I got an HES scholarship and can go to Taiwan in winter if I decide too but im really torn on things right now. Its great Taiwan has had a good response to covid but day by day it looks like theyre actually falling behind things with the zero covid policy. This virus will be here to stay for ever. Im not anti-vax but clearly with all the new mutant strains theres no way vaccines will stop this. Do you guys realistically see Taiwan ever changing course and reopening and getting rid of mask mandates? Should I come right now or stay in America until thinks get a little more normal?
reading that story about the students forced into a bus with no ac and being forced to wear diapers had me double thinking wether or not it would be a wise move to study chinese in winter…
It’s a tough decision. I’ve been here for over 8 years and I really like living in Taipei, but spending time in my home country this summer has really made me realize that the trade off of being here vs. being closer to my family and a culture I feel comfortable in just isn’t worth it anymore. Plus the travel restrictions make it unsustainable for me to live here any longer, and I don’t think that the border will be opened any time soon or that quarantine restrictions will change for vaccinated people (not arguing whether they should or not, I think they should but respect that they probably won’t. This is just not a way I want to live anymore). I do agree with you that restrictions in Taiwan are going to stay the same or get more difficult to live with. But, if you really want to come here to study Chinese, it is a good place to do that. It just depends on your personal situation and feelings.
yeah thats maybe my concern. I fell in love with taiwan in 2018 but obviously its a much different place now… I still have quite a bit of freedoms that im grateful for in the U.S and things are pretty much back to normal. really debating if its worth it or not and im leaning torwards wait a little bit more and get things situated in my home before traveling abroad agian…
Taiwan was once the “beacon of freedom” in asia, main reason I fell in love with it to begin with. I never would of thought in a million years Taiwan would be forcing people to undress into diapers and busing them into quarantine camps. Mainland china? yeah sure. maybe I was fooled.
If I could leave Taiwan right now, I would. The government is under reacting on getting vaccines out and overreacting when it come to its Zero Covid policy. With the way we are going the boarders are never going to reopen and will likely go back to level three as soon as there are 20 cases.
thanks for the honesty. I also think everyone suffers from the grass is greener syndrome so I could be as well as you if ya catch my drift. But yeah Its hard to get honest answers from people so heavily emotionally invested into the country.
honestly, its really not that bad. Bars are open, gyms are open, hiking trails are open. You have to wear a mask outdoors. I wouldnt get carried away with the stuff you read online
yeah. Vietnam was the same way before they had local transmission and now all my friends there are singing a different tune.
obviously two different countries with two different governments but I feel like Taiwan is one outbreak away from destroying themselves, not by covid itself, but by hyper restrictions…
For me, no I wouldn’t. Or let’s say, if I was somewhere else, having already lived in Taiwan for several years as I have, and had the choice of coming back or not coming back, I wouldn’t be rushing back here (and I’d probably be fine not coming back at all, tbh). The drawbacks of living here have started to outweigh the benefits, in my opinion.
I’ve been feeling that way for a few months though, and it’s one of the reasons that put me off going back to the UK this summer for my brother’s wedding and to see family. As in, if I’d gone to the UK I knew I’d have little interest coming back here in the near future, in which case I’d need to get rid of all my shit and apartment here, which I couldn’t be bothered doing. So basically inertia, plus the fact that most of the places I’d actually want to live right now (leaning towards ASEAN countries, or possibly Southern Europe) are in quite the state and the travel situation sucks all over. And as my income doesn’t depend on me living here, I feel that there are nicer places I could live for cheaper – under normal conditions, I’d have left already.
That’s just me though. If the scholarship and living here is something you really want to do, it’s not that bad and it might not be worth delaying it indefinitely in the hope that things will soon return to normal (I’m not sure which Greek letter everybody will be worrying about and how many vaccine doses we’ll be expected to have had by the time that happens). I don’t see the mask mandate etc. being relaxed any time soon, and of course things could get shittier in the upcoming weeks/months. So probably depends on your personal feelings/goals and how much flexibility you have with the scholarship start date.
Well that is a messed up story but as you can see people are critical of it and changes will happen.
As for your considerations about the borders. Honestly it’s a gamble. What if a new lethal or vaccine resistant variant comes around? The open border countries will be fucked so hard they will take decades to recover from it. But yes if no significantly more troublesome variant comes then Taiwan’s approach would have been a mistake.
I can’t tell how much of these posts are serious - Taiwan (and most of Asia) might not be a good fit and you don’t need it to study Chinese anyways. Save yourself the stress now.
I think that was only for the aircrew rather than the students? Don’t know whether that’s standard procedure for all contacts. But yeah, it sounds like pretty unpleasant treatment.
Are they falling behind? I think they’re doing OK at finding a very difficult balance between locking down and keeping things somewhat open. I don’t really see how they’re falling behind. Hospitals aren’t currently filling up here, unlike what seems to be the case in other places.
Why not? OK, the vaccines aren’t going to totally stop it, but when enough people are vaccinated, the death rates go way down. Taiwan is NOT yet at the stage of enough people being vaccinated, but they are moving - too slowly - down that path.
Changing course from what? Current course as far as I can tell is vaccinate a hell of a lot more people and then open up more. Do you want them to do something different? Just open up now, when we’re only around 5% fully vaccinated? I sure hope they’re not going to do that.
MRT mask mandates are probably here for a very long time (heck, a significant minority of people already wore them before this). Yes, the outdoor mandates are in many cases dumb, but they’re not a big deal.