The Apex

About a dozen years ago, when I was “running” international students in Taiwan, a Korean student came to me for academic advice. It was not for his current course work, but future directed. He had left a wife and two kids behind in Korea to do the studies in which he was engaged in Taiwan. He came for advice on how to get into a doctoral program somewhere. He had to, Had To, HAD TOO obtain a PhD. It was his main and only goal in life. 

Not knowing that his marriage had already fallen apart, I advised him to go home and be a husband to his wife and a father to his children. Five years later I told the story to a group of American graduate students led by a Malaysian Chinese professor. The leader shook his head and said, “You just don’t understand, Dave. The man is Asian. We cannot stop until we reach the top.” 

So, I was impressed this morning to find this as a re-tweet from someone in my feed.

How do I know when you’ve reached the apex of academic success? – Tenure at elite R1? No. – Named chair? No. – Pulitzer, MacArthur, or Nobel award? No. It’s when you’ve reached the place where you are content to spend your time making others successful.  May that be our goal.

The guy who put it there is a professor of Religion and Sociology somewhere. He’s in the faculty-up-the-ladder rat race, and I wish him the best. He seems to have his head squarely on his shoulders while he’s at it. So many of us, whether teachers, preachers, bankers, laborers or community activists seem to have lost our way, and only see the way up.

The standards are two: inward contentment and outward helping others. 

I suppose that the Korean student would only be inwardly content when he had the letters Ph.D. behind his name, and then when he could direct and teach others. Maybe I settled for too little. 

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.

Finding Your Name

In 1976, when I first received 亞大偉, the name that I use in Chinese, my first task was to learn to write it. Then I began to look for it.  The middle syllable,大 , means large, and was ubiquitous. The first syllable, 亞 , is used to indicate things that are Asian. I found it on the names of places like Tainan City’s “Asia Hotel”. But the third syllable, 偉,meaning something like “exceeding” is not all that common.  I finally discovered it on many motor scooter shops, because it is the first syllable in the Chinese name for Vespa, 偉士牌.

As a Christian teenager in the 1960s I read “The Cross and the Switchblade”, the story of a pentecostal minister and his adventures among street gangs in New York City. I was growing up in Los Angeles, beyond watching “Car 54, Where Are You?” had no idea or impression of New York City.   To me, normal was the San Fernando Valley. Normal was growing up white and lower middle class. Normal was being at church every Sunday and knowing bible stuff because I’d been in Sunday school since my third birthday. Normal was having a person with my name in lots of Bible stories. 

 

In The Cross and the Switchblade there’s a character named Israel who responded to the evangelist’s street preaching and accepted a Bible. He opened it and found his name on a page, and was excited.  Reading that story really stunned me. How could anyone who was “normal” (like me) not know that the name Israel was everywhere in the Bible. Probably more surprising for me was that a person would have the name “Israel”. Certainly none of my “normal” friends and relatives did.

I recently found my name in an article about Iggy Pop, the now 71-year-old rocker, still living, still singing, still not wearing a shirt on stage. His original band, The Stooges (formed in 1967), included a guy named Dave Alexander. I was excited. (Kind of like when one of my brothers noticed on the credits of The Real McCoys that some episodes were directed by David Alexander.)  But the Stooge Dave didn’t last long. He was put out of the band in 1971 because he either came late or skipped too many practice and recording sessions, and he died only a few years later. (This information came much later in the article, saddenning me). 

Based on 亞 and the professional title I eventually took, I became A Bok-su, which is the name of this blog. Maybe that’s good enough for now. But I’ll strive not to miss any band practice, and unlike Iggy, I’ll keep my shirt on. 

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan

And We Get to Live Here!

In Holland, MI, where we currently reside, there will be local elections in November. Inn Taiwan, where we’re citizens, national ones are scheduled for January. We’ll vote in both places. 

The mayor is standing for re-election. Supporters of her opponent began putting signs in their front yards in August. One of his slogans urges us to vote for him, followed by, “and we get to live here.” Does that imply a loss would mean those who support him will voluntarily sell their homes and move out? Could it mean that the current mayor’s supporters and officers of the law will push people out? Heaven forbid! We trust that, win or lose, both the incumbent mayor and the opponent, and their various supporters, will continue to be part of this very pleasant (with the exception of winter) town.

