Learning with Lorraine

For many of us on the trip we are experiencing the type of culture in Taiwan for the first time. For Lorraine she is able to relate to the culture here a bit more due to her cultural background. In this post Lorraine will explain just exactly what we are learning culture wise in Taiwan!

So far I am enjoying the Taiwanese culture. I did not find it extremely hard to adapt to because it is very similar to the Vietnamese culture. Buddhism and Taoist seems to be one of the biggest religions practiced on Taiwan. From walking miles to riding the bus, you can see temples everywhere dedicated to both religions. The temples allow visitors to go in, pray, and burn incense. When I went inside a Taoist temple with my group, we were given an opportunity to pay respects to the Gods and Godesses inside the temple. Intricate handwork can be seen throughout the temple and even the ceilings. Hard work and dedication can be clearly seen by us. We also got to step inside a Confuscious temple. Dr.Chen explained to us how students go to this temple to pray for good grades and passing of exams. When we visited the Buddhist Monastery, I was able to see beautiful paintings and statues of Buddha and Guan Yin. There was also a room filled with artifacts related to the worshiping in the Buddhist religion. There were food offering tableware, lamps, etc that date back to ancient times. It is truly amazing to see a glimpse of items that people back then used. Overall, the trip is allowing me to observe how Taiwanese people worship their Gods and Goddesses.

-Lorraine