NSLIY Homework #3

One of the most interesting parts of living in Taiwan is gaining perspective on America. Living abroad, I’m lumped into the category of 外國人that includes all of the world that’s not Taiwan. My nation, appearance, and language are more defining than they’ve ever been in my life or at least it’s become more apparent through living abroad. Being in Taiwan (especially on Halloween and Thanksgiving) has made me appreciate--and often miss-- my American culture more than ever.

(Homemade Halloween costume)

Gaining perspective on the rest of the world’s impression of the United States is fascinating. Although I didn’t realize this before arriving in Taiwan, America has a HUGE culture influence on the world. I can easily eat at McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, McDonald’s, or Starbucks on any given day. 7-11’s are practically on every corner (though according to Wikipedia, that franchise is now mainly operated by Japanese owners resulting from a 1990’s buyout).

Outside of America’s fast food influence, we also have a huge global influence through Hollywood’s movie/TV industry. A lot of people’s impression of the American lifestyle is based off of movies like “Gossip Girl”, “Friends With Benefits”, and “Mean Girls”. One of the cool parts about being here is teaching people about my culture and language while I’m also learning about Taiwan’s.

In talking to other foreigners, I’ve realized how unique American’s citizenship process is. If you’re born in the United States, you’re an American citizen. My Spanish friend commented on how that doesn’t make sense to him, but I think the unique part about being American is our emphasis on the individual. I really like the ideal that anyone can be American, regardless of where you came from, but that separation from your lineage is weird from my friend’s point of view: “my parent’s are Spanish, so I’m Spanish.”

A new, Taiwanese friend mentioned that he would need to buy a second passport to travel to China. His Taiwanese passport isn’t recognized the PRC; Taiwanese people fiercely love Taiwan, but also must struggle with the fact that the “nation” in their nationality identity is defined differently depending on who you ask.

Living abroad gives an entirely new perspective on your worldview. In Taiwan, instead of being from a city in a state, I’m from America: a nation that has a 14-hour time difference from my life.

 

Skyping, comparing passports, practicing Chinese