Everything is starting... again!

Everything is starting... again! Or more specifically, the ending is beginning. It has been a little less than a month but I've already begun to view my small dormitory room as home. I've already begun to view the small city streets of Taipei as home. I've already begun to view Taipei, Taiwan as normal to me.

So. Let's get a bit personal, shall we?

When I first dropped down in Taiwan I was left at my aunts house where I got used to the comforts of family home. So naturally, I was not at all feeling great about leaving my place of comfort to go to an unknown school, full of unknown foreign people, with people a barely knew from the University of Maryland. When my uncle dropped me off in front of NTNU (the place we stayed at), all I was armed with was a couple of Taiwanese bills, a heavy luggage case, and quite a bit of uncertainty. However, what I did have going for me was my own capability to adapt to new environments. But hey, who says that I can't feel apprehensive towards a foreign environment, with a foreign language, with a foreign culture? So this is small glimpse of what ran through my head: what if I didn't get along with my classmates? What if my Chinese is too poor to communicate with others? What if I fail the classes? What if I get sick?

What if? What if? What if?

So long story short, Taiwan has been awesome. There is no what-if nonsense because everything has been great. In our last week I was able to do some fun things before my departure and return to the States. For one, I got to watch Chinese opera.

Facepainting or intense makeup?

This merits a new paragraph. Oh boy. Have you ever seen successive dive rolls and crazy acrobatics that makes you feel like you have an inadequate body? Then yes, you have seen Chinese opera, or more specifically, the Two Monkey Kings. The first step towards creating a dazzling show can only be thing: makeup. Instead of Broadway opera of the States, Taiwan has its own Chinese opera. Its interesting to note that like much how the United States frequently writes story's and plays about its legends sprung up from its past, Taiwan has Chinese opera to remember its past. Moreover, much of the same instruments used to accompany Chinese operas in the past are still used today. I find it pretty cool to see that people on the other side of the world still continue past practices in order to preserve their culture even if its out of fashion. After all, it's extremely hard to wear extreme layers of makeup while doing multiple perfectly synchronized somersaults.

Female acrobatic dancers?!

Overall, Taiwan is pretty different from my home in the United States. People are generally shorter, hair is blacker, but with so many new friends here, food tastes better. I have been asked much to compare Taiwanese culture to United States culture, but how is that possible without comparing to other Asian countries I have been to? Much like mainland China, the people here can be bustling and extremely lively. Like Japan, people are reserved and generally polite when they can. Like the United States, in Taipei, Taiwan there is a confluence of foods, cultures, and religions from all over the world. Despite being a small island at odds with the mainland and at one time left behind by the world, Taiwan is a place that is still hanging on.

So whats next after I leave? I hope to come back, but ultimately what I will take back with me to the States is a new found respect for Asian culture and kickin' fluency in Chinese! There is much to lessons to live out from what I've learned Buddhism and Confucianism. There is much to want, from the many food stands that line the streets of Taipei, compared to my University diner (which cannot compare to food stands). So yes, I am saying good bye to Taiwan. But you can't ever just throw away memories or lessons, can you? One of the best souvenirs, are the fond memories and new relationships with people from around the world. So I'll cut this blog post off with a small personal statement: I look forward to nostalgically looking at the pictures I have from Taiwan this Winter Semester a couple months or years from now. So my time in Taiwan is ending. But my life in the United States is just starting... again!

Thank you for reading!

 Here is a final picture of a maid cafe I ended up going to. Crazy right? They have these kinds of things in Taiwan?!

Maid Cafe?!