TAIWANESE-AMERICAN FIRSThttp://home.i1.net/~alchu/tai-amer/taf1.htm
If you understand Han (Chinese) characters and you are interested to know more
about Taiwan, Taiwanese Hakka, Taiwanese medical community and history, following address
may link you to more information:
Link to: TAIWAN RELATED ARTICLES
II ) QUESTIONNAIRE
I-1)Before 1945 Edition
Mail the answer to : NATPA-St. Louis, P.O. Box 22, Chesterfield, MO 63006
Please give your name, address and answers (who, when, and where etc)
Dateline : August 31, 2003.
Award (up to $50 dollars ) will be given to those get the most right answers
Don't send answers by e-mail
1. The first Taiwanese arrived North America
2. The first Taiwanese-American
3. The first Taiwanese came to US to study in High School
4. The first Taiwanese came to US to study in college
5. The first Taiwanese came to US and got a MS/MA degree
6. The first Taiwanese had MD degree in US medical school
7. The first Taiwanese had PhD degree in US university.
8 The first Taiwanese had both MD and PhD degrees from US university.
9. The first Taiwanese had medical degree in Taiwan and PhD* from US university.
10. The first Taiwanese had his/her own medical private office in North America..
11. The first Taiwanese-American had university appointment as a faculty.
12. The first Taiwanese female came to US to study and got a degree
13. The first Taiwanese physician immigrant (Taiwanese medical graduate)
14. The first war between Taiwan and US.
15. The first Taiwanese American Association meeting held in US.
(May be the same one got more than one honor as Taiwanese-American's First)
*Arrived before 1945, got PhD after 1945
III) GENERATION GAP
Albert Chen (J.Y. Albert Chu's pen name)
Generation Gap exists in every generation everywhere. However, the generation
gap of Taiwanese Americans probably is the most complicated of them all. Much
of the generation gap is probably secondary to the culture gap between the
first and later generations of Taiwanese-Americans. We play skits in many
activities of the Taiwanese-American Community. Through these skits, we
actually learn and understand more about the difference between the generations
and between different cultures. Many of the following skits were performed at
the Taiwanese-American Association Meetings and on other occasions. We believe
the skits to discuss the problems of the generation gap. We are an excellent way
may be able to bridge the gap by continuous exploration of these problems.
Content:
1. Learning Taiwanese
2. Going to Taiwan
3. Taiwanese Cowboy
4. College
5. Shopping
6. Dinner
7. Dating
8. Experience in Taiwan(l)
9. Experience in Taiwan(II)
1 . LEARNING TAIWANESE
In a typical American suburban family room, a teenage
girl is playing her flute. A middle aged man just walks
into the room.
Father: What are you doing, Alice?
Girl: I'm "tee-towing" the flute.
Father: What?
Girl: "Tee-towing"
Father: What does "tee-towing" mean?
Girl: You don't know. (Giggle) You told me to learn how to speak
Taiwanese. I am trying. You told me last week that "tee-tow"
means play. I still don't know how to say flute in Taiwanese,
so I can only say I'm "tee-towing" my flute.
Father: Oh my goodness!
Girl: What's wrong?
Father: You can't way that.
Girl: Why not?
Father: To add "ing" to the verb is an English usage. You cannot do that in
Taiwanese. Actually, not in any language other than English.
Girl: How am I supposed to know that.
Father: Also, you should not use the word "tee-tow" when you play the flute.
You should say "pun-dee-ah" not "tee-tow-dee-ah." "Tee-tow" is used
only for playing games or fooling around.
Girl: Well, I didn't know that. Taiwanese is much more complicated than I
thought.
Father: That is why you should try to speak it regularly. Then you might be
able to speak the language right.
Girl: Why should I learn how to speak Taiwanese?
Father: Because we come from Taiwan and also if you know how to speak Taiwanese
you can make more money in your chosen career.
Girl: Really?
Father: Yes, you can. You told me that you want to major in business when you
go to college.
Girl: Sure I do, it's the only way to go. I'm not going to study science,
pre-med, or engineering as most of my Taiwanese friends do.
Father: Good. I want you to do what you think is best. I encourage you to go
into a field other than science, medicine, or engineering. Business,
economics, political science, and pre-law are all great.
Girl: Tell me how I can make more money by being able to speak Taiwanese.
Father: You can!! Do you know Taiwan is the number six trade partner with the
United States?
Girl: Oh, really? I can't believe that itty-bitty Taiwan is a number six
trade partner.
Father: Taiwan is not so tiny; it has almost 20 million people.
Girl: So Taiwan has surpassed many large European countries as the trade partner
with the United States. Well then, how come no one ever mentions Taiwan
at all in school, in the newspapers or magazines. We talk a lot about
the European countries, South America, China, Japan, and even Korea in
school but never Taiwan.
Father: That's a long story. I'll tell you about it some of the time. Did you
know Taiwan surpasses China in trade with the United States even though
they have 50 times more people and 100 times more land?
Girl: Dad, what about my original question? How can I make more money if I
know how to speak Taiwanese?
Father: Well, if all you want to know is how to make more money, I will tell you.
Girl: Sure I do, that's the America way.
Father: It is so much easier for you to learn Taiwanese than most of your
classmates, right?
Girl: Yes, I suppose so.
Father: Not too many of your Taiwanese friends want to major in Business, economics,
pre-law or other humanitary or social sciences, right?
Girl: Right, let them be doctors, scientists, or engineers.
Father: So, if you know how to speak Taiwanese well, then how many people in the
United States do you think who have majored in business know both English
and Taiwanese as well as you do?
Girl: Not too many.
