Taiwanese Cultural Experience Activity- the Dragon Boat Festival

May 24, 2011

This year’s Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated a day early at Lin Kou campus.

The event started with the rice dumpling event, where students used sticky rice, tofu,

egg, meat, etc. to create a large variety of different rice dumplings. Though rice

dumplings are supposed to have a pyramid shape, as the majority of the students have

probably never even seen rice dumplings before today, let alone made them, they

ended up in all shapes and sizes. While the rice dumplings were being steamed, Kaibo,

a volunteer student, told the story of Qu Yuan and the origin of the Dragon Boat

Festival; she also explained the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, including

attempting to stand an egg on end at midnight, sachet wearing, drinking realgar wine,

etc. This was followed by a session of straw rice dumpling making, where students

folded up straws in such a way to make a toy rice dumpling. Though not everyone

was successful, those who were reveled in their dexterity. Finally the rice dumplings

were finished cooking, at which point everyone sat down to a well-earned meal.

Taiwanese Cultural Experience Activity --- Hakka lei cha

October 26, 2011

This month’s Cultural Experience Activity

focused once again on Hakka culture. Starting out

with a quick lesson on common Hakka words, the

volunteers quickly began going into some

common Hakka celebrations such as Hakka

Righteous Ancestor Day. After this quick

introduction to Hakka culture, the attendant

volunteer Hakka committee member, teacher

Chen, began introducing everyone to the tools used, i.e. mortar and pestle, as well as

the methods involved in making lei cha, which literally means pounded tea. Finally

everyone had a chance to begin pounding and making their tea; many broke a sweat

while trying to get the right consistency in as little time as possible. After their tea was

finished and served, everyone sat down for a well-deserved rest and conversation. It

was clear that to the participants, the word Hakka is no longer restricted to some

little-known ethnic group of Taiwan; for them it will now rather be associated with a

real-world distinct culture and experience.

Taiwanese Cultural Experience Activity --- Do-It-Yourself Taiwanese Toys

November 26, 2011

Tangrams, shuttlecocks, bamboo guns, and Diabolos, these were the iconic toys

of Taiwan during the sixties. The Office of International Affairs scheduled a special

toy making event to experience those bygone days and all of the subtleties of making

a bamboo gun. Although the materials are very simple, wooden sticks and elastics, the

process of making the guns is anything but. As the teacher explained, everything from

the angle of different components to the tightness of your elastic bands will all have a

big effect on the overall performance and safety of the final product. In the end,

however, with the help of the attendant instructor everyone managed to piece together

a fully functional bamboo gun. Everyone had a lot of fun and said they’d like to join

in on more arts and crafts activities. Luckily enough the Office of International Affairs

holds culturally significant events three times per semester.