TAIWAN - TAIPEI

A7er four months in Taiwan, I have become used to a lot of habits, situations, and customs. From a small state into a big metropolitan city with millions of residents, it needs some time to process. This blog will tell you about certain situa@ons or challenges I had to face in the beginning and have now become familiar and are indispensable.

Beginning with the small changes like the noise. In this big city it is always noisy, whether it is the people who are talking or making a lot of noises while being on the phone. Furthermore, car or busses which are honking or just making a loud sound by driving by or by stopping and starting the vehicles over again. Also, the Scooters are responsible for a big part of the noise in the city. In Taiwan there are 14 millions of scooters while the population amounts to 23 million people. However, I realized that I got used to this noise when my parents visited me and made me aware again how noisy the streets are.

This leads me to another point, the traffic and driving style of Taiwanese people. Of course, it is a big city, so more people, more parallel roads and more traffic jams. But still, for people from Liechtenstein it is impressive to see how big crossings and so many cars at the same time, especially during rush hours, are being handled. At the front of each crossing or traffic light there is some extra place for the scooters, so that they can start driving first as soon the traffic light switches to green. Furthermore, there are police men who handle the traffic, give signals to drivers, and make sure nobody crosses the red lights. Also, throughout the city there are an extremely large number of busses which are dominting the streets. So, the public transportation system/infrastructure in Taiwan is very well equipped which is why you always have a bus to your diretion even through rush hours. Even the fact, that I travelled through whole Taiwan only with public transportation says a lot about it. Moreover, bus drivers o7en begin opening the doors before coming to a complete stop, and they resume driving before ensuring the doors are fully closed. This might shock or impressed me in the first few weeks but now I got so used to it that it doesn’t even bother me anymore.

The second aspect I familiarized during my stay is food, street food and Night markets. The first day I came here, I didn’t know where to go to eat because everything was new, everything seemed foreign, and I didn’t know which places are good to go to. That was the moment I realized that it might get difficult to find comfort food here in Taiwan. Indeed, it was difficult for me for the first month or even longer to familiarize myself with the local food here. Most of the time the food here is bland and doesn’t have much taste. Also, I didn’t want to familiarize myself with noodle soup every day, so it was a liUle fight every day to find something tasty. A7er some months, I of course have my go to places where I know I get the food I want, and which fulfill my expecta@ons. However, I have to admit that “Chinese” food as it is known in Europe/Liechtenstein is very different from what I experienced here and a7er four months I can say I miss western food and I am looking forward to that when I am back.

However, I familiarized myself with going out to eat every day. During my stay I cooked maybe twice in my apartment. The food here is very cheap and for around 2-5 Swiss Francs you get a proper meal which is why it was affordable to eat out every day. Moreover, I got out of my comfort zone, dared to go out and eat by myself which is very normal here in Taiwan and made it easier for me not to feel uncomfortable. In Liechtenstein it is very uncommon to go out eting alone which is why I haven’t been used to it.

A very famous part of eting culture here are Night markets. Taiwan has a lot of Night markets where they sell juices, buns with fillings, seafood, dumplings, fried chicken and a lot more. I love the concept of trying a lot of small different things for a very affordable price. Throughout Taiwan there are Night Markets everywhere and it is the best choice when you don’t know where to go to. There is always something going on, there are a lot of people and sometimes even entertainment. The first time being there was a very impressive but also overwhelming feeling because you have so many choices and everyone is trying to sell their food. Throughout the entire market there are a lot of shops and gaming stations where you are tempted to spend a lot of money on souvenirs or clothes.

Furthermore, things I familiarized with are for example weather or the language (see Blog 2). In Taiwan it is always possible to rain, so you better carry an umbrella with you most of the time. Also, it was an uncommon feeling celebra@ng Christmas with 20 degrees but I had to admit I liked this exotic feeling. It is an experience different from the previous one’s I had my entire life and I liked it. I was enjoying the sun and the beach in November and wearing Tshirts in December. I don’t know when I will experience this the next time.

I think during an exchange one should be open what will happen. Coming to a foreign country, you cannot control and steer everything, especially because things run different here. Some@mes there are situa@ons where you just must take them as they are. I think being openminded and accep@ng the unknown, have helped me a lot to familiarize the unfamiliar. Not everything happens as you want them to happen, and you must accept that otherwise you will just spoil your stay. I think during my stay, familiarizing the unfamiliar just confirmed my self-percep@on that I am a flexible person who just takes things how they come and to be or trying to be a balancing pole in a group. The reason I did this exchange, was doing something unusual and coming out of my comfort zone. Looking back, I can say, I le7 my comfort zone. I built up a new life and new friendships while I was studying at the same @me. I am proud of myself that I made it through the end, and I feel much more independent than before this exchange.