If you have something you'd like to contribute, E-mail us your article, year on the Study Tour, and campus name!

by
David L. Chen, Chien Tan 1996

One of the main purposes of the study tours at Chien Tan and at Ocean University is to learn or improve your Chinese. Some students come out learning a lot, some come out learning less. Also, with the excitement of being away from home and in an attractive city such as Taipei full of shopping centers, night markets, and delicious foods how could one want to study Chinese? Also, there are many who attend this study tour who are from rich or upper middle-class upbringings and whose families abroad,whether in Taiwan or Hong Kong, are also very well off economically and therefore, didn't have as bad a communication barrier. Many also know at least one dialect very well whether it be Mandarin or Taiwanese. But, there are many of us, whose relatives abroad are not as well off and who don't know as much Chinese...such as in my situation which can make communication much more difficult.

Well, one of my reasons I attended the study tour was to improve my Chinese. I had much more incentive than others to acquire much more sophistication in Chinese because I was in Taiwan by myself and many of my Taipei relatives could not speak nor understand English. Also, my Taipei relatives (father's side) were poorer and not as well educated, and my grandfather only spoke Taiwanese and was illiterate in Chinese. My case was unique in the sense that I knew a little bit of both Mandarin and Taiwanese and I knew stroke orders to write. I also knew most of my Zhu-yin (b,p,m,f). Yet, I lacked a lot of articulation and sophisticationin both dialects.

I learned that communication was more than just knowing the vocabulary and grammar, there were other barriers-differences in ways of thinking and interpretation between the Taiwanese and American cultures. Also, most Taiwanese parents assume that us kids should not be out partying and spending money like many of us do in the U.S. and Canada. My grandfather was wondering why I spent so much money, after 2000 NT almost disappeared at the end of the week. In my case, my grandfather with 7 kids needed to be frugal and save money. Because of money problems, he couldn't afford enough for my uncles and aunts to have a good education and to this day,three of my aunts and uncles still live in my grandfather's home.

One conflict I experienced was emergency situations or situations where I needed to be places at a certain time. I still don't know the difference in Chinese when saying "I have to be somewhere at '#:##' time" apart from"I have to leave somewhere at '#:##' Time." Also, I found that when specifying a time to be picked up (by relatives), many often come earlier and assume that us kids being the obedient, will stay in our rooms as if we had no place to go or no things to do. This very thing happened to me.

On many occasions, I had the urge to justify misunderstandings, but it was often difficult because I was one of those who understood Mandarin andTaiwanese better than I could speak. On many occasions, I have had to rely on my friends, roommates, counselors, the Chien Tan receptionists, and my teacher in helping me. Even with all this, I knew that many of my messages have not fully come across to my relatives. This is because I have noticed on many occasions, my relatives would usually interrupt preventing mymessages from being fully carried out.

Despite how frustrating my experience was, I felt that the trip was most rewarding because I was exposed to being alone in a different country and it really forced me to practice most of my Chinese (Mandarin & Taiwanese). I learned how quickly one could pick up much Chinese within six weeks. The experience was quite stressful, and my friends will attest that I hada very difficult time with this. Still, I feel that it has made me less afraid in practicing Chinese and has allowed me to better express myself in Chinese.

Chapter 5
A Common Thread

The following is an excerpt from a work in progress entitled "The Gilded Path". This is written by: Schenley Chen so please contact directly at with questions or comments One Deerborn Drive Aliso Viejo, California U.S.A. 92656

Tel: (949) 425-9687 Pager: (949) 767-6578 schenley@cyberannex.com

What is this study tour? What is the so-called and somewhat infamous "Love Boat"?

The concept of an Overseas Students Study Tour has been in existence since the early part of the twentieth century. In the modern incarnation, an annual program has been set up for six weeks in the summer by the national government of the Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan). The program is heavily subsidized by the government organizers to make it attractive for people to attend the tour. In order to be eligible for application to participate in the study tour, one must have Chinese lineage via one's father or mother and be between the ages of 18 and 23.

What motivated the one-thousand odd students to attend this tour? Of course there was the fact that it would be fun to meet others of your own age and background and perhaps meet that someone special. Thus, the appellation of the label "Love Boat". But in truth, there was a motive for everybody involved. In a general sense, the grand-parents of each of the tour members considered the six-week tour an opportunity to learn more about the Chinese culture and language as well as the hopeful acquaintance of one's family ancestry and history.

In contrast, the parents of each of the tour members were more interested in seeing that their child enjoy their period in Taiwan. If it happened that he or she learned to speak Chinese or learned about the culture, all the better. What was important was that he or she would make some good friends with common backgrounds and have a good and safe time.

And for the tour participants themselves, it truly was just a six-week party. A period in which one could just forget about all of their concerns at home and look forward to meet some of the most interesting and attractive people from all around the world. For many, the idea of meeting their lifetime partner at this trip was in back of many minds, but the reality of the "Love Boat" was that very few of the romantic relationships that were formed became serious when the couple returned to their respective homes. The trip took on a form of spontaneous energy, in which the members showed a desperate carpe diem-like mentality and partied relentlessly.

To fulfill the different aforementioned motives of the tour, the tour organizers unwittingly provided a daily schedule that satisfied everybody involved. Consider the day divided into four six-hour portions. The first six-hour portion in the morning was designed to fulfill the desires of the grandparents. Classes in language and Chinese culture study were conducted for all members of the tour and absenteeism was punished under a demerit system. The second six-hour period in the afternoon was devoted to organized field-trips to sites around Taiwan and the city of Taipei. This fulfilled the desires of the parents of the tour members as these trips were organized and safe. Furthermore, the tour members were able to solidify friendships and common interests while participating in these trips.

The third six-hour portion in the evening was devoted to exhausting the inexhaustible energy level of the tour group. Tour members randomly chose to attend various locales in the vibrant Taipei night-life in search of places to party, meet others, and maybe participate in other sordid extra-curricular activity. Often, the evening activity violated multiple rules of the trip such as the imposed 11:00 p.m. curfew or other such safeguards against late-night partying, but in fact these safeguards provided even more motivation tour members to go out in the evening.

The fourth six-hour portion was for sleep. Everybody needed rest and recuperation for the day that would lie ahead. The morning would come again and the cycle would start anew.

But who said we would need to sleep?

|Home| |Program Info|