|
As a Hispanic-American child growing up in California, John
Schlitz was utterly fascinated by codes so, in his words,
it's no wonder that he eventually decided to master the "ultimate
code"--the Chinese language.
Starting at the age of 10 with his first Japanese dictionary,
he began probing the challenging intricacies of Asian languages
and later shifted his interests from Japanese over to Chinese.
Those interests never faded, remaining with him through a
double-major, in classical trumpet performance (12 years ago,
he founded the Bakerfield Youth Orchestra) and East Asian
language and culture (with emphases in Chinese and Japanese),
at the University of Southern California.
It was inevitable that all this would eventually bring him
to East Asia and Taiwan, where he has been living for five
and a half years. He also continues to feed his insatiable
appetite for things Asian by working on a master's degree
in Chinese linguistics from UCLA, with a specialty in character
taxonomy and Chinese socio-linguistics. He adds that his current
"passion" is a study of Cantonese.
Knowing that there were many other foreigners living in Taiwan
who shared his love and fascination for Chinese studies, John--known
more commonly as Jay--recently decided to fill a long-neglected
education and information gap by founding The Sinological
Society in early December.
The first question that many ask about this new association
is the meaning of "Sinological", says Schlitz. Rather
than the study of one's nasal passages (as in "sinuses"),
he notes that "sinology" is a Latin-derived word
(as in "Sino-American agreement" or the "Sino-Japanese
War") which refers to the study of things Chinese.
Bearing the slogan "For Western Students All Things Chinese",
the society was formed to address a perceived lack of organizations
which allowed foreigners to regularly come together to study
and share knowledge and viewpoints about Chinese culture,
politics, society and other aspects. The other purpose of
the society is to simply provide a forum to address questions
and problems about living in Taiwan, from bus routes to a
"Who's Who" of local politics.
In order to accomplish this, Schlitz has started holding weekly
discussion forums which target a different topic each week.
Members volunteer to research and present a topic, which is
followed by a discussion time. Topics cover a huge range,
including the abacus, art, barbarian enemies of ancient China,
calligraphy, introduction to character taxonomy, Chiang Kai
Shek, introduction to China's provinces, cuisine, family terms
and relationships, idioms and proverbs, methods of learning
Chinese, Manchus and the China Dynasty, martial arts, the
Opium War, organized crime, overpopulation, science in old
China, Tiananmen, and vassal states of China.
"Taiwan survival" topics include bus routes, doing
business in Taiwan and China, how to use Chinese dictionaries,
English-teaching strategies, eating healthy in Taiwan, overseas
Chinese in a Chinese society, marriage of foreign nationals
in the ROC, polite terms in Chinese, the postal service, culture
shock and xenophilia and xenophobia.
Just as valuable are free Chinese character classes being
taught by Schlitz (who is very fluent in the language) each
week. The forums and classes are open to all and there is
no membership fee to join.
Schlitz hopes that the society will gain a core group of members
who keep it going via their contributions and participation.
He also hopes that the society's meetings will spread beyond
Taichung to Taipei and elsewhere.
So far, the response has been positive and things are well
underway, with weekly 5 p.m. classes, followed by 6:30 p.m.
forums. The group meets in a classroom on the third floor
of Taichung's Frog I Pub, located 105, Hua Mei West Street,
sec. 1, Taichung. For more
information, Jay can be contacted at (04) 252-0234, extension
5412.
All this seems to be just the beginning of a life-long pursuit
of things Chinese for Schlitz. His eventual goal is a Ph.d.
degree in Chinese studies with a professorship somewhere.
Wherever this path may take him, there is no doubt that many
foreign Taichung residents and fellow Sinologists will be
richer for Schlitz's unflagging efforts, both now and later.
|
