Taiwan: Then & Now

Misty Mountains, Alishan, Chiayi County.

TAIWAN: THEN

Unique Heritage
I've always considered my heritage rather unique having a Taiwanese mother and a father born in China. I was always proud that my home included a plethora of languages and dialects including English, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, & believe it or not, my Dad's village language ("Toi San" in Cantonese).

In reflecting on my childhood days and youth, I was also blessed with the opportunity of visiting Taiwan on numerous occasions. I'm also more than willing to admit that those torturous years that my Dad "forced" my siblings and I to all attend Sat. morning Mandarin Heritage Language classes also paid off since I'm very fortunate that I can speak Mandarin rather fluently, albeit with a nice Canadian Mando accent.


The usual "AAHHHs" always lingered in my mind as I went back: dead summer heat which meant a whole lot-a sweating for this Yee sister! The long flight...routinely pushing the 20 hr. mark always seemed like an ordeal since planes & I just don't mix...can't quite rest & sleep on those things! The pollution is horrid here & there is justification for wearing a mask! The traffic is quite horrid as well I might add. Here, pedestrians don't count & it's about getting somewhere pronto...even if you have to run someone over...literally! So - pedestrians..BEWARE!

..there's always the flipside - the "YEEEAAAs"


I always remember delighting in the foods of Taiwan. Everything from the fruit such as star fruit, fire dragon fruit, bubble tea to stinky tofu...I love it! I grew up on it so I was well trained! The food stalls are engraved in my mind & forever symbolic of Taiwan food culture!

My Mother's side of the family...well, there's a lot of relatives here! My Mom married and immigrated to Canada with my Dad, my siblings & I were born in Canada! So..."CBC" we call it ("Chinese Born Canadian!"). We were always "a little special" because of this very fact. We grew up speaking Mandarin and then we started speakng more English once we started school.

TAIWAN: NOW

Pollution is still gross...
Traffic is still horrid...horrendous..

Relatives are the same (older though). They're still so warm, caring & generous!

..and the heat is still there! Icky, icky, icky...

What People Say About Me

After I say a few words of Mandarin (from my noticeably big Canadian Mando accent)....people respond...
"...you're not from here right?"
"...how come you speak like that?" - courtesy of a taxi driver in Sanchong, Taipei County
"...are you studying here?"
"...are you a student"?

finally, the classic..
"..are you married yet?" LOL

A Word about My Mandarin

"Mando-lish"
People use this term in a variety of ways & I prefer to use "Mando-lish" to refer to my current method of speaking! On many occassions, regardless if it's during teaching my students, talking to acquaintances or friends & relatives, I'll be delivering a garden variety of the two languages: Mandarin & English. Ha! Example #1: 您一起去 TOO! Hee! Hee! Example #2: 那是多少 again? LOL