It is sometimes said: “One who travels far knows much.” Although the 21st century has brought a revolution in learning, this axiom remains valid. In fact it has taken on new meaning for students of the Internet generation: teachers and parents tend to encourage the young to experience the colorful world around them in ways that go beyond their schoolbooks. As a result, the concept of traveling to study has grown in popularity in recent years. And the average age of these young travelers is falling. It’s not unusual today for high-school graduates to go overseas for a year before starting university, with the goals of gaining experience, broadening their global perspectives, and most importantly helping them to make key decisions about the directions of their future study.

More than 8,000 young people worldwide participate annually in the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program, which has been running for over 90 years. As a major participant in the program, Taiwan is often the first choice for students from Europe and the US as the majority of Chinese schools participating in the program are in Taiwan. As a result, a number of local high schools provide special places for exchange students, one of which is Tai­pei Municipal Nan­gang High School.

Holding the brush

To enhance their opportunity to experience real Taiwanese culture, Nan­gang High has added arts and culture lessons to their curriculum, and has invited Tsai Ming-long to teach Chinese calligraphy and ink panting for two semesters a year. With such a master as guide and tutor, exchange students will experience the true brilliance of traditional Chinese culture through the processes of using a brush, writing poetry, and painting in ink.

Every Thursday afternoon, 15 teenage students from France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, the US, Mexico, Thailand, and Japan enliven the culture class with their vitality, absorbed in such new experiences.

Few of the students have any experience holding a brush, so to spark their interest in brush writing Tsai employs a teaching method that integrates interaction and experimentation. In addition to basic calligraphy, they also study ink painting, paper lantern painting, and paper fan painting. They write Taiwanese poetry with a brush—after Tsai patiently explains the stories and Taiwanese traditional folk culture behind the poems. All these techniques augment the diversity and interest of the lessons.

“This may be the only opportunity that these young people ever have to practice Chinese calligraphy and ink painting. So I’d like to give them a great experience, and hope that through their own creations, they can gain a deep impression of Chinese culture and carry that with them back to their homelands,” says Tsai.

Starting is always the hardest. Regardless of nationality, the exchange students have to begin from the beginning, just like the locals. They start with the “Eight Principles of Yong” (the eight major strokes of Chinese calligraphy) and after gaining some facility in brush writing, they move on to ink painting. And they speak only Mandarin in class, so their Chinese speaking proficiency improves as well.

The real Taiwan

The school takes the students out to experience Taiwan’s diverse culture when significant festivals or other events are happening. For example, they have visited the National Palace Museum and National Museum of History. The school also taught them how to make fresh spring rolls for Qing­ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) and scented sachets for the Dragon Boat Festival. They experienced the annual Lantern Festival in the ­Pingxi District of New Taipei City, where sky lanterns are released into the night sky. The students loved being a part of all these activities, and at the same time came to a deeper understanding of Taiwan and its people. “Although most of the students come from cultures where they enjoy some degree of freedom in their study, the majority are able to respect our teachers and teaching methods as a result of their art and culture lessons. Most of them feel a great sense of accomplishment, and some are even so proud of their artworks that they are eager to send them home to their parents.”

Wu ­Huiqi, the teacher responsible for international exchange students at Nan­gang High, says that although most have no knowledge of Mandarin before they arrive in Taiwan, the school places them into classes with local students from day one, creating a degree of culture shock for both exchange students and locals.

Wu observes that with spoken language essential for peer-to-peer communication, the local students are more than willing to help their foreign classmates. While they may need to communicate in English at first, the exchange students usually make rapid progress in Mandarin. “They’re often able to speak fluent Mandarin after a semester,” says Wu. “We hired Mr. Tsai especially to teach art and culture lessons, and we share resources with other high schools including Kai­nan Secondary High School of Commerce and Industry, and ­Neihu Vocational High School, which runs tai chi lessons, all with the goal of helping the exchange students to gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s culture.”

Loving Taiwan

Briana Boland, a student on exchange from the US, has created stunning Chinese paintings with the ­gongbi technique, which utilizes highly detailed brushstrokes to define precise details. She chose to come to Taiwan for a year’s study because she had gained a good impression of the country from two Taiwanese exchange students at her high school. She knew no Mandarin before she arrived, but can now answer questions relatively fluently. “Painting with a Chinese brush was really difficult at first, so you need a lot of patience. Now after a year it’s still hard, but at least I’m more at home with the skills. Painting is very rewarding. I really can’t wait to show my works to my parents. In fact I want to share everything I’ve learned about calligraphy and ink painting with family and friends when I get back to the US.”

Nina Foyt, from France, studied Mandarin for two years before she came to Taiwan, so now she not only speaks it fluently but can also read quite well. Even the schoolyard slang used by young people poses few problems for her now. Asked what she likes most about Taiwan, she smiles, “I really like the school uniforms. The high-school uniforms in Taiwan are all very pretty. I never wore a uniform in France, so I was so pleased to try out the plaid pleated skirts here. In fact I’d love to wear a uniform every day if I could.” Nina and Briana may even come back one day to do postgraduate study after they complete their undergraduate degrees at home. They both agree that learning Chinese should benefit their future careers tremendously.

Student exhibition

The cultural experience course is now in its third year. Tsai has observed that the exchange students’ art tends to reveal a creative talent that has been sparked by the interaction with Eastern culture. He believes that international cultural understanding would be enhanced if people could see and understand what they have done. With these thoughts in mind, Tsai organized a joint exhibition that combined the works of exchange students from Nan­gang and Kai­nan High Schools. With the students themselves involved in the organization, the event would leave lasting memories of their cultural experience in Taiwan.

The recent exhibition at Banqiao 435 Art Zone showed the exchange students’ work—and indeed had the flavor of an international cultural event. A German student wrote: “We don’t drink beer all day.” A Mexican student: “I’m not a drug dealer, and I don’t know how to use a gun.” A French student commented: “France is not only the Eiffel Tower,” and “I’m French but I don’t eat snails.” They wrote in Chinese characters and their texts were illustrated with witty drawings—it was an attempt to break down stereo­types. One of the exchange students from Germany told us that Taiwan is a favorite destination: the strict school system here is quite similar to that in Germany, so they feel quite at home.

Their lessons in culture, language and art culminating in a lively fun art exhibition allow the joys of life in Taiwan and the hospitality of its people to seep into the hearts and minds of the visitors. The schools and the teachers have worked hard to plant the seeds of cultural understanding in the hope that they will bear fruit in many different corners of the world, letting the world know more about Taiwan.

The one-year exchange program in Taiwan gives students the chance to try their hand at calligraphy. After a year of practice, they seem to really know what they are doing.

Through the beauty of poetry, exchange students develop a deep appreciation of Chinese culture, enriching their perspective on the wider world.

In his art and culture lessons for exchange students, Tsai Ming-long emphasizes experimentation and creativity. But in a more practical component of the course, he takes students out to experience the diverse and authentic culture of Taiwan.

Taiwan is often the first choice destination for international exchange students who are interested in studying Mandarin.