Cupertino, CA to Hsinchu, Taiwan

CHARTING COMMON GROUND BETWEEN TWO SISTER CITIES

One student perspective on two cities and the worlds that make both hsinchu and cupertino unique

VICTORIA DUANin-depth assistant

Instead of pulling the covers over her head and attempting to force herself back to sleep when jet lag woke her up at five in the morning, Sara Chou, an exchange student from Cuper-tino’s sister city Hsinchu, Taiwan, rolled out of bed and decided to go jogging and explore the streets. During the short week that she was in America last October, she faced one immense cultural shock.

In Hsinchu, Chou attends Shu Guang Girls’ Senior High School, which is structured differ-ently from the traditional American high school. At her school, students choose one main sub-ject, their potential college major, in which their schedules are structured upon.

Students at Shu Guang are also required to wear uniforms. According to Chou, these uni-forms differ by class and are worn to show off class spirit and unity. Aside from the freedom in which students are allowed to choose their

school attire though, she was also fascinated by the variety of classes

available at Tino and particularly

enjoyed the

Spanish class she visited. “I have never before [come into contact]

with this language and the strange pronuncia-tions of the words captivated me,” said Chou.

Shu Guang does not host any major social events such as rallies or dances, so homecom-ing also came as a pleasant surprise. The per-ceived ‘socials’ that take place at Chou’s school run more along the lines of talent shows, per-formances and competitions where individuals or clubs are vying for a medal.

“The spirit, enthusiasm and heart Cuper-tino students put into homecoming week were strangely influencing,” said Chou.

As the days of the exchange passed, she found herself caught up in the whirlwind of ac-tivity that contrasted from the well structured and coordinated activities she was so used to.

But perhaps the biggest surprise of her trip came as she sat through Jeff Rosa-do’s sophomore World H i s t o r y c l a s s .

She

was astonished by the way students frequently spoke up to volunteer information and engaged in class discussions.

“Cupertino students raise their hands to ex-press their views and ideas, while Taiwanese stu-dents are taught to be more passive. Students keep their own opinions to themselves and, when faced with a problem, are too scared to even raise their hands,” said Chou.

She was impressed by this unfamiliar way of learning and is determined to share her experi-ences with her peers back in Hsinchu.

 As her trip to America drew to a close, Chou found that the exchange was not only educational, but eye-opening in many ways. She hopes to bring West-

ern ideas and influences back to Taiwan and vows that nothing will keep her

from returning to America in the future to broaden her perspec-

tive.

The ugly toll of neglecting

interpersonal communication

KEVIN CHUopinions assistant

On the eve of a pivotal academic semester in sophomore David Won’s life, he faces an easy choice on the

bedroom desk: letter or e-mail? By all rights, Won, a bright 16-year-old, should

have made his choice in a blink of an eye. Bypassing the time-intensive activity

of buying, signing and addressing snail-mail cards and letters, he e-mailed an elec-tronic letter to Amber Chen, a Taiwanese student he hosted through the Cupertino-Hsinchu Sister City Student Exchange Program last semester.

“Ever since meeting with Amber, we have been in regular contact through e-mail. She gives me updates about her life and how much the experience helped her continue to speak English,” said Won.

While e-mail has provided them the

opportunity to streamline communica-tive efforts and maintain a long distance friendship, contemporary channels of communication offer a constant stream of stimuli that may be taking its toll on those who are excessively dependent on them.

Juggling e-mails, phone calls and oth-er incoming information can alter how people think and behave as our aptitude for concentration is being undermined by bursts of information.

These play to a primitive impulse to react to urgent opportunities and threats. The stimulation provokes excitement—a dopamine squirt — that researchers found to be highly addictive. In its absence, peo-ple feel bored. The resulting distractions cause severe damages, such as when cell-phone wielding drivers unintentionally cause collisions.

The functions of the lower-brain alerted early humans to danger, like a

hungry lion, overriding goals like constructing a hut. In the mod-ern world, the chime of incoming e-mail can override the goal of en-gaging in a meaningful conversation with the parents.

