Eden Volunteer - in Taipei

This week I’ve been volunteering at the Eden Social Welfare Foundation. Mornings, I’m at a computer in the Office of International Affairs (photo), where I:
1) Proof-read English translations of marketing materials and forms
2) Research (online) international news and such related to disability issues (many of these websites are in English)

People from the office take me to lunch each day before I hop on the bus for Eden’s Wan-Fang Center. Here, I join a classroom of about 12-14 students with disabilities. These clients are lower-functioning than clients in many other programs. They are in a classroom setting with 2-3 teachers. Their weekly classes include: recognizing Chinese characters, math, singing, exercise, art, library…

Eden’s services for people with disabilities are very similar to The Arc of San Francisco’s services. It’s been interesting learning about them, and they’ve been very interested in hearing about the structure and services at The Arc. Eden is eager to learn and adopt western methods of service providing, etc.

Eden was founded in 1982 to support people with disabilities. But the woman who began it had a passion for helping all marginalized peoples. Thus, in the last decade, Eden has expanded its services to support other vulnerable populations, including foreign spouses and foreign workers.

Hospital Volunteer

Last week I volunteered at the hospital in Hualien. There were two main areas in which I worked:
1) helping the JPN (basically a nurse’s assistant, I believe) on the surgery recovery ward;
2) joining other volunteers in singing religious songs to patients who opted to be serenaded to

On the surgery ward, I helped:
a) change patients’ bedding, clothing, etc.
b) wash hair, give a sponge (or rather a washcloth) bath
c) transfer patients to stretchers, wheelchairs, or this cool scale contraption
d) “da niao” which means emptying catheter bags and measuring urine
e) filling alcohol and iodine containers

As for the singing… Well, we’ll just say I’d never done so much lip-syncing before in my life. The majority of songs, we sang in Taiwanese—we sang in the choice language of each patient. Even when we sang in Mandarin, I could only read every other character (gotta get back to the books). The rest, I could elaborate on more another time. But I will say that, given the choice between singing gospel in Taiwanese, Mandarin, Hakka, or miscellaneous other aboriginal languages, I CHOOSE HAKKA. Because the lyrics to these songs were written out in the English alphabet, because no other volunteer could speak it either.

I just smiled and moved my lips, as my volunteer friend kept place on the sheet music for me. She knew that I could not speak a word of Taiwanese, but I guess she thought I might eventually be able to sound out the words. Ha ha!

;)

For those who don’t know, characters are learned by memorization. Taiwanese uses the same characters as Mandarin, but assigns them different sounds and meanings. (Okay, you can laugh now!)

Last Monday (4/16)

April 16, 2007

Early this morning GuMa kindly accompanied me to the train station, and saw me off as I departed for Hualein. It was a 2.5 hour ride. I’ll have to catch the view on my way back to Taipei, because I slept most of the journey. Jet lag must be wearing off because I’m no longer as awake in the mornings as I had been (a short-lived abnormality).

I had a bit of time between my arrival in Hualein and the pick up time for my ride. So I took the opportunity to wander around and find some items I’d been needing. Then I found a café to relax in. Actually, in typical fashion, the café found me.

“Have you eaten? Yes? How about something to drink? No? You like coffee? No? How about tea? Sit down! Sit down here. You want to eat this fruit first?” (pointing to papaya)

Okay, I’d like cold milk tea and that delicious-looking papaya… Oh, you don’t sell the papaya—just for the staff? Okay, no papaya. Just the tea… What’s this? Free sample of doughy snack? Tastes good, thank you… Buy a big one? … Oh okay—that’s 30 cents…

For a moment I feel like a sucker for being reeled in so easily. Then I remember that I was looking for exactly this place—a comfortable, air-conditioned resting place with chilled beverage, and friendly atmosphere. So I sit back and enjoy the moment.

I get to practice my Mandarin too—and they their English. They are very nice, and one of the waiters and I have a long chat in Chinglish. By the end of it, I do get a plate of papaya after all, and another snack, on the house.

Such a pleasant afternoon. The post office lady didn’t charge me for my postcards. And all the store keepers were very patient as I tried to work around my small Mandarin vocabulary to communicate that I was searching for a small dolly because my duffle bag has begun to strain at the seams. (hee hee, sorry Dad!)

Strange Foods I've Eaten

Strange foods I’ve eaten:

Chicken hearts
Frog eggs (pictured--turned out not to be eggs)
Goat milk cheesecake
Egg yoke mixed with pineapple and orange (juice/smoothie)
Fish skin and rice sticky cake



Other foods I’ve eaten in Taiwan:

Chinese vegetable fajita

Dou jiang (with vinegar), you tiao, jian bing
Huo Guo
Niu Rou Mien

Mussels
Snails
Seedweed
Squid on a stick
Pureed fish in various forms
All kinds of dofu

Papaya milk
Lemon juice w/ jello squares made from something in lemon seeds
Lots of Jen Jiu Nai Cha (pearl milk tea)
Fresh-squeezed orange juice at Starbucks

AI YO!

