I’ll never forget the day I told a Taiwanese cab driver I wanted to “eat” Jhubei (a city on the west coast of Taiwan) instead of saying “I want to go to Jhubei.” She laughed, corrected my Chinese and mumbled something about how I was an American, excusing my mistake. Learning a new language really […]
Language Barriers
A White Girl’s Guide to Being Taiwanese
My Taiwanese-American friend and I had a joke that I was becoming more Asian than him due to my living in Taiwan. While I battled language barriers, played teacher to adorable but possibly terrified students, maneuvered my way through crowded night markets, and indulged in a hundred types of tofu, dumplings, and dried noodles–he tried […]
The Ascent
Some months ago, I discovered how it felt to drive a scooter alone on a snaking mountain road over 10,000 ft high. At one point I became disoriented and panicky as the way ahead climbed higher and higher; yet I knew I hadn’t come so far to tuck tail and turn around. Though hardly any […]