Father: Imagine that. What advantage do you think you would have it you were Chief
Executive Officer or a big company dealing with the United States' number
six trade partner?
Girl: A lot of advantages. Why didn't you tell me that before?
Father: Money is not everything, you know. I would like for you to know more about
you Taiwanese heritage, not just money. I know money are profit are
probably the only things some Taiwanese-Americans care about, but remember
you should be proud of your Taiwan heritage, and learn more about the
Taiwanese culture.
Girl Thanks, Dad. You're right; money is not everything. I'm ashamed of myself
for what I just said.
(First published in the Newsletter of the St. Louis Taiwanese American Association, 1986
and also in the "Second Generation" section of Taiwan Culture, No. 2, No. 1, February, 1987)
2. GOING TO TAIWAN
In a typical family room of a suburban house, a middle-aged father is sitting in a
large recliner reading a newspaper. A teenage girl walks into the room and stands
in front of her father.
Girl: Dad, I have some good news to tell you.
Father: What is it?
Girl: I'm going to Taiwan next summer.
Father: That does sound like good news. But I don't know if we can save enough
money for your trip.
Girl: Don't worry. I applied for this Youth Program with Nancy Mao a few months
ago and she just told me today that I can go to Taiwan with her and that I
won't have to pay a cent.
Father: Who is Nancy Mao?
Girl: She's a girl I go to school with at Roosevelt High. Her parents are in
Taiwan working for the Government.
Father: Oh, I am not sure if that is such a good idea - to go to Taiwan under that
program.
Girl: Why Dad? I won't have to pay a cent for the trip.
Father: It will take too long for me to explain it to you. Why don't you first tell
me what kind of program it is?
Girl: I don't know and I really don't care what kind of program it is. All I know
is that I will be staying at the "Chin-Hwa" University dormitory. Isn't that
very close to your old home town?
Father: Yes, I grew up in "Sin-Chu," the city of "Chin-Hwa" University.
Girl: Great! Then I can visit grandpa every week while I'm there. He's fun to be
with.
Father: Oh yes. While you are there you could also stay at your grandpa's house and
sleep in my room. Well, I mean to say our room; it was the room for your
uncles, Wen-Kwang, Wen-Ming, Wen-Liang, and Wen-Hui and me.
Girl: Great, I'd like that. You keep telling me how beautiful your home town is.
Now I may get a chance to see it. Isn't it just great.
Father: Sure, I hope you grandpa can show you every nice place I mentioned to you.
Girl: I would like to go to the small river where you used to swim every summer.
You told me so much about that river.
Father: Oh no, you can't go there anymore.
Girl: Why not? The river is still there isn't it?
Father: But the river is no longer the same as it used to be.
Girl: Okay, I won't go there to swim, but I can go to catch crabs. Do you
remember when you told me that all you needed was a simple stick and thread
to catch the crabs.
Father: Well I hate to disappoint you, but I don't think you will find anymore
crabs in that river.
Girl: Why not?
Father: Your grandpa told me that they river is dead. The water is no long clear.
He said it's a muddy black river that smells toxic.
Girl: Oh well, then I can go to the stream and catch fish with my bare hands
and search for clams like you use to do.
Father: I also doubt if there will be any fish or clams left in the stream.
Girl: Well then what if I go to the woods to find some bird eggs. You told me
you use to do that when you were my age.
Father: Oh yeah. That was a lot of fun. Do you know the beautiful birds would
stand in the rice paddy or on the buffalo's back. I am not sure how they
say that in English. The birds look something like white flamingos.
Girl: In one of your books, they called them egrets.
Father: The last time I was in Taiwan was six years ago. I hardly saw any of those
egrets, except in the countryside far away.
Girl: Well, where can I go to do all those fun things you use to do.
Father: I don't know. The pollution is so bad there now.
Girl: I hope there is at least some fun things left for me to do there, inspite
of the pollution.
Father: Sure. You can go to the field or mountains and roast sweet potatoes and
chicken.
Girl: You never told me that before. How can I roast a chicken in a field or up
on the mountain without an oven?
Father: They called those chickens "bagger's chicken." I never cooked one myself,
but we did roast sweet potatoes.
Girl: Tell me how you did it?
Father: We would dig a hole in the ground, then we would collect dry branches and
logs and put them into the hole. We would light the branches and when the
fire was out, we would put the sweet potatoes in the hole and cover them.
We usually went off and played games for about an hour and when we got back
we would dig the sweet potatoes out the hole and eat them. They were
delicious.
Girl: It sounds yucky to me. What about the dirt on the potatoes?
Father: Oh, as a childe we didn't have much to eat. WE didn't even know what the
word dessert meant. Those hot delicious sweet potatoes to a hungry kid
were the most wonderful snack in the world.
Girl: I guess so. But I sure wouldn't want to have to go back to your days as
a child.
Father: The world has changed and so have we. You are lucky to be able to grow up
in the United States as a Taiwanese American.
(First published in the Newsletter of the St. Louis Taiwanese American Association, 1986
and also in the "Second Generation" section of Taiwan Culture, Vol. 2, No. 3, June, 1987)
Any comment and question, please send to Albert Chu 朱真一
Link to: 客 台 語 專 刊 各 期
Link to:TAIWANESE HAKKA 台灣客家 (ENGLISH)
Link to:HAKKA TAIWANESE RESOURCES 客台語資料庫
Link to:HAKKA TAIWANESE HAKKA CULURE 台灣客家文化專刊
Link to:TAIWANESE MEDICAL COMMUNITY 台灣人醫界專刊
Link to: TAIWAN RELATED ARTICLES 台灣專刊