Last evening, Leona rode with me to Feng-Yuan for the foreign spouses orientation meeting. It was a required of us when I applied for my permanent resident card and originally the time I was to be presented with it, that was before my emergency visit to Brooklyn made it necessary to pick up the card early and unnecessary to go to this foreign spouses meeting.
It was a long ride on Leona's scooter in a drizzle and we arrived early, one of the first couples there. We sat in a waiting area and were handed two bian-dangs (lunch boxes) which came with baggies filled with hot soup. The other new couples married to a foreign spouse starred arriving. Most foreign spouses were Asian, particularly from China, but there were two Caucasian foreign husbands besides me there. In all, about a dozen couples were called into a room after finishing eating our bian-dangs.
In time, an immigration officer came in and welcomed us, then introduced a friendly Taiwanese woman in her fifties who would conduct the spousal relationship sensitivity group meeting. She spoke Mandarin only and I was not quite sure what she was saying, unlike the other spouses who knew Mandarin from living in China before they emigrated to Taiwan. There were spouses from Inner Mongolia, Xin-Jiang, Szechuan, and other areas of China along with a few Vietnamese brides, one of which was married to this brutish Taiwanese farmer with whom she was raising a cute five-year-old from another of his marriages.
The counselor starred playing ice-breaking games with us designed to show how couples must be sensitive to each others' feelings. Leona wasn't very prompt translating and I became a bit disorientated trying to catch on. The counselor played a finger game that we had to copy to show how difficult it is to coordinate yourself with two fingers up, down, and sideways. Next, we had to stand, look at our spouse, and follow her instructions facing and turning our backs on each other. We each introduced ourselves, in Mandarin.
The one brutish man called his Vietnamese bride of a few months stupid and unable to learn anything. It was quite shocking for the group and totally embarrassing for this pitiful Vietnamese bride who sheltered his adorable daughter. The counselor told him in Taiwanese that surly there must be something about her that is good that made him marry her in the first place. He would have none of it. He got up and went outside.
Next, she handed us sheets of paper and markers. She asked each couple to draw their dream homes. Leona held the paper on her lap and I drew a condominium near the mountains and a stream. She drew two cats on the roof. I drew three children together on the right with a telephone receiver and radio tower between us, and one more child on the left side of the page in similar position. The counselor pointed out that it was good that we worked on the dream home picture together and that neither of the spouses took over. Next, she played 'musical newspaper' pages with us. Like musical chairs, we had to stand up with our spouses and walk around the room to children's' music until the music stopped and we both had to have a foot on one large newspaper page. The couple without a newspaper to stand on were eliminated. Then, the newspaper was folded, once, then twice, then three times until it was the size of a loose-leaf page. Leona and I lasted that long, she standing on my foot and balancing until I fell over and created to the floor! We were eliminated. The last couple, an American who met his wife in China, won, with his foot on the six inch square and his wife piggy-backed. They won a key chain. Finally, we were given little greeting cards and pens and asked to write love messages to each other. Then, our photos were taken with a Poloroid Instant camera and were bid farewell. The brutish Taiwanese man with his mortified young bride and daughter got on to a scooter and drove away. We all felt so badly for her and the child.
Afterwards, Leona rode us to Temple Street in Feng-Yuan where we had delicious wonton soup, oh-ah-me-swa noodle soup, slimy oyster pancake, iced pineapple drink, and deep-fried 'water-buffalo' chestnuts. Yum! We sat in the basement of the department store there to eat and relax before we got back on the scooter for the long ride home.
It was a long ride on Leona's scooter in a drizzle and we arrived early, one of the first couples there. We sat in a waiting area and were handed two bian-dangs (lunch boxes) which came with baggies filled with hot soup. The other new couples married to a foreign spouse starred arriving. Most foreign spouses were Asian, particularly from China, but there were two Caucasian foreign husbands besides me there. In all, about a dozen couples were called into a room after finishing eating our bian-dangs.
In time, an immigration officer came in and welcomed us, then introduced a friendly Taiwanese woman in her fifties who would conduct the spousal relationship sensitivity group meeting. She spoke Mandarin only and I was not quite sure what she was saying, unlike the other spouses who knew Mandarin from living in China before they emigrated to Taiwan. There were spouses from Inner Mongolia, Xin-Jiang, Szechuan, and other areas of China along with a few Vietnamese brides, one of which was married to this brutish Taiwanese farmer with whom she was raising a cute five-year-old from another of his marriages.
The counselor starred playing ice-breaking games with us designed to show how couples must be sensitive to each others' feelings. Leona wasn't very prompt translating and I became a bit disorientated trying to catch on. The counselor played a finger game that we had to copy to show how difficult it is to coordinate yourself with two fingers up, down, and sideways. Next, we had to stand, look at our spouse, and follow her instructions facing and turning our backs on each other. We each introduced ourselves, in Mandarin.
The one brutish man called his Vietnamese bride of a few months stupid and unable to learn anything. It was quite shocking for the group and totally embarrassing for this pitiful Vietnamese bride who sheltered his adorable daughter. The counselor told him in Taiwanese that surly there must be something about her that is good that made him marry her in the first place. He would have none of it. He got up and went outside.
Next, she handed us sheets of paper and markers. She asked each couple to draw their dream homes. Leona held the paper on her lap and I drew a condominium near the mountains and a stream. She drew two cats on the roof. I drew three children together on the right with a telephone receiver and radio tower between us, and one more child on the left side of the page in similar position. The counselor pointed out that it was good that we worked on the dream home picture together and that neither of the spouses took over. Next, she played 'musical newspaper' pages with us. Like musical chairs, we had to stand up with our spouses and walk around the room to children's' music until the music stopped and we both had to have a foot on one large newspaper page. The couple without a newspaper to stand on were eliminated. Then, the newspaper was folded, once, then twice, then three times until it was the size of a loose-leaf page. Leona and I lasted that long, she standing on my foot and balancing until I fell over and created to the floor! We were eliminated. The last couple, an American who met his wife in China, won, with his foot on the six inch square and his wife piggy-backed. They won a key chain. Finally, we were given little greeting cards and pens and asked to write love messages to each other. Then, our photos were taken with a Poloroid Instant camera and were bid farewell. The brutish Taiwanese man with his mortified young bride and daughter got on to a scooter and drove away. We all felt so badly for her and the child.
Afterwards, Leona rode us to Temple Street in Feng-Yuan where we had delicious wonton soup, oh-ah-me-swa noodle soup, slimy oyster pancake, iced pineapple drink, and deep-fried 'water-buffalo' chestnuts. Yum! We sat in the basement of the department store there to eat and relax before we got back on the scooter for the long ride home.
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