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April 2002
Spotlight: China

Getting Rich in Taiwan
by Jennifer Reeder

Midnight Train to Xi'an
by Catherine Skrzypinksi

The Sights of China: a Photojournal
by Tonna Corbin

April 2002—Spotlight: China

Getting Rich in Taiwan
by Jennifer Reeder (www.jenreeder.com)

I ditched a lucrative career in the Seattle film industry to move to Taiwan and teach English because a trusted co-worker told me I could "save, not make" $5000 a month.

I bought it.

Once there, I learned it was a complete lie, and a lot of ex-pats have had a good laugh at my expense (though it is possible to save money, thanks to a low cost of living). Fortunately, money wasn't my only reason for moving to the Republic of China. I also wanted a cultural experience and didn't have enough saved for a backpacking trip.

Because I had visions of enlightenment dancing in my head, I avoided Taipei despite its lure of "great nightlife...and Starbucks!" and opted for traditional Tainan instead. Though initially despondent to find myself in a congested city sprawling on the west coast's industrial wasteland, I was soon distracted from the pollution by colorful festivals and a pervasive humor. Taoist parades are insane—they provide everything from worshippers on stilts and men dancing with swords to cars covered in flowers and beauty queens in bonnets. It's not unusual to have a two-story God lunge out of an alley at you, and my neighbors religiously burned "ghost money" to appease their ancestors on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar calendar.

Travel around the island (often a challenge with a six-day workweek) or to adjacent islands was always amusing. The Penghu Aquarium is the first I've visited that describes the taste and commercial value of the marine life on display, and Kenting is the first National Park in which I've hiked that has a nuclear power plant. Scooters are everywhere, even sidewalks (and once, inside an elevator.) The incredibly friendly locals, who culturally abhor loneliness, go out of their way to make foreigners feel welcome; I was frequently approached by strangers offering gum or the national brand of "Long Life" cigarettes.

This overwhelming friendliness is only occasionally unwelcome, like when you're having a meaningful discussion and someone walking by your table interrupts because they want to "practice English." When I took a pregnant and extremely nervous Western friend to the hospital to inquire about getting an abortion, the nurse saw nothing inappropriate about explaining that she wanted to learn English and starting her conversation with, "Are you married?"

The ubiquitous desire to learn English (which provides countless employment opportunities if you have a college degree in anything from an English speaking country) stems from a deep admiration of America. In this republic of Buddhists and Taoists, Christmas was celebrated with the usual commercial signs: music and trees and extravagant displays and gift exchanges. But in a poll of each of my classes, only one of the numerous students with a Christmas tree in their home had heard it was the birthday of Jesus. He shouted, "I know!" then stood up and pretended to be hanging from the cross. There wasn't a flicker of recognition among my students, and I was confused until someone explained, "We have Christmas because America have it."

Unfortunately, imported along with American culture are the homophobia and racism of White America. It's chilling to hear 11-year-olds making A.I.D.S. jokes, or have an 8-year-old explain that all black people steal money. But ironically, that's when being a teacher in Taiwan can be cool.

Teachers are revered there. In Taiwan, teachers have proportionately high salaries, and are very respected. Ask a classroom of students what they want to be when they grow up, and many, if not most, will answer "teacher"...even the bad students! So it's possible to manipulate your status as a Westerner and a teacher to be an authority on many subjects, and usually be allowed the autonomy to do so.

Last January, I distributed, in accordance with my bushiban's curriculum, readers about Martin Luther King, Jr. to commemorate his birthday. To my astonishment and horror, my cute 8- and 9-year-olds started laughing, pointing at his face and saying, "Very ugly! I don't like he!" To explain that he is a hero for helping to end segregation, I first had to explain what segregation was. Some of the kids nodded and said things like, "That's because those people is bad. My father say." After two classes dedicated to explaining that racism is bad and that equality is a fundamental truth, my students finally got it. As I watched them compete for MLK stickers with logos like "Civil Rights!" I felt more rewarded than I ever did fetching a director a latte.

Though it's great to have the freedom to push a liberal agenda that might be cause for termination in the States, cultural imperialism and ethnocentrism is clearly not the point of living in another country. There is a lot for a foreigner to learn from Chinese culture. The sense of community and strength of family bonds is admirable, and the awareness of herbs and health is impressive. And the Taiwanese work ethic that propelled a small island republic into an economic power is incredible.

One of the aspects of Taiwan that I love the most is the treatment of the elderly. Unlike the frequent situation in the U.S., old people in Taiwan are not only housed and cared for by their families, but they are also respected and deferred to as wise. Rather than being cooped up in retirement homes, the elderly drink tea and play cards and take walks and have mammoth sits in parks or driveways with their friends. They ride bikes and shop and smile and exude peace. It's really refreshing.

I may not have achieved enlightenment in Taiwan, but I did come to understand that we are citizens of a global community, with much to learn from one another. As travelers, we have the unique opportunity to visit our neighbors and gain insights we might never have attained if we had stayed home.