Happy Chinese New Year -- Year of the Ox!
Happy Chinese New Year -- Year of the Ox!
(because I embarrassingly missed the Gregorian New Year)
This started out as a draft in late December, and is now the first published post of 2021! Along with the rest of the world, my personal plans have been affected greatly in 2020, even though Taiwan has been spared much of the devastation from the pandemic. If you’ve had to make desperate changes but are now seeing some of the silver linings of those choices, let me know! If you’ve had a more difficult time than you expected bouncing back, let me know! The best part about all this is connecting with you.
The biggest updates to Japanese Colonial have all been behind-the-scenes and peripheral to the actual documentation of structures built between 1895 to 1945. There have been several structures recorded since last summer, but there were also some audience voices about non-architectural interests, so I’ve been working on some of that. In case you missed it, here are some of those things:
Taiwanese Diaspora Podcast: this is the episode that explains the background of how this work started
“Overlooked Japanese Roots”: article about the Japanese heritage of many overseas Taiwanese
Yin & Young Podcast: this is the episode about Japanese influences on the Taiwanese strain of the Chinese Hokkien dialect (eventually, this will have an accompanying article)
“How to Become a Taiwan History Expert”: personal list (from back in 2010) of books I read to educate myself — now there are many more excellent books; what a difference a decade makes!
And the newest thing, as an extension of and response to the feedback that I have received from what’s listed above, is a memoir-writing course! Many have expressed a desire to record their own life stories, often in the broader context of their family’s immigration journey. Sometimes it takes a bigger story to reconcile individual identity issues that have taken years (sometimes decades) to sort out. Although I got into my current grad school program because I liked architecture, what I really like is cultural and intangible heritage preservation. Let’s contribute to the growing literature together!
Want to start writing? Download some writing prompts to get started, and if you’re of Chinese heritage, what better time than this new year to start reaching out to older relatives? Surprise them with the gift of opportunities to share their life stories with you, and make them regret thinking all you wanted was a 紅包.
And if you want to take it to the next level by being in a mastermind with other memoir writers, join my writing course! The first step is booking a call with a fellow writer, Justina — who, by the way, has a really cool story to tell about her father — you’ll find out when you get into the first cohort!
Know anyone who wants to write their family history? Feel free to forward this to them and have them email me for more information!