We came here from Tainan, Taiwan, which in 2011 was declared by its mayor to be perfect. Mayor. Lai was speaking to potential domestic and international investors, urging that they put money into the local economy. He said, “Tainan is a natural and friendly city that evades the frenetic pace and neurotic atmosphere of other metropolises. City life in Tainan is very calming. It’s a perfect place for people to dream, live life, fall in love, settle down and raise a family.” He led the city government for several years, then took an appointment from Taiwan’s president and moved to a metropolis of neurotic atmosphere as he climbed the political food chain. 

Earlier this year he stood for nomination by his party for president of Taiwan. He didn’t win. Loser that he may now be, nobody in Taiwan has told him to “go back to where you came from.” But perhaps he can leave the city of neurosis and find perfection again elsewhere. Maybe he can come to Holland, MI, and, like supporters of one local mayoral candidates, get to live here!
David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.

Unintended Consequences

In October of 2016, while digging through a pile of cloth in a storage closet of the chapel of Tainan Theological College, I discovered 8 short purple curtains with velcro patches at their edges. I’d seen a couple of them adorning two columns at the front of the chapel during Advent a few years earlier, but it had been a while. I asked the head of the worship committee if they might ALL be installed year. We hauled them all out for examination and discovered that they’d suffered from having been randomly stuffed into boxes or piled up in corners. A few among them had been used for table covers during previous advent seasons. These had candle wax melted upon them. However, since they were ready-made and the right rich purple color, we decided to use them. looked more closely we discovered that they had not only suffered random stuffing into boxes for a long time, but also had been used as table covers for other decoration involving candles, and had waxy crusts here and there. We thought that they only needed a hot wash and an ironing to make all well. After all, they were  ready made and the right color, using them would simplify seasonal chapel decoration. 

When we took a count, we discovered only 7. As we wondered what to do about the situation, we noticed that the students who had jumped the gun and decorated the campus for Christmas before the first Advent (horrors) had surrounded the base of a Christmas tree on the quad with the 8th purple curtain, intending that it remain out there in the sunshine and the weather for the coming weeks. It was added to the wash load, cleaned up, ironed, and installed with the others. 

When the first curtain went up around a column at the front of the chapel, it hung funny, and really looked like a mini skirt. So another was tied around the bottom of it, and things didn’t look too bad. In the end, two columns on each side of the chapel each got tarted up.  

The unintended consequence was that, from that time onward, whenever anyone wanted to do anything special in the chapel involving big pieces of cloth, they would seek me out. Before long I was asked to sew up a 10-foot by 40-foot backdrop for a stage show to be given by four schools at the municipal Culture Center!

One of the last things I did before retiring was to sew up several bags from old sheets that we were not going to take to America with us. Then I dragged ALL of the cloth out of that storage room and sorted it by color. There were a few bags of black, one or two of white, and one each of other primary colors and prints. It was all in order when we left in July of 2018.  We’ll be back in January of 2020 for a week or so. I plan to look at the cloth supply, to see what’s happened to it.  

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan. 

God Bless Your Family Tree

Our schedule in retirement is not as regular as it was in Taiwan. There we were awake around 6AM every day whether we liked it or not. I had to be on duty by 8, and we wanted to exercise (walk a few laps at a nearby elementary school) before it was time to shower. Now taking a walk “depends” on whether we feel like it or not. This morning, though not before 7AM, we did get a long walk down to the lakeshore, around the pickle works, and back home. About 3 miles. It’s different from Taiwan, where we resided nowhere near a lake or a pickle works. 

Photo by niko photos on Unsplash

We used to walk past a small park filled with and surrounded by trees.  Since southern Taiwan is tropical, trees and dropped leaves every day. There were some retired folks who swept the sidewalks there every morning. We typically exchanged hellos with several of them. One guy, a Christian man who knows and likes to use a few phrases of English, was especially friendly and enthusiastic. Some of his phrases were learned in classes; others he “figured out” on his own.  So each morning we heard “Glad to meet you” and “God bless you”. On our way home, we often heard “God bless your family tree,” which sounded strange to us. On deeper reflection, we think he’s trying to wish God’s blessings on all in our families. 

Not a bad idea. So, God bless YOUR family tree!

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.

I Find This Encouraging

The only times I saw guns in Taiwan other than on TV or in newspapers were when they were in the hands of police or soldiers. It’s not so in America. That doesn’t make Taiwanese “good” and Americans “bad”, but it does make things scary here. 