oh man! i typed a bunch the other day, but apparently didn't guess the right button to publish. can't figure out how to turn my blog dashboard into english. all in traditional chinese characters (kim, danny, need some translation). no time to retype now. just quck cehck before host's daughter gets to bed, where their computer is. so more to come later. but know things are well and miss you all
love,
deme

technical difficulties

ｄｏｕ　ｓｈｉ　ｚｈｏｎｇ　ｗｅｎ　ｄｅ！

”ｉｔ’ｓ　ａｌｌ　ｉｎ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ！”

Ｃａｎ’ｔ　ｆｉｇｕｒｅ　ｏｕｔ　ｈｏｗ　ｔｏ　ｓｗｉｔｃｈ　ｍｙ　ｐａｇｅ　ｉｎｔｏ　Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ．Ｉｔ　ａｕｔｏｍａｔｉｃａｌｌｙ　ｔｕｒｎｓ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｅｖｅｒｙ　ｔｉｍｅ　Ｉ　ｕｓｅ　ａ　ｎｅｗ　ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ　ｉｎ　Ｔａｉｗａｎ．　

Ｃａｎ’ｔ　ｇｅｔ　ｍｙ　ｌａｐｔｏｐ　ｔｏ　ｃｏｎｎｅｃｔ，　ｓｏ　ｉ’ｌｌ　ｕｓｅ　ｅｄｕｃａｔｅｄ　ｇｕｅｓｓｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｄ　ｍｙ　ｐｕｂｌｉｓｈ／ｅｄｉｔ／ｅｔｃ．ｂｕｔｔｏｎｓ.

ｓｏ．．．

Ｍｏｎｄａｙ　Ｉ　ａｒｒｉｖｅｄ　ｉｎ　Ｈｕａｌｉeｎ．　Ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｉｔｙ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｍｙ　ｆａｍｉｌｙ　ｌｉｖｅｄ　ｆｏｒ　３　ｙｅａｒｓ　ｗｈｅｎ　ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｙｏｕｎｇ　（ａｇｅｓ　３－６）．　ｉ　ａｍ　ｖｏｌｕｎｔｅｅｒｉｎｇ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｓｐｉｔａｌ　ｔｈａｔ　ｍｙ　ｐａｒｅｎｔｓ　ｗｏｒｋｅｄ　ａｔ．　Ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ｉｓ　ｓｏ　ｎｉｃｅ　ｈｅｒｅ，　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｗｈｏ’ｖｅ　ｂｅｅｎ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ　２０＋　ｙｅａｒｓ，　ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒ　ｍｙ　ｐａｒｅｎｔｓ．　Ｔｈｅ　ｙｏｕｎｇｅｒ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ，　ｍａｉｎｌｙ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｕｒｓｅｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　２０’ｓ　ａｌｌ　ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒ　ｍｙ　ｂｒｏｔｈｅｒ　Ｄａｎｎｙ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｈｉｓ　ｖｉｓｉｔ　ａ　ｙｅａｒ　ａｇｏ．　”Ｗｏｍｅｎ　ｘｉａｎｇ　Ｄａｎｉｅｌ！”　（”Ｗｅ　ｍｉｓｓ　Ｄａｎｉｅｌ!”）

Ｉ’ｍ　ｓｔａｙｉｎｇ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｐａｓｔｏｒ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｓｐｉｔａｌ，　ａ　ｒｅａｌｌｙ　ｃｏｏｌ　ｌａｄｙ，　ｗｈｏ　ｌｉｖｅｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｌｏｔ　ｏｆ　ｆａｍｉｌｙ　（ｍｏｔｈｅｒ，　ｆａｔｈｅｒ，　ｄａｕｇｈｔｅｒ，　ｓｉｓｔｅｒ，　ｎｉｅｃｅ　ａｎｄ　ｎｅｐｈｅｗ）．　Ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｕｓｅ　ｉｓ　ｆｕｌｌ　ｂｕｔ　ｔｈｅｙ’ｖｅ　ｇｉｖｅｎ　ｍｅ　ａ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｎｉｃｅ　ｒｏｏｍ　ａｎｄ　ｆｅｅｄ　ｍｅ　ｗｏｎｄｅｒｆｕｌ　ｆｏｏｄ．　

ｍｏｒｅ　ｔｏ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｌａｔｅｒ

TAIWAN: One Lucky Girl!

Since I've arrived in Taipei, my relatives have been spoiling me to no end. My uncle and aunts have made wonderful arrangements for my visit. I've enjoyed an incredible sashimi meal at a 5-star restaurant and a 2.5 hour full-body massage at a nearby spa... followed by a shampoo and impromptu haircut at another local spot. Two of my cousins have been driving me all over town to eat great food, meet up with people, and see things, including the GuGong museum. Two more cousins have made me feel so at home in their cool apartment. I am so appreciative to all of my family for such an incredible welcome.

I have also received wonderful treatment from another Taipei couple who invited me to tour the headquarters of the organization they work for, which teaches English by way of television, magazine and music productions. Very impressive studios! The next night, these new friends brought me to a concert, to which they had VIP entrance. The performer was an internationally reknown singer from Taiwan--Chin Tsai.

This coming week I will travel south to Hualein where I will volunteer at the hospital where my parents worked when we lived in Taiwan (over 20 years ago). Then the following week I will return to Taipei to volunteer at the Eden Social Welfare Foundation. Eden is a large charity organization founded in 1982 to serve people with disabilities, and has grown to develop programs to help other marginalized groups as well, both here in Taiwan and abroad.