Hi All,
I’ve visited this website in the past but this is my first post, as I wanted to share a letter I wrote to my English Class about living in Taiwan. I think it’s a bit more grounded about what’s it like to live in Kaohsiung compared to other storires which were going round in Feb…
Have fun reading…
Culture Shock – Role Reversal
Author Anonymous
Taiwan is a small island of approximately 22 million people. It has the second largest number of people per square kilometer compared to any country in the world apart from Bangladesh. Yep, that means that there is even less space per person than China or Japan. As such, it was an interesting choice for a teacher to go for their first teaching job overseas.
In Australia, I taught mainly refugee students, immigrants or students who’s parents were born overseas. The local joke at the school is are you a FOB? (Fresh Off Boat). Due to this, I had to teach many students from different cultures and who spoke many different languages. I always thought that it would be difficult to come to another country to live and not speak the language.
Finally, due to my curiosity and the negativity at my old school I decided to take the plunge and teach overseas. When I first said I was going to teach overseas, I was asked many questions. “Why are you going?”. “So your going to teach in Thailand? Oh – you have to visit Chiang Mai!!”. “Taiwan, isn’t that China?” As you can see, not many people know much about Taiwan from my home country.
When I first reached Taiwan, I noticed that things were very different. My first surprise was that everything took longer when you did not speak the local language and did not know the area. Where could I buy food? How do I get the internet? How can I buy a microwave? These may seem like easy questions, but they can be quite difficult.
I remember when I first moved into my apartment I purchased a microwave from FE21 Mega and carried it to my house through the subway. I then noticed 2 months later that a BEST store was a 2 minute walk from my house. It’s funny now, but I did not ask people around me for help and it made things more difficult.
One thing that I was surprised with was that I was warned that the students could be very direct and tell you exactly what they thought of you in English. Luckily enough, they did not say it in English but I did hear one student say “Fat Bastard” and something else in Chinese, referring to me as one of the characters from Austin Powers.
Strangely enough, I ended up being this student’s homeroom teacher later in the year and he ended up being a nice kid. As they always say, “forgive but never forget”. A lot of different things were also very new to me. Why do they cook food in water in 7-11 or Family Mart? It was all very new to me and I still don’t fully understand it today. A lot of their customs were also different, and the language is hard to learn!!
However, over time things started to get easier. People left me alone and many people helped me if I looked lost. I also notice that many people can be quite chatty as they want to practice their English. After 4 months in Taiwan, I went back home to Australia. Apart from craving a Vietnamese Pork Roll and missing my family, there was not really anything that I could not live without from Australia.
I also started to notice small things. For example, I got lots of strange looks when I said Xei Xei (thank you) every time I purchased something in Australia. It had become a force of habit, and it was not until I went near my old school did I feel more at home. Some people who worked in the stores spoke Chinese, and really appreciated what I was saying.
After a long break, I went back to Taiwan for the new school year. I was to teach some of the same students as the previous year, along with new students. My homeroom was an interesting bunch of students, but they did not speak much to me. The girls seemed to distain me and the boys only wanted to play basketball or computer games. As such, I felt a bit useless as a teacher and I was just going through the motions of teaching.
Then, things started to change very slowly. Some students started to talk to me. The local staff also started to talk to me which made a big difference. Going through difficult times as a group seemed to bond people together. Slowly but surely, I started to understand the culture a bit more. The people are very friendly but it takes a long time for them to really start to talk to you about how they feel.
As I started to get to know the students better, I noticed a worrying trend that I did not want to happen again. I become too emotionally attached to my students again. It takes a long time for me to get to really know someone, but once I do I really know that person. Due to this, I started to form some really good bonds with some of my students.
After some time, it was school holidays again. I travelled overseas and I was asked where I came from. I said Kaohsiung in Taiwan when I was in Thailand. As such, I got some strange looks as I was white and not Asian looking. It then took me a couple of seconds most of the time to say, “Oh, but I come from Australia”. It was at that time that I noticed that I saw Taiwan as my home.
There were still some things that I did not miss about Taiwan such as the food, pollution and the traffic, but when I landed at Taoyuan airport in Taipei the first thing I said was, “it’s good to be home”. It’s started to occur to me that Taiwan slowly changes a person when you are willing to spend time and try and understand the culture.
It really changes you, and I can see the type of person I am is changing. Some of the changes are good, but some are bad. Most are mixed. The one which stands out is how honest many people are about their feelings once you get to know them. As such, many of my students have managed to remove my mask that I have as a teacher and see the real me. For some people, this is ok. But for me, it’s a problem.
I have deep emotions that I can’t hide once I care about people. As such, I act strangely when people do something wrong. I take it as an attack on me instead of kids just being kids. I have unrealistic expectations of my students, and because I this I’ve learnt an important lesson that I must always make sure you separate work from your private life in the future.
But anyway, there are things that I won’t miss about Taiwan in the future such as the pollution or the food (I like Pork – but I don’t need it for 3 meals a day). However, there is something that I will miss for the rest of my life in this order. The people of Taiwan and the Culture. People may do stupid things in Taiwan, but they do in any country.
It’s not the country, history or scenery of Taiwan that makes this country special, but it’s the people. Taiwan now feels like my real home but I’m now leaving home. There is not much I can do about this, but my memory will always remember Taiwan and it’s people. It’s the only country that has ever been able to rip away of the harder layers people have to hide what they really feel, and the people of Taiwan see my true emotions because of that.
I’m still not sure if this is a good thing, but only time will tell. All that I do know is that I will never be able to ever forget Taiwan and its people, but most importantly my students.