Though I may have wandered past guns in places like Walmart on my way to different parts of the store, I never stopped there to browse or purchase. But I was recently in a gun shop.  I’d never been in one before. Three months ago I won a gift certificate in a veteran-related contest run by the local newspaper. I’d hoped for the certificate from a local brew-pub, but received the one for a hunting supplier. I don’t hunt, so was at a loss about what to do with it. My friend Bob, an elder at Hope Church, shoots ducks every fall. I offered to buy him some ammo. He accepted. It took several weeks for us to arrange a time, during which I lost the certificate. A phone call set that right. 

It was a 10-mile drive to Hamilton, MI where we found a small shop with not much stock. The guns were mainly for hunting; just one AK47 on the rack and a few AR15s in the display case. The the man behind the counter was young and friendly, and all was done with smiles on faces.  He was too young to have served in Vietnam, and appeared not to have served in the military at all. But he “thanked me for my service.” I thanked him for the spirit in which he had offered the prize, and wished him well in his business.

On the way back to Bob’s place I learned much from him. He hunts, owns guns, and  supports lots of controls on guns and ammunition sales, including heavy background checks and registration. I’m grateful for the way in which Bob helped me honor the gift that the shop owner had made available from the goodness of his own heart, and thankful that he didn’t just send me to pick things up, but accompanied me into a place which I’d otherwise have entered with trepidation.. The ducks over in east Michigan should beware. Bob will arrive loaded!

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.

Being Treated Well

Of late, I’ve noticed good treatment in places of business where I buy and rent stuff. Reflecting on how people dealt with me in 7-Eleven and other places in Taiwan, it was always true there, too.  Probably it was always true. Maybe the change is in me. Yes, some government-run places had indifferent clerks, but that can be true anywhere in the world, can’t it? In recent encounters at train stations, car rental counters, the municipal dump and at a couple of theaters every face has borne a smile and every comment has been cheerful. Beyond a word of thanks, I’ve begun adding, “You made that very easy.” 

This morning I met the same at a gun shop, an establishment that one doesn’t find in Taiwan. I can’t remember ever being in a gun shop before. I may have walked past  gun displays in Walmart on my way to different parts of the store, but I didn’t shop for them. Before this morning’s visit, I imagined confederate flags on the walls and rough looking guys talking about firing rates and magazine loads. I’m happy to have been wrong. The visit was occasioned by having won a $100 gift certificate for a veteran-related contest through the local newspaper. There were several certificates, and I had hoped for one to a local brew-pub. Instead I got the one given by a hunting supplier. Because I don’t hunt, I was at a loss about what to do with it. Then I remembered my friend, Bob, who shoots ducks every fall. I offered to buy him some shotgun shells. He accepted.

It took several weeks for us to arrange, during which I lost the certificate. A phone call to the shop found a welcome to visit and an assurance that the gift would be honored even without the certificate. Yesterday was the day.  We drove there and found a small shop with not much stock. Most of the guns were for hunting (there was one AK47 on the rack and a few AR15s in a display case). The owner, a young guy about 35 years old, was friendly. All was done with smiles on faces.  He made it easy. 

On the way back to town, Bob told me how much that he, a hunter and gun owner, supports the same  controls on guns related stuff that I do. He is a teacher who opposes arming schools, churches, theaters and department stores.  I appreciate everything that Bob did for me yesterday. He helped me honor the gift that the shop owner had made, taught me about gun issues I hadn’t considered, and left me a bag of vegetables from his garden. 

East Michigan ducks, watch out. Bob will arrive with ammo to spare.

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan

Cross-cultural Street-crossing

Everett Savage, who lived in Taiwan from 1957 to 1996, told us early on in our own sojourn there that seeing a traffic light operating at an intersection in Kaohsiung only meant that the electricity was connected. Whether it was showing red, yellow or green had little effect on how vehicles, especially two-wheeled ones, proceeded through. 

We were moved to think of Everett’s advice this afternoon while out for a walk in our Holland, MI neighborhood.  We live in the middle of a block that had one end closed off about 30 years ago to improve traffic flow for the cross-street at that end. That closure turned a 5-way intersection into a 3-way, and created two block-long dead ends. Our street is quiet.

 

A project to replace the underground infrastructure on our block and 6 more to the west began 3 months ago. Even the stop sign was taken down. Entry and exit for local residents was permitted before and after work was done each day. Our single intersection was semi-blocked to us, and through traffic on the typically busy road at that end was detoured around. We became accustomed to crossing that street without more than a glance for moving vehicles.

