capital culture
today we are having the annual christmas show at school. yes, i know, it's saturday. but this one day each year we work on the weekend to present the kids' parents with something that justifies what i expect are rather exhorbinant tuition costs. each class sings a few songs, performs a play, dances around a bit, and pretends like they're having fun.
even though each teacher has about forty students, some of whom he or she only sees once a week, every kid brings a gift to give to their teacher. generally this consists of money, gift certificates, food or random stuff. some stuff is quite weird, clearly picked out by the student (one teacher got a ceramic saint bernard with a sign around its neck saying, 'Welcome'). some stuff is obviously from the parents (another teacher got a Gucci wallet - real, not a knock off). though i've only been here two weeks, even i got gifts from many of my students, including about $80 US in cash, and $70 US in gift certificates for the Soga, a mall. this is good, since i recently ran out of money and don't know where the ATM is yet.
in any case, all this gift giving really impressed me, even if it is largely just for show. from what i've read and observed, in taiwan people are really big on maintaining a good public image. you aren't supposed to yell at other people in public (kids are an obvious exception to this rule), you shouldn't answer just 'yes' or 'no' when people ask you questions like 'how is dinner?' (instead you say something like 'it's absolutely spectacular; i particularly like the broccoli because... thank you SO much!'), and you ALWAYS give gifts. all the time. if you go to someone's house for dinner, bring a gift. if you go to a funeral, bring a gift. if you go to a party, bring a gift. usually nothing big. it doesn't even have to make sense.
all this giving gives rise to a lot of random, useless crap: lots of little statues of cartoon characters and models of bicycles, small home items (like bendy plastic lamps shaped like fish or glasses decocrated with penguins), and gift boxes of pastries and chocolates and lotions. now, am i the only one who thinks this is a consumer wet dream? people here buy things not in the least because they in themselves have purpose, but because the acts of purchase and exchange have meaning. it's pretty obvious that Teacher doesn't need a ceramic saint bernard. or a Gucci wallet for that matter, but the parent must buy something for their child to present anyway, or risk losing face.
something for the comments section this holiday season: is this not an awful lot like christmas? it's just more often, and in smaller denominations. half the stuff you get for christmas was purchased more for being in the box and changing hands than for being opened and enjoyed. thoughts??
even though each teacher has about forty students, some of whom he or she only sees once a week, every kid brings a gift to give to their teacher. generally this consists of money, gift certificates, food or random stuff. some stuff is quite weird, clearly picked out by the student (one teacher got a ceramic saint bernard with a sign around its neck saying, 'Welcome'). some stuff is obviously from the parents (another teacher got a Gucci wallet - real, not a knock off). though i've only been here two weeks, even i got gifts from many of my students, including about $80 US in cash, and $70 US in gift certificates for the Soga, a mall. this is good, since i recently ran out of money and don't know where the ATM is yet.
in any case, all this gift giving really impressed me, even if it is largely just for show. from what i've read and observed, in taiwan people are really big on maintaining a good public image. you aren't supposed to yell at other people in public (kids are an obvious exception to this rule), you shouldn't answer just 'yes' or 'no' when people ask you questions like 'how is dinner?' (instead you say something like 'it's absolutely spectacular; i particularly like the broccoli because... thank you SO much!'), and you ALWAYS give gifts. all the time. if you go to someone's house for dinner, bring a gift. if you go to a funeral, bring a gift. if you go to a party, bring a gift. usually nothing big. it doesn't even have to make sense.
all this giving gives rise to a lot of random, useless crap: lots of little statues of cartoon characters and models of bicycles, small home items (like bendy plastic lamps shaped like fish or glasses decocrated with penguins), and gift boxes of pastries and chocolates and lotions. now, am i the only one who thinks this is a consumer wet dream? people here buy things not in the least because they in themselves have purpose, but because the acts of purchase and exchange have meaning. it's pretty obvious that Teacher doesn't need a ceramic saint bernard. or a Gucci wallet for that matter, but the parent must buy something for their child to present anyway, or risk losing face.
something for the comments section this holiday season: is this not an awful lot like christmas? it's just more often, and in smaller denominations. half the stuff you get for christmas was purchased more for being in the box and changing hands than for being opened and enjoyed. thoughts??
posted by bethany at 00:16
<< Home