Page 3 - Spotlight Issue 36

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Meeting Our New Friends in Taiwan: aiwan:
Meeting Our New Friends in T
Student Cultural Advocates
Student
Cultural Advocates
Work
Work

Milla Lin 林宓菈 406
I made a poster to introduce Vietnam because of
several reasons. First, all of my family like Vietnamese
food. Another reason is my mom always makes the mistake
Ayden Chu 瞿千翔 403 that the maid in my grandma's house is Vietnamese, but
There are many immigrants in Taiwan. Most immigrants actually she is Indonesian. Also, we originally planned to
in Taiwan come from China, the Philippines, Indonesia, go to Vietnam but can't because of COVID 19. Lastly, our
Vietnam, and Hong Kong/Macau. However, most of us know neighbor is the Vietnamese ambassador, so I think this
very little about these new friends in Taiwan. Do you know “xin topic is very interesting!
chao” means “hello” in Vietnamese? Do you know that the Vietnam has very interesting culture. For example, their
Vietnamese sandwich looks a lot like a French baguette? As language sounds nice. “Have you eaten?” in Vietnamese
an advocate for Vietnam, I would like to introduce Vietnam’s is “Ban da no chua?” “Thank you” is “cam on ban,” and
culture to you. “sorry” is “toi xin loi.” Those are words in their language you
I want to introduce Vietnam’s language, religion, traditional must know! Secondly, I must introduce you to Vietnamese
clothing, festivals, and food. When Vietnamese people greet noodles called pho, as well as Vietnamese bread and
each other, they not only say “xin chao” (meaning “hello”), coffee. They are yummy and special! Third, did I tell you that
they also cross their arms and bow. That feels so polite! Even their traditional clothes looks like a little like Chinese qipao
though most Vietnamese are not religious, Buddhism and and they are usually light in color. Also, you can wear jeans
Catholicism are the two major religions in Vietnam. Vietnam’s under them! They look cool. Fourth, Vietnamese religions
traditional clothing, the ao-dai, which is a four panel dress, are similar to Taiwanese religions. Most Vietnamese people
is still worn nowadays. Some schools even have ao-dai as go to the temple, and some go to church. Last, Vietnam has
their uniforms! Vietnam’s holidays and festivals are a lot like many festivals such as Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year).
what we have in Taiwan. For example, Tet Nguyen Dan, Celebrating the New Year is important to Asian people. The
Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, is spent feasting, dancing, lighting Hue Festival is to celebrate their history. Perfume Festival
firecrackers, and it includes red envelopes too! Now comes is to celebrate their religion. Some celebrations are similar
my favorite part, Vietnamese food! Food in Vietnam changes to Taiwanese celebrations.
from region to region. The northern Hanoi city is famous for Vietnamese come to Taiwan for many different reasons.
its beef pho (noodles) while the southern Ho Chi Minh City Because of that, if we want to help them live a happier
has a lot of my favorites: sugarcane prawns, spring rolls, life in Taiwan, we can be friendly and make friends with
and Vietnamese sandwiches. Vietnam has strong French them through language exchange or by playing games or
influence; the Vietnamese sandwich looks like the French working together. We can invite them to our birthday party!
baguette; crispy, long, and stuffed with pork cutlets. Yum! That would help them learn more about our daily life! After
A lot of immigrants living in Taiwan come from Vietnam. COVID-19, when we travel to Vietnam, maybe they will tell
Besides saying xin chao to them, there are other things we us more about their country!
can do. Next time we see them, we can make friends with
them and introduce more of our Taiwanese culture. Maybe we
could take them to Vietnamese restaurants in Taiwan or ask
them to take us to good Vietnamese restaurants
they know. I hope by doing that we could make
them feel more at home.

Oliver Tseng 曾奕翔 402
There are many immigrants in Taiwan. Most immigrants in Taiwan come from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. However,
do you know how to say “hi” in the Philippines? Do you know the delicious food pancit? Do you know what barong tagalog means?
It is very sad that we don’t know a lot about their culture. Knowing their culture is important because it is one of the best ways we
can learn from each other, and even learn more about ourselves. As an advocate for the Philippines, I want to introduce Philippine
culture to you.
I will introduce Philippine food, festivals, language, religion, and traditional clothing to you. Due to the hot weather, most
Philippine cuisine has strong flavors. Pancit is one of the most unique foods in the Philippines. It smells really delicious, and it tastes
wonderful! It is made with noodles with pork, carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onions and eggs. In June, Philippine people
celebrate The Lechon Festival (Parada ng Lechon). It is an interesting holiday in the Philippines. They eat lechon and batangas
lomi, which are made of pork, and Bagoong Balayan, a kind of fish sauce. In this festival everyone is allowed to douse each other
with water, and they have a main festival called Lechon Parade. When Philippine people greet others, they say “kumusta” which
means “How are you?” During the New Year, they say “Manigong Bagong Taon!” to wish everyone a happy new year! According
to Philippine Statistics Authority, 85.58% of the population in the Philippines is Roman Catholic, 10.8% of the population is
Christian, 5.57% of the population is Islamic, and 0.05% of the population is Buddhist. Lastly, Filipinos wear the barong tagalog, an
embroidered long-sleeved formal shirt for men. The María Clara gown is a traditional dress worn by women in the Philippines.
A lot of immigrants living in Taiwan come from the Philippines. Besides saying “kumusta” to them, there
are other things we can do. Next time we see them, we can share our Taiwanese culture. For example,
we can invite them to the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival. It is one of Taiwan’s most famous festivals. It will
be a special experience for them. Otherwise, we can also invite them to be our guests in Chinese New
Year’s eve and to have reunion dinner with us. If we introduce our culture to them, these new friends in
Taiwan will know more about Taiwanese culture and be more familiar with our people and environment.
It’s not easy to live in a different country. Try to imagine living in a different country. How would we like to
be treated? If we know any immigrants around us, we should treat them more kindly. If we treat them like
family, our new friends will probably feel Taiwan is their second home.