The Outsider

...A refreshing laughter rose in me
It soared aloft like a soap bubble
and then softly burst
The golden trail was blazed and I
was reminded of the eternal
and of Mozart
and the stars
I could breathe once more...

~Taken from "The Outsider" by Colin Wilson (1956 - 2001)

I read this recently as I was playing around on the internet. Its a 52 page PDF online that takes bits and pieces of other people's poems (I think) and the work of Colin Wilson and compiles it. Its an interesting poem with many twists and bends. There are parts that I consider indecipherable because of my intellectual limitations. I thought I would share it with you.

Each entry that I post is titled, and appropriately so. My existence in Taiwan has recently evolved into realizing that no matter where we come from, we all have one thing in common - we are people. Regardless of the words we speak, regardless of the music we listen to, regardless of the color of our skin...we are people. I don't think of myself as an outsider often, but a friend brought up an important point.

She said that one thing that makes us foreigners (appropriately used word) is the language problem. I have a goal and that's to have a short conversation with my friends in Chinese before I leave Asia. I am developing a respect for the culture here. I recently asked myself..."Could you live here for more than six months?" Currently, there is no answer to this question. I find myself learning so much every day, including language and culture. Its different than the U.S. There's something about the fellowship amongst friends and respect of educators that is so wonderful. I know I will miss it after my time here ends.

. . .

FOOD! Yes, I have eaten many different things since I have been here and I need to talk about them a little bit. Americans - prepare to see a unique side of food because their food is traditional, wonderful, and quite different. I will ask my friends to help me update this appropriately if I make mistakes. Instead of focusing on the meals, I shall focus on some of the best foods I have eaten, and describe them.

火鍋 (pronounced huǒ guō; English - Hot Pot). Probably my favorite food in Taiwan. We went to a famous restaurant that evolved from a small shop in a night market. The name of the restaurant is 鼎王 (pronounced dǐng wáng), and I think my friend Chris described it the best. Its a cauldron, bubbling and steaming, full of spicy or sour broth, with tofu or duck blood jelly (like cubes of Jello) floating around in it. The pot is over a burner in the middle of your table, and you cook your own food. In the hot pot, you can add cabbage, mushrooms, blood cake (a mixture of rice and duck or pork blood), thinly sliced meats, seafood, meatballs (seafood or meat), dumplings, and some other parts of the animal. Even though the food is wonderful and comes with an endless supply of blood jelly, tofu, and steamed rice, its the atmosphere that a hot pot creates that is wonderful. Two of my friends - one named 張永長 (his English name is "Foreverlong", a literal translation of his given name Zhāng Yǒng Zhǎng), and the other is 陳正翰 (pronounced Chén Zhèng Hàn)- took me out for dinner on March 26, 2010 for hot pot. We talked for two hours, gradually eating, enjoying the atmosphere and learning from one another.

Yǒng Zhǎng is a very friendly guy that works very hard to speak English to me, and I work very hard to speak Chinese with him. There is a language barrier, but I KNOW he is one of the good guys. Last night, he exposed me to another cultural first last night - the Betel Nut Beauty. That will be part of another blog at another time. :-) Zhèng Hàn is an exceptionally nice guy as well, but I think he worries about speaking English. I should be worried about speaking Chinese with him.

I have developed quite an appreciation of blood based foods since I have been here. The duck blood jelly is ok, but the blood rice cake is excellent. I have also tried pork colon (its not bad), and tendons (it becomes jelly like and tastes pretty good) in the hot pot as well.


牛肉面 - (pronounced niúròu miàn; beef noodle, normally with soup) The link is old, but it adequately describes this Taiwanese staple. This is a wonderful mixture of beef pieces (normally with an adequate amount of fat), thick noodles, and seasoned beef broth. I am fortunate to have an excellent beef noodle restaurant just three blocks away from my home. They will pack your food up for you to take home, and at a whopping 70 NT (=$2.20 USD), this meal sits well for many hours.

幹麵 - (pronounced gàn miàn; noodles with some mixed meat sauce, without soup) I hate using Wikipedia, but I could not find a link that would describe what this dish is adequately. It reminds me of 意大利麵 (pronounced Yìdàlì miàn), but the sauce does not have a tomato base and the noodles are thick and have a different consistency. Its made well at one of the small restaurants on campus, and I do enjoy it about once a week. At 35 NT ($1.10 USD) for a more than adequate portion, 幹麵 is awesome.

水餃 - (pronounced shuǐ jiǎo, or the more encompassing term for this food is 餃子 - jiǎozi; dumplings) There are many different ways to prepare dumplings, including fried, steamed, and boiled. They can contain meat, vegetables (like leeks), or seafood. They can be covered in the mixed meat sauce like 幹麵, eaten with spicy soy sauce, or eaten dry. You can find them everywhere, and I have purchased eight dumplings for one meal for approximately 40 NT ($1.25 USD).

水果 - (pronounced shuǐ guǒ; fruit) This island is rich with fresh fruit. I love many of their fruits, which sell cheaply. I will list a few that I have eaten while here, including their Chinese characters and pronunciation.

• 鳳梨 (pronounced fèng lí) - First food I was able to successfully order in Chinese. Pineapple.
• bá là - Guava
• lián wǔ - There is no English equivalent. I found a great description of the fruit, but the name does not translate correctly. Its Chinese translation is NOT water apple.
• 楊桃 (pronounced yáng táo) - Starfruit. Wonderful, beautiful, big, and cheap! :-)
• 西番蓮 (pronounced xī fān lián) - Passion fruit. Fresh, and makes the tea taste awesome.
• 芒果 (pronounced máng guǒ) - Mango. Best. Fruit. EVAR. And its not in season currently. :-\
  
• 香蕉 (pronounced xiāng jiāo) - Banana. Fresh bananas are excellent. And dirt cheap (like $0.22 USD per pound).
• 草莓(pronounced cǎo méi) - Strawberries. Fresh, and available year around. Vendors send them with a light sweet cream OR chocolate syrup.
  

I plan to update this blog with additional foods throughout the week as I discuss them with my friends. I want to include a couple of foods that are awesome, but one of the experts I know is not available this weekend.

. . .

Onto a quick bio. Since Zēng Yì and I will be having lunch with Xiǎo Dài tomorrow, I want to take some time to talk a little about her.

Xiǎo Dài - I hope I got her Chinese name correct. Her English name is Ruby. Xiǎo Dài's hometown is Chiayi, home of the 2010 Taiwan Lantern Festival from the Chinese New Year. She is very intelligent and majors in English. She speaks English fluently and is an excellent communicator. What sticks out in my mind about Xiǎo Dài is that she loves animals. As a matter of fact, her Facebook profile picture is of her dog. From the last blog entry, her dream is to help get the dogs off the streets in Taiwan. She's compassionate.

. . .

Next time, I will talk about the developing "Guys Night Out" ritual, including a 2-1/2 year old guy getting involved, why my Saturday night dinner stared back at me, my different face, and some information on three more men that have been influential during my time abroad.

I get paid this week. Time to buy a digital camera and fill this page up! :-)