FIELDNOTE MAR 29 2023

We started our time at Naluwan with some morning dance moves to warm up our bodies. It was pleasant to see the elders actively participating in the exercise. As a pair, Juanjuan and I had the opportunity to interview three grandmothers of the Amis tribe. I felt apprehensive about the language barrier as I was not fluent in Chinese and I harboured the preconception that the elderly would most likely speak in their own language. For these reasons, I knew that I would be relying alot on my partner to aid me in the translation process. 

Juanjuan introduced us by writing our Chinese name characters on the paper provided by Shawn, and we went on to share more about our background. I thought this was a good way to ease ourselves into the conversation naturally as having a visual to look at seemed to aid the grandmothers in remembering our names. I was surprised to hear the grandmothers speak Mandarin in a different way than most Taiwanese do; they pronounce words differently and have a unique accent. I thought it was interesting it is possible that these differences can reflect the cultural history of these ethnic minorities. 

As expected, Juanjuan carried the conversation pretty well and I had the luxury to listen and take notes while she was actively asking questions. She was very helpful in translating certain keywords to me and ensuring that I was still part of the conversation. The grandmothers were very willing to share their experiences with us, and the conversation flowed so well that we did not need to keep asking questions.

From what I understood, these grandmothers moved around a lot before coming to Hsinchu, and even had memories of Singapore. The most memorable story would be the one based in Singapore, where their husbands had engaged in infidelities. Due to their jobs as fishermen,  Amis men often lived in various parts of the world for periods of time. For the husbands of these grandmothers, they lived in Singapore. The long duration had resulted in cases of extramarital affairs between Taiwanese men and women Singapore. One of the grandmothers' husband even had children with the mistress. She mentioned how she had to live with and cook for the mistress and her children when they visited her husband in Taiwan. At that point, I was feeling indignant for the grandmother and asked "Were you not angry with her?". I found her reply quite admirable. She said that there is no need to treat somebody bad because what has happened has already happened and she cannot do anything to change it. She felt genuinely sympathetic towards the mistress and children, and believed in the good of people.