last notch, thanks, I think, to all the walking and the occasional work-out at the 50 m NTNU pool. What do I miss, food-wise? I miss: a t-bone steak (either beef or venison), grilled medium-rare; Costa Rican coffee in the morning; granola for breakfast; a charcoal-grilled pasture-raised Iowa chop.

But, I'll have all that soon enough. Meanwhile, pass the squid-on-a-stick!

October 10, 2006

I have been giving lectures to a variety of classes at NTNU and at other universities in Taiwan on a variety of topics, from ecotourism to island biogeography to interpretive talks to environmental education in parks. All have put me in contact with a lot of Taiwanese students and faculty. They have given me insights into the educational system in Taiwan. While I don't have a complete picture, I'm sure, I do have some observations to share from what I've learned.

Most Iowans would easily recognize the educational system structure here. I don't know if it was patterned after the U.S. or not, but it is strikingly similar. Pre-schools are readily available from both public and private sectors. Formal education begins with kindergarten and proceeds through elementary school, junior highs, and high schools. There are junior colleges, colleges, and universities, many with graduate programs, as well. Education is compulsory through junior high (9th grade). As in Iowa, education is highly valued and seen as an important public investment for the future. There are over 8,000 schools in Taiwan, including over 170 public and private colleges, universities, and technical schools. There are 5.3 million students attending school, K-12, down slightly from a 5.4 million peak in 2002. Smaller family sizes and later marriages portend further drops in the school populations of Taiwan's future, unless immigrants make up the difference.

There are some differences, however. High school is divided into two types: vocational high school for those that don't do well on exams in junior high and do not wish to have education beyond high school; and senior high school, for college-bound students. Thus, as in many countries in Europe and elsewhere, a student's future is mostly determined by the end of junior high, with little chance to change their minds. The study of English is also mandatory, along with Chinese, of course. While many students don't speak much English, they certainly can read it: it's everywhere in signs, ads, TV, etc. It is "the language of international business", so it's taught early.

The major difference, I believe, is more in the type of education rather than the structure. To a person, many students have told me of the incredible pressure to score well on the frequent exams. The pressure comes from parents, from teachers, from the education ministry to study constantly, to memorize so they pass their frequent exams and get high grades, especially for entrance exams into high school and college. (Something like 50% of high schools are private, not public. That requires parents to pay tuition-for the poor, an impossibility-to get their children into these schools. While some claim that "it supports private enterprise", others believe that is a cop-out that allows the government to lower their commitment to public schools. Like us, Taiwan has a huge military to support....) Until recently, I believe U.S. students were more well-rounded and got a much broader and deeper education, making for a more balanced citizenry. The trend toward universal test scores-and thus, "teaching to the test"-that No Child Left Behind emphasizes, has brought us more into line with what Taiwanese students have seen for years. "Do well on this test so you can get into the right high school, on that test so you can get into the right university, grad school, etc." Success (for both students and their teachers) is measured by a test score, not by what I deem more progressive measures.

How does environmental education fare in Taiwan schools? As in Iowa, it's not mandatory but some teachers and school systems do it anyway, believing as I do that there is nothing more "basic" than understanding the workings of the natural world around us, those things that sustain and nourish us. As in Iowa, EE is more common at the elementary school level than at the junior or senior high level. Some private schools, in fact, schedule regular visits to wild areas. One outdoor campus I visited this weekend, just outside Yangmingsham National Park, serves students K-12 from a private school in Taipei. But overall, the emphasis on teaching to the test leaves little room for such things as environmental education-or art or music either, for that matter-at least in the public school system.

There are other confounding factors, too. While the Ministry of Education (MOE) reports that class size is "19.29 students per teacher", that number is illusory. Most students in Taiwan are in dense urban areas. The grade school a block from my apartment holds over 5,000 students and that is customary, I'm told, in nearly all urban elementary schools. Class sizes of 35+ are "common" in urban elementary schools, with 20 or more classes from a single grade. At the junior high, and especially at the high school level, urban school classrooms number 50 or more. Such class sizes make "going outside" more than a challenge! They also make having laboratories and anything resembling discovery- or inquiry-based learning nearly impossible. Frequent "testing" and "learning" more from the book becomes an acceptable if not preferred practice under such conditions. There is also a rural/urban divide. The MOE is pressuring many small rural schools to close, forcing rural children to go to school (and live during the week) in a distant town, adding more economic pressure on their farmer parents.

At the university level, environmental education is, I would say, more advanced. The Graduate Institute of Environmental Education that brought me here is the oldest and most respected, but not the only GIEE in Taiwan. At least several other universities at which I have spoken also have such EE institutes. The 50+ graduate students here at NTNU are actively pursuing research in EE that will advance the field here quickly. Their professors have advanced degrees from various leading U.S. institutions and are active in the international EE and interpretation professional associations. They have translated many of the books we use in our classes and have started Pacific region EE journals, as well.

Education is changing in Taiwan. Teachers, once trained only at teachers' colleges or (mainly) at "Normal" universities, have been trained at many universities today. As a result, there is a "glut" of teachers for elementary and secondary schools and many are unemployed (despite the huge class sizes). The sureness of the job market for teachers is no longer a reality in Taiwan. Whether that is maintained for several years remains to be seen. Further, the MOE seems to realize that educational reform may be in order. The Minister is seeing that "problem solving" ability and "creativity in all its forms" are needed to provide Taiwan with better-educated students, not just good test-taking ability. Such abilities, he feels, are necessary for "Taiwanese competitiveness" in the world. I find it interesting that a country that already dominates much of the world's economic engine has discovered that "competitiveness" may depend on more than high test scores. I wonder if our Congress and governments will rethink their ideas? What will make us competitive in the future? What type of education should we be providing our children now to ensure that we continue to play an important world role, economically, socially, environmentally, and ethically? What type of education will give us a creative, involved, and healthy citizenry in the future?