Earlier this week the pavers put things right again, and at noon today the detour signs were removed. Returning home from a walk; I was ready to meander across the road when Char reached out and stopped me. A line of cars, going about 30 miles an hour, went past.  I noticed that our stop sign is back up, too.

Henceforth, not only when walking, but particularly when driving, we’ll have to get used to looking for traffic, like Everett told us to do in Kaohsiung in the 1980s.

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.

50th Reunion

I wasn’t always the old guy who I have become. Seven years before I ever stepped into Taiwan, and 13 years before that nation became my home, I was a young kid just graduating from high school.  The 50th anniversary of came earlier this year. The reunion was held earlier this month.

I’d ignored or missed reunions that took place to mark the 5th, 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th and 40th anniversaries. Though I may well have been in California in 1974, the other ones happened a continent or an ocean away. Twenty years ago I read a book of short essays (likely recycled sermons) by the Unitarian minister Robert Fulghum. Among them there was a piece advocating attending one’s reunions. Having now retired to America, I snooped around and found my 50th. 

I rode the train, rented a car, stayed with friends, and made a weekend of it. The center of the days was the Saturday evening reunion itself. As a climatic event, it was the reunion was underwhelming. Of about 650 class members, only 80 attended, and only a few of us had really kept up with each other. It seemed that everyone was staring at name tags and apologizing for not remembering. At the banquet table where I sat, two women were familiar by name only, and two others became new acquaintances. Everyone was friendly and interesting, though, including the two spouses (not members of our class) along for the evening. Marsha, the chair of the event, had engaged a professional “reunion company” to run things. She chose well. If I were the kind of person to give Yelp stars, I’d give the company 5, and the reunion itself 3.5. 

Now, having been to a reunion, I’m convinced that I missed little by not going to the previous ones. But I’m glad that I didn’t blow it off.  Though I’m not likely to go again should someone organize a 55th, Fulghum has come through for me. Maybe I should take some of his other suggestions. Life could get a lot more interesting. 

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.

阿香說, 香港的香很香。(Stinky says that Hong Kong’s Incense is very fragrant.)

Among the many different languages found in China, the major ones all belong to what linguists call the “sinitic” group. The variance between major groups of sinitic languages, and even among minor groups of the same language, can be considerable. A large group native to eastern Guangdong and much of mountainous Fujian is called “Min.” It cannot be traced back to “middle Chinese”, making it appear more ancient than other languages at that end of Asia. It’s subgroups may even be unintelligible in adjacent villages. (Jerry Norman, Chinese, Cambridge University Press, 1988, p.188). Taiwanese, the language which I began learning in 1982 and used professionally until 2018, is rooted in Min.

Since the end of the first millennium CE, written Chinese has become a common medium for communication between people speaking different Sinitic languages. Mandarin speakers might say yī, Cantonese yāt,  Shanghainese iq, and Hokkien chit, but all four will understand the character <一> to mean “one” (DeFrancis, John (1984). The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. University of Hawaii Press. p.155-156).

The same character is pronounced differently in these different languages. That’s normal. Taiwanese enjoys yet another distinction, the same character, without changing meaning, may be pronounced differently depending on where and how it is used or where it appears. That was made apparent when I first learned my telephone number in Kaohsiung in 1982.  The number was 331-6119. Each of those digits, when pronounced to count things (3 ducks, 1 pond, 6 eggs, 9 mosquitos) has a “counting” pronunciation, but each has another, and different, “naming” pronunciation. The “naming” pronunciations are used in telephone numbers. That’s a minor distinction, though. The character indicating “underness” or “belowness” or “nextness”,  <下> has 3 or more pronunciations. Voicing the sentence: “The next day in the afternoon she will detrain”: <她下一日的下午會下車。> one must use three different pronunciations of the same character. The word repeated in the title of this missive, 香, has but a single pronunciation in Mandarin and another, also single pronunciation in Cantonese, but in Taiwanese, it has 4, each of which appears in the title. 

I’ve left Taiwan and moved to a part of the US not the same as where I grew up. The language here has taken getting used to.  Some pronunciations that are new to me, and some words are used in ways that I’d never imagined. For example, around here, to call something “different” is a way of saying that it’s incorrect or degraded.  Where I’m originally from, “different” can mean exciting!

Wherever we find ourselves, there are new things to learn. I liked the ones I learned in Taiwan. 

David Alexander resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.