“Throughout evolutionary history, a big surprise would get everyone’s brain thinking,” said Clifford Nass, a communi-cations professor at Stanford. “But we’ve got a large and growing group of people who think the slightest hint that some-thing interesting might be going on is like catnip. They can’t ignore it.”

Another rising concern that has sur-faced is the effects of technology use on the still-developing brain. The empathetic skills derived from receiving an affirma-tive nod or encouraging smile are inacces-sible in the absence of face-to-face con-versations. Without eye contact, it is easy to miss the deluge of subtleties present in

in-depth THE PROSPECTOR

+ total density:

TheLand

of theCommon ground

Hsinchu, Taiwan

Key to each city

Hsinchu, Taiwan+ total Population

404,109

40.2 Sq. Miles+ total area:

10,049.1 people/squ. mile

Cupertino, CA

+ total density:

+ total Population50,546

10.9 Miles+ total area:

4,620.5 people/squ. mile

The ugly toll of neglecting

interpersonal communicationhungry lion, overriding goals like constructing a hut. In the mod-ern world, the chime of incoming e-mail can override the goal of en-gaging in a meaningful conversation with the parents.

“Throughout evolutionary history, a big surprise would get everyone’s brain thinking,” said Clifford Nass, a communi-cations professor at Stanford. “But we’ve got a large and growing group of people who think the slightest hint that some-thing interesting might be going on is like catnip. They can’t ignore it.”

Another rising concern that has sur-faced is the effects of technology use on the still-developing brain. The empathetic skills derived from receiving an affirma-tive nod or encouraging smile are inacces-sible in the absence of face-to-face con-versations. Without eye contact, it is easy to miss the deluge of subtleties present in

com-munication.

The supreme risk of excessive reliance on technology for commu-nication is that it diminishes empathy by limiting how much people engage with one another, even un-der the same roof. Although no long-term consequences have been discovered, utiliz-ing technology as a primary source of com-munication breeds differing expectations for social relationships, while an inability to

AFRAID OF SATS? GO TO TAIWAN!

FRED HANcopy editor

The question is, would you prefer ten reg-ular punches or one extremely hard punch? While the American education system chose the former, the Taiwanese education chose the latter. In Taiwan, one test determines your eligibility for any college or university. Students in America have no reason to com-plain, as their counterparts in Taiwan may be under a greater curse than SATs.

Instead of SATs, Taiwanese students take the JUEE ( Joint University Entrance Exam), which spans the course of two days. The first part covers Chinese, English, mathematics, history, geography, physics, chemistry, biol-

ogy and philosophy. The student chooses the content of the second part, which covers

t h e general topics that

the applicant plans to major in. However, one crucial aspect of this test is that unlike the SATs that students can take many times over the course of their high school careers, the JUEE is the one and only consideration for university acceptance. In Taiwan, high school GPA and extracurriculars do not matter at all. Only the JUEE does.

Unfortunately, this system is unlikely to change anytime soon. While there are government efforts to change this “all-or-nothing” education policy, there are many who argue that this system is a “survival of the fittest”. Their main argument stems from one’s innate abilities and talents: one should focus on what is good at. Despite the rage of “Asian culture” and how receiv-ing a B+ is the end of one’s life here at Tino, in Taiwan it really may be the end of one’s life. Well, almost.

If a student receives low scores – accord-ing to Taiwanese government statistics, 33 percent do – there aren’t too many options left. One of them is to retake the exam the following year, as the JUEE occurs once a year. In that case, every failure is a year wasted. The other option is to attend a vo-cational or instructional school.

However, that’s not all. Even the choice of majors is greatly limited by one’s scores. For example, if a student wants to be an English major yet scored low on the English section, he is not even allowed to major in English until he is able to achieve a higher score. This tends to force students into ma-jors they are not interested in.

