When she invited us we joked around about whether she would be performing as well. Which of course she wouldn't be, she said, since she had just started lessons. Wouldn't that be funny, her being in the performance, haha.
HAH well. When I got there, after spending like an hour walking around the area with her and totally randomly running into my uncle at some international festival thing that was being held in the area (the performance started an hour late- artist types) - we were invited to sit in a circle with the other drummers. Then given drums. I explained I did not even know how to drum. 'That's ok, 亂打!' I was told.
亂 is word that appears all over the place, it means chaos and disorder and usually has fairly negative connotations. Like, when people explain why the Chinese political system fits the Chinese people, it's because the system is harmonious (valued in Chinese society) and not 亂 (not so much) like in democratic states. In this case it meant more like, drum "as you please", which is what we did. And people gathered to listen to us:
This does not really give you an idea of the crowd that gathered, since as more and more people gathered to listen, it would have been strange for me to take my camera out.
Then some other group of performers (that no one in the drum group knew, but you know, all musicians, with instruments from countries beginning with A, belong to the same community of music) with didgeridoos (took several days of thinking to come up with the name of this instrument - huge Australian aboriginal pipe things below) came to join:
[wow look at the onion-shaped sentence above! I am forgetting how to think in English..]
People got really into it, especially the kids:
Not every audience member was a big fan of spontaneous drumming. This one couldn't keep away, but kept his hands over his ears most of the time:
Anyway in addition to being fun and slightly embarrassing, joining the drummers was definitely an encounter with a totally different segment of the population than I am used to. Except for some notably Taiwanese characteristics, I could have been in CU (maybe at some kind of library sponsored cultural event or downtown). Taipei has lots of different people, although my favorite are the ones most unique to Taiwan (nothing compares to Taiwanese old people!), after a while you also find that there are some familiar categories (with a twist): punk rokkers, hipsters, club rats, fashionistas - and now, colorfully dressed internationally oriented musicians. Add a sunny afternoon at the park, a little bit of 亂, and stir for an extremely memorable experience.
I've also been to a few more international and/or Western culture type things in Taipei, mostly the influence of classmates (Tiffany!). In some ways things can't really compare to America, but it has its advantages and is also another way to understand Taiwanese society. Like the Monet exhibit was super small, but really nice and not too crowded and at the same time, 1 let me observe Taiwanese people appreciating Monet, 2 gave me a chance to see other exhibits on Taiwanese artists in the museum. Tickets at main venues like the National Concert Hall are also reasonably priced and convenient to get (yea 7-eleven!).
Seeking out things I'm more familiar with in Taipei is probably also just part of the transplant rejection/acceptance process as my body and mind continue to express doubts about all the Chinese they are supposed to deal with. Our baseball game (monkeys vs. cows) got rained out today or that would've been another thing to help me deal with not having been to America since September! But, let's be clear, baseball is also a huge part of Taiwanese culture. And as to Western concerts and art exhibitions, more and more understanding Taiwanese culture also means understanding Taiwanese culture as it responds and relates to other cultures, the 'West', and international trends. [Point of shame: finally caved and got a curry TV dinner thing at 7-eleven this week, they heated it up for me and it was actually not bad. though not something I plan to do again]
People got really into it, especially the kids:
Not every audience member was a big fan of spontaneous drumming. This one couldn't keep away, but kept his hands over his ears most of the time:
Anyway in addition to being fun and slightly embarrassing, joining the drummers was definitely an encounter with a totally different segment of the population than I am used to. Except for some notably Taiwanese characteristics, I could have been in CU (maybe at some kind of library sponsored cultural event or downtown). Taipei has lots of different people, although my favorite are the ones most unique to Taiwan (nothing compares to Taiwanese old people!), after a while you also find that there are some familiar categories (with a twist): punk rokkers, hipsters, club rats, fashionistas - and now, colorfully dressed internationally oriented musicians. Add a sunny afternoon at the park, a little bit of 亂, and stir for an extremely memorable experience.
I've also been to a few more international and/or Western culture type things in Taipei, mostly the influence of classmates (Tiffany!). In some ways things can't really compare to America, but it has its advantages and is also another way to understand Taiwanese society. Like the Monet exhibit was super small, but really nice and not too crowded and at the same time, 1 let me observe Taiwanese people appreciating Monet, 2 gave me a chance to see other exhibits on Taiwanese artists in the museum. Tickets at main venues like the National Concert Hall are also reasonably priced and convenient to get (yea 7-eleven!).
Seeking out things I'm more familiar with in Taipei is probably also just part of the transplant rejection/acceptance process as my body and mind continue to express doubts about all the Chinese they are supposed to deal with. Our baseball game (monkeys vs. cows) got rained out today or that would've been another thing to help me deal with not having been to America since September! But, let's be clear, baseball is also a huge part of Taiwanese culture. And as to Western concerts and art exhibitions, more and more understanding Taiwanese culture also means understanding Taiwanese culture as it responds and relates to other cultures, the 'West', and international trends. [Point of shame: finally caved and got a curry TV dinner thing at 7-eleven this week, they heated it up for me and it was actually not bad. though not something I plan to do again]
Well, anyway, ICLP's annual Matzu trip is coming up in a few days. Matzu is the sea goddess and we'll be seeing the super 熱鬧 (and probably insanely chaotic) procession for her birthday, among other things. Can't get much more authentic Taiwanese than that, so at the very least will probably erase the 7-curry from my list of sins. And be an awesomely fun time.
Yours in chaos,
K
Keep the chaos coming, please. =)
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