Classes in Taiwan

One of the great things about this trip were the lectures that we were able to attend, an activity unique to a class trip arranged by professors.

Here's a few pictures of us in Yingge, a town famous for its ceramics. We got to experiment on our own with the clay, after a brisk lesson on the pottery wheel.

Our first lesson on how to shape the clay: we all started out with a preformed foundation...the first time. The rest of the times, we started out with a block.

We ended up with some pretty artistic shapes!

Here's a few pictures of the Chinese medicine class at the university. We learned about cold, cool, warm, and hot foods that could affect our bodies. We also learned about the acupressure meridian points on our bodies, and spent the rest of the trip hitting ourselves on those points to activate them. Also, it felt nice to pound away the stress on our bodies.

Here's a sort of gun thing used to create suction, a modern version of cupping. The suction in the bulb draws the blood to the surface of the skin, allowing bad toxins to leave the body. The bulb stays on for about 10 minutes or more.

Shi Laoshi, from Swarthmore College, experienced this sensation first hand.

This bulb is a smaller version of the same cupping idea.

Wu Laoshi has burning mugwort on her right arm, and an acupuncture needle in her left hand. The acupuncture didn't hurt as much as I might have expected.

This next set of pictures was taken on the same day, when we learned how to make some figurines out of flour dough. Originally, this type of dough figurines could be eaten, and were used as edible decorations. These days, the recipe involves a few more chemicals in order to allow the figurines to harden and stay mold free, so we were repeatedly warned NOT TO EAT THE DOUGH. We had a good amount of fun.

Besides the parrot, we also made a panda and an angel.

Finally, one of my favorite classes was the Chinese opera face painting class that we took. We went to a Chinese opera school where the students, who attend the school from around ages 10 until 20, study all aspects of Chinese opera including the dancing, singing, acrobatics, artistry, and music that is involved.

We either painted masks, painted our own faces. The students painted half of our faces and we painted the other half in the mirror. While we painted, one of the teachers there spoke to use about the meanings of the various colors in Chinese opera painted faces: red for courage, white for selfishness and slyness, green for impulsiveness, and so forth.