From Taiwan,
We have lived in Taiwan for seven months now.
I find this experience to be just as thrilling as it is, still, daunting. I would like to call myself a Kaohsiung local, with a decent half year of carrying on daily activities and a resident visa to prove it. However, I translate around 40% of my day with my phone - grocery stores, breakfast orders, Google Maps, and doctor’s appointments.
Last night, I spent 20 minutes matching Chinese characters on bottles for my husband’s tea order (to no avail). I can only confidently understand conversation when it is directed toward my toddler. I still do not know the address to our apartment. I live in contentment, entirely ignorant.
When we first settled in Kaohsiung, my mind was in two places - our new life and envisioning the comfort and enjoyment of returning home. The timeline of our return was unknown to us, so I was in a constant state of rationing my optimism, thinking we could return to the States in a few short months.
After month four, I redecorated and personalized our apartment, signed my son up for an indoor activity center, began actively making friends at our church, and committed to more hours at my job.
I work part-time teaching English at Chen Da (誠達/成達) cram school. If enrolled by their parents, children attend classes after their normal school day. As you can imagine, the students are teeming with immense academic pressure, as well as explosive energy from little-to-no daily outlet for it.
I will miss my students after we move. They keep me humble, as I cannot understand most of what they say. After a few months, I started replying “yes” to everything they said in Mandarin, knowing it likely had to deal with a bathroom excuse, going to get a drink, or explaining that they, in fact, did not do something I disciplined them for (accountability is very hard to teach to elementary-aged children).
As the “American” teacher, if the students did not have English names their first day of school, the responsibility fell to me. I found the task of shoving a new identity onto them to be uncomfortable and borderline imperialistic. However, many Taiwanese friends have expressed that the process is an honor, and that the students will use the name for the rest of their lives (meaning even more pressure for me).
When I am not at work, I take care of Janson. Taiwan is wonderful for parents of young children. If you walk only ten minutes in every direction, you are guaranteed a park or play area. My one-year-old son loves birdwatching and stroller walks at our neighborhood’s 興東公園, Xingdong Park. The park sits adjacent to a temple - Ming Shan Tiandao Yuan (廟宇名稱: 明善天道院)- an institute blending Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist beliefs. We hear bells and low chanting as we pace the sidewalks. Janson finds this a normal occurrence and has no interest in it.
Janson is thriving as a cross-cultural baby (and now, Taiwanese citizen!). He learns simple performances like “clap” or “kiss” in both English and Mandarin, loves riding the MRT (metro) every day, finds himself in the arms of kindhearted locals, and eats mostly traditional Taiwanese meals and produce. He will feel more culture shock when returning to the States than he did leaving it.
The culture shock for myself still comes in waves. The currency is the New Taiwan dollar (NTD), with $30 NT equaling US$1 (which required constant mental math at first). Eating out is actually cheaper than buying groceries and cooking; we eat out two to three times a day. A doctor’s appointment and medication (without insurance) cost me under US$3.
With the generosity of my husband’s family and my part-time job, the only bills we pay are the ones ominously lingering from the U.S. (even after moving away, the government will still find ways to bleed you out).
The culture shocks include lifestyle changes. For example, I routinely escort our trash out at 9 p.m. Here, the trash truck rings with a familiar jingle and pauses at each corner, ready for us to throw our trash in. The garbage man says, “Nice to meet you!” to me once a week, and I reply with the formality back. We meet each other for the first time, usually, every Monday.
Other changes include mainly using public transportation, drinking tea (or nothing!) with meals instead of water, rarely experiencing temperatures below 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and always feeling safe at public places or walking after dark.
Ultimately I entered Taiwan with very little appreciation and slowly found myself gaining it month by month. With less than two months left for our life abroad, I find myself lamenting many aspects of what makes living here so enjoyable, wishing we had more time.
A small piece of our family will always live in Kaohsiung.