Wow! I can't believe my dream of coming to Taiwan has already come true and the minute I set foot into this country, the culture shock began to set in. As the limosine driver drove my mother and I from the Taoyuan International Airport to Holiday Inn East Taipei at 9pm, I could not help but peer at the hodgepodge of strange colors on buildings tightly meshed together, people walking all over the streets, and drivers trying to shove their way into lanes. Since it was nine o'clock at night, I could not see much of anything else but I knew I was in a different world. My heart skipped a beat as my mind incessantly whispered to me: "Nivie, where are you?". Given that I was busy trying to settle in, I did not stop to think how shocked I truly am being in a country I had never seen before but have dreamed of going to ever since I started studying Mandarin. In the three days I have been in Taiwan I have learned that culture shock is perfectly normal and everyone experiences them differently. I have also gathered some helpful tid bits for prospective travelers:
1) No matter how prepared you think you are, you will encounter a situation that you did not expect.
2) Knowing the local language goes a long way! Try to speak some of it even when you don't think the locals may understand you. Practice makes perfect and you always have to start somewhere.
3) Always try new things: new food, new clothes, new anything! Just be careful with not being ripped off (not every country has a fixed rate and you may need to bargain for a price) and if you get sick, know where to find a hospital!
4) Adjust and overcome: Traveling to another country brings barriers both psychological, administrative (documentation, id, passport etc.) , and physical. Traveling to another country may mean you have to give up the things you took for granted such as your daily routine, saying goodbyes, understanding that your relationships (with friends or boyfriends) may change, and knowing you will come back as a different person. What scares people most is not the changes that they encounter in the country they are going to but how things will change back home after they come back! It is normal to feel this way but you must keep this fact in mind and not obsess about it!
5) Unless you are going to an English speaking country, don't expect to find too many English-speakers: Emphasizing point#2...practice your language skills or get an interpreter to help!
6) Be prepared to learn new things about the country you are visiting and about you: Traveling to another country not only teaches us about the culture of the country visited but also about how we deal with constant change around us. It teaches us what our limitations are and what we excel at. It is an exciting experience but also a humbling one. Allow your travel experience to be a learning experience.
My 3-day experience has managed to teach me six important lessons and I plan on learning more. In the mean time, I shall entertain you with pictures of my visits to different places and pictures of meeting people I never expected to meet. They shall come soon on this blog! Until then, I will sign off!
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