Even though my pronunciation needs work (my students like to tease me about the way I pronounce certain Chinese words), learning a bit of Chinese has been incredibly helpful in allowing me to integrate into the Taiwanese community.
Besides the language barrier, my time in Taiwan has also given me insights into differences between school in Taiwan and school in the United States. For instance, on the first day of school, here, I was surprised when I walked into the classroom, and all the students stood up to bow to my co-teacher and me. Prior to my arrival in Taiwan, no one had ever bowed to me in my life, and I was unsure what I was supposed to do in response. Luckily, my co-teacher showed me that the teachers bow back to the students, and ever since then, bowing to my students at the beginning of class has become second nature to me.
In Taiwan, people bow to show respect in a variety of different scenarios. For instance, when accepting a gift, a person will often bow to the gift-giver as a display of gratitude, and when in a temple, worshippers will bow to pay homage to the gods. This culture of bowing is very different from the ways that people show respect in the United States. However, over the course of my time in Taiwan, bowing has begun to feel as normal as shaking someone’s hand!
While many aspects of living in Taiwan are different from the United States, I am also constantly reminded of the interconnectedness of the world through the many similarities I encounter, here. For instance, my town, here, has both a McDonalds and a Starbucks.
