Day Four: Folk Arts

I started the day at 2:15 am on July 12th, when my alarm went off, so that I could watch the Netherlands-Spain FIFA final. I watched it in on the TV in our room with the sound off, so that the sound wouldn't disturb those sleeping, and that's when I wrote the the post for Day Three. By the time the game was done and my Taipei Metro post was finished, the sun was up, the cicadas were singing, and breakfast was soon approaching.

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One Cicada = 120 dB = One Vuvuzela
        

After breakfast, we were bused to the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. A quick note on culture in Taiwan: Taiwanese culture has been influenced by its Chinese roots, the decades of Japanese occupation and Western nations. Furthermore, Taiwan's political struggles and democracy, its technological advancements, and its economic growth have shaped a unique society among Asian nations. 
Chinese art and culture plays an interesting role in Taiwan. When the KMT government fled to Taiwan in 1949, they brought a lot of paintings, artifacts, sculptures, and books, some dating to 3000 BC with them, and these currently lie in the National Palace Museum in Taipei (I will be there later this week). China claims that the art was stolen, and should be returned, and some Taiwanese agree that they should be returned, as Taiwan has developed its own culture, but many also see Taiwan as a haven for Chinese arts. Much of the artwork that was left behind in China in 1949 were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's. Thus, the government continues to preserve such culture, and one example is through cultural schools. 

The National Taiwan College of Performing Arts is a school in Taiwan where students practice folk arts, including Chinese Acrobatics and Beijing Opera. Students enter at an age of ten and study for twelve years. I'm sure you've seen shows or videos (that had a no-flash photography rule), and if you haven't, you can find similar performances on Youtube. Instead, here are some pictures from the University's cultural museum. Also, the program/flyer of the show can be found here.

Left to right, top to bottom: Arts Center Logo; a costume used in Beijing Opera; a traditional headdress; some traditional string instruments; a scene from Beijing Opera

We returned to the Jiantan Youth Activity Center (where we are staying) for lunch. In the afternoon, we had our first folk arts class. There were six options: Calligraphy, Chinese Dance, Chinese Flute, Kung Fu, Traditional Painting, and another one that I forgot =/. There should be no doubt in which one I chose to do =P.

Ever since arrival, I've felt a little music deprived. It's been about a week since I last touched a piano or keyboard. I bought a pan flute at the gift/convenience store downstairs, though these instruments are always more difficult to play than it appears. Or maybe I'm just not good with wind instruments. This will hopefully change soon, as for my first folk arts class, along with about twenty others, we were each presented with a Chinese flute.

Our flute teacher is quite entertaining, taking an interest in her opportunity to teach foreign students. We began with a little bit of history to the instrument, but soon enough, the note charts were out, and the room was filled with the sound of people trying to play the flute. Technique improved over time though, and by the end of class, most of us were able to get a good sounding note.

Dinner came along soon after, and then we had an "Introduction to Taiwan" event. In my opinion, this session was not planned too well - mostly we watched videos created by the tourism bureau / government and had questions with prizes at the end of each clip. We were showed a website to help us follow up on news and to learn Mandarin. We ended with a powerpoint presentation on Taiwan's National Parks, an introduction to the many areas we will be visiting as we depart for a ten-day nationwide tour in about a week.

We were finished at 8:30, giving us two and a half hours before the 11pm bed check. Naturally, we set out for the Shilin Night Market (again). We returned to our rooms at around 10:30 pm. Now, what happened after that I don't really remember. Sleeping for less than two hours the day before, I was getting pretty tired, and I'm assuming I crashed in bed soon after we returned, since I don't remember the bed check and was still wearing jeans when I woke up on Day Five. Oh well. And that explains why this post comes late! =P