Rooted in Taiwan, Connected with the World

I just finished reading Taiwan Travelogue: A Novel , a work that has won multiple book awards, with its fictionalized story of creation being no less fascinating than the contents of the novel. Published in 2024, it was an English translation, as I usually read, but it was unusual because the original novel, published in 2020, was written in Mandarin Chinese, which, alongside Taiwanese Hokkien, is my first language. To confuse─or rather, amaze (for those who have read it)─readers even more, the 2020 novel claims to be based on a series of earlier works tracing their origins to a Japanese novel with the same name, published in 1954.  Set in 1938 Taiwan, my native land, which was then part of the Japanese Empire, the novel opens with Aoyama Chizuko, a young novelist who has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She's been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. I...

I just completed my sixteenth trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in my country. My destination this time was Pingtung County, which borders Kaohsiung to the north and Taitung to the east. Pingtung is the southernmost of the 20 subnational administrative regions in Taiwan, and administers 33 townships. I visited four of them during the trip─Checheng, Manzhou, Mudan, and Hengchun. These four townships are also the southernmost on Taiwan island, forming the bulk of the Hengchun Peninsula. I set off on Monday as usual. Considering the distance, I took the HSR instead of my usual train, in order to save time. Upon arrival at Xinzuoying Station, I transferred to a bus bound for Kenting, and got off at Checheng Farmers' Association stop. From there, I explored on foot, visiting seven of the 11 villages administered by Checheng before checking into my hostel in the neighboring Hengchun Township. ...

I just finished studying my fourteenth Shakespeare play, Henry IV, Part I , which is a work of the Henriad—a group of William Shakespeare's history plays depicting the rise of the English kings.  Believed to have been written no later than 1597, the play dramatizes part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, and can be appreciated as both a single play and a sequel to Richard II , another work of the Henriad that I studied last month. The play begins with the battle at Homildon Hill, a conflict between English and Scottish armies in Northumberland, England. The war ends with the victory of the English army, led by Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, and his son Sir Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur, with many Scots leaders and chivalry taken prisoner. King Henry orders Hotspur to turn in all Scots captives, making a new grievance—on top of many old ones that the Percys had with the Crown. Consequently, they ally themselves with Owain Glyndŵr, a Welsh leader, Sir Edmund Mo...

I just completed my fifteenth trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in my country. My destination this time was Kaohsiung, Taiwan's third most populous city and the largest city in southern Taiwan. One of the six special municipalities, Kaohsiung City ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with 38 districts─the most among the 20 subnational administrative regions in Taiwan. I visited four districts during the trip─Hunei, Qieding, Luzhu, and Alian─all situated south of the Erren River, forming the northwestern corner of Kaohsiung City. As usual, I set off on Monday when the destination of my journey, Kaohsiung City, had suffered from heavy downpours for days. Luckily, it stopped raining on Tuesday, so I was able to move around as planned. I began by taking a train to Zhongzhou, the southernmost railway station within Tainan City. From there, I explored southward on foo...

I delivered a prepared speech to my fellow Toastmasters last night. It was unusual because the speech was a sequel to my previous speech, titled "Before Our Humble Beginnings". We had an interesting meeting theme and question which everyone could relate to: Self-awareness—What’s the one strength you’re proud of and the one weakness you’re working on?" Revolving around "Self-awareness", the meeting proceeded in an interactive and inspirational manner. To the theme question, my answer is this: "I'm not sure if this is a strength, but it's something that I like myself the most: being honest to myself, or what they say "being authentic". As to my weakness, well, it may be associated with honesty, too. I can be direct and offend people, knowingly or unknowingly, though I try to avoid it." It was another uplifting and meaningful Friday evening. Here's the script of my speech. _________________________________________________ Before our...