This past Sunday, the first day of National Singles Week 2012, was such a fun day for me. A journalist from Taiwan who had read the Chinese translation of Singled Out asked if he could come to Summerland to interview me for his series on various forms of discrimination. He was from the United Daily News, the newspaper with the largest readership in the Taiwan area.
In our correspondence about the details of the visit, the reporter sometimes said things like, “we” are planning to be in California in mid-September… so I realized that he might have someone else with him. When I opened the door, I saw him and a woman. Then there was another woman behind them. Then another guy. Then another man with a giant camera. Hmmm, not what I expected for a newspaper interview. Turns out they do video, too.
The journalist who had contacted me had his Chinese edition of Singled Out with him, complete with copious post-its. He and the other journalist took turns asking me great questions for several hours, while the other woman translated and the other two men worked the camera.
Their Summerland stop was one of several for their project. They were in San Francisco beforehand, and were headed to Canada later. The types of discrimination and prejudice they are reporting on include:
- Singlism
- Sexism
- Ageism
- Weightism
- Heterosexism
Too bad I won’t be able to understand a word of what they write!
The picture above shows the Chinese version of Singled Out plus the little present they gave me to commemorate the Year of the Dragon. Pretty cute for a dragon.
