Since coming back from Taiwan a nearly a year ago (goodness, has it already been that long?) and paying a return visit at the beginning of April, I have been asked by many people whether I enjoyed my time. The answer is always an unequivocal yes – no matter that there were moments of extreme difficulty and tension during the year, overall, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Taiwan has taken a piece of my heart, and I would jump at the chance to hop on the next flight out.
Inevitably the next question is “why?” and this is my cue to start gushing about Taiwan and all its wonderfulness. I have been many places in the world (I think my tally is shortly about to hit 30 when I go to Malaysia next month). I have lived in America, France, India and Taiwan. And never, ever, have I met people as consistently wonderful, warm-hearted, generous and downright kind as Taiwanese people. I really think people don’t believe me when I share my stories to prove just how wonderful Taiwanese people can be in their acts of kindness, but it really is true. A few weeks ago, a Slovakian couple got stranded in Taoyuan because of the Icelandic volcano, their hotel organized a wedding for them, complete with priest and video hookup so that their family back in Slovakia could watch the wedding for them. Not only did the story make me smile, my instant reaction was “I am SO not surprised this happened in Taiwan.”
Some other examples:
Upon hearing I was coming back to Taiwan, Lucy (my co-teacher last year) immediately emailed me asking if she should arrange a homestay with her daughter (who actually went into labor and delivered a baby girl the day I was in town) or with one of the students’ families.
My housemate Nicki last year got a ride to her school from an old man who took pity on her for missing the bus – he scootered her all the way from the Cultural Center to Zuoying, a good half-hour away.
My host-sister Rachel invited me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding after having met me for a total of 45 minutes at the host family matchup party.
When my friend Melanie’s parents heard I was coming to Taiwan, they decided we would go on a four day road trip through Taiwan, just for the heck of it. On this note, befriend a Taiwanese person and get taken to their home for dinner. I guarantee if the dinner is cooked by a Taiwanese mom or grandmom, it will be beyond delicious. Her entire extended family welcomed me into their Chinese New Year celebrations last year as well.
When my friend Alissa came to visit, she lost her camera in Taedong. A group of teenagers, upon hearing her story, took it upon themselves to organize a search for her camera on the streets nearby. Another person hopped on his scooter, retraced her steps, found her camera lying on the street and returned it to her.
Gered reports that he left his keys in his scooter engine one weekend and returned to find the keys removed and tucked safely inside his scooter seat, and as an extra kindness, the mystery person straightened his scooter.
I could go on, but it would be repetitive. Suffice to say, Taiwanese people are wonderfully awesome and generous and if you meet and make friends with a Taiwanese person, the next thing you know, you may well be adopted into their family as though you’ve known them for years even if you only met a few hours earlier. Of course, there is much more to love about Taiwan (delicious food, stunning natural scenery), but its people are definitely its biggest asset.
Yay, thanks for saying good things about my peeps!
I think people often think of Taiwanese people as holding a grudge and not very friendly– at least those that don’t want China to invade our land, but they forget that we will bend over backwards to make people feel welcome. hope you’re having a good return back to taiwan!