Still complaining about SATs? When compared to JUEE, SATs are a piece of cake. At the very least, one is able to take the SATs as many times as one can afford, many

times a year. In addition, the American education system is set up so that

there are many variables to evaluate a student besides their test scores. Stop

complaining and start studying!

THE PROSPECTOR FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Common groundCuper

tino, CA

and Hsinchu, Taiwan

Cupertino, Ca

Sister cities

est. 2007

read facial clues and body lan-guage can hinder the develop-ment of dependency and trust in a relationship.

Showing how much you care, Nass said, is essential to the human condition.

ALL PAGE GRAPHICS BY EMILY CHENG

Boom! Pop! As the clock strikes midnight on Febru-ary 2, 2011, the sound of a gun cracks into the night’s silence. In the United States, this sound would be sure sign of trouble to the police, but in Taiwan, the police would be the source of these shocking noises. These loud popping sounds incite joy, not panic, as their daz-zling sparks reflect the excitement of a new year in Tai-wan. Families travel distances to be together again and traditional food, money and joyous greetings are given out. As the biggest event of the year, this highly antici-pated celebration lasts for about half a month. Clearly, Lunar New Year is valued passionately in Taiwan, but when it travels across the ocean to America, its spark seems to fade into murky nonchalance.

“Celebrating in Taiwan meant more relatives, red envelopes, festivities and good Chinese food,” said se-nior Catherine Hsu. “Cupertino inhabitants don’t cel-ebrate it as much as the Taiwanese do—I don’t wake up to the sound of noisy firecrackers.”

It is only expected that living in a different country than the country of your heritage would change your view on what is important. In fact, it seems that many American families have settled for watching the fire-works in San Francisco or tuning into Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve to celebrate. People fall into routines similar to those of their neighbors and fail to celebrate their culture even within the family setting. Despite

this, there are still families who work to keep up the Taiwanese tradition as best they can.

“My parents continue to insist that we put up all these red papers with gold writing on them and wear as much red clothing as possible on the first day of Chi-nese New Year,” said Hsu.

Others view this time of year as a precious occasion for the whole family to be together again.

“One thing that is tradition is that we make sure my dad is home to celebrate with us. It’s a rare occasion to have him with us, and so with that and a wonderfully cooked meal, we celebrate Chinese New Year,” said se-nior Tina Yu.

On New Year’s Eve, sophomore Enya Chang and her family celebrate over a dinner of traditional Lunar New Year food.

“I grew up here so I think American New Year is more important, but my parents definitely view Chi-nese New Year as the bigger event,” said Chang. “At the end of the night, my parents always tell us what they love about us and what we should change. We also talk to them about our lives.”

However, Chang does acknowledge that the cele-bration is not as flamboyant and public as it would be in Taiwan. Chang’s relatives all reside in Taiwan, which is partly the reason why it is less of an event in the United States. Whatever the reason may be for why the Lunar New Year’s important aura is slightly diminished in America, we can always know that the traditions and culture of Taiwan will continue to live on.

MICHELLE CHEUNGlifestyles assistant

Lunar New Year lost in translation

7:20 - 7:30 Students clean the campus

7:00 Leave for school 8:10 - 12:00 Students remain in the same

classroom for four differ-ent classes, while teach-

ers rotate between rooms. Students have a 10 - minute break in between 50 - minute

class periods.

7:30 - 8:00 Individual study for students

12:00 - 12:25 LUNCH TIME

12:40 - 1:10 Students take a 30 - minute nap

at their desks

1:10 - 5:20 Students continue classes with four more class periods, total-

ling eight 50 - minute classes per day with 10 -

minute breaks in between.

6:10p.m. - 9:30p.m.Students go to cram

schools, which let them take classes they cannot

take in their high schools.

A day in the life of a Shu Guang student

FEBRUARY 11, 2011in-depth

COMPILED BY JACKIE BREUERCOURTESY OF SARA CHOU

COURTESY OF SARA CHOU

COURTESY OF SARA CHOU

ALL PRIMARY GRAPHICS BY EMILY CHENG