Going to Taiwan has definitely opened life up to many opportunities. At first, I thought “OH, Gosh! How am I going to fit in? How are my friends going to be? Where to next??” However, Taiwanese culture welcomed me with open arms. Even on the airplane journey there, Chinese culture drove its way into my life as my flight friend Wendy shared with me all types of wonderful tips. Actually, wonderful tips were available all the time.
Before this, I knew I was a very odd and eccentric individual. Afterwards, I still think the same thing it’s even stronger and more appreciated, which is the best part about it! Being a gay, 6’2 Middle Eastern man is not “ideal” while walking the tight bible belt equator that there is in Alabama. Now, however, I can say that I’ve taken on an entirely different sector of life, and embraced it. Even as a diverse community, Taichung was of course mostly Asian; although, the city has SUCCCHH a diverse community, it had a unified sense of the same concept, progression. Taichung can be so rural in spots but where it’s been constructed, it’s truly worked out. The people of the community are all out to deliver whatever vocational deed he or she might have. Everyone, the people I met at least, had a great balance of work and play. Such a great balance it is, I think I’ve been doing it slightly wrong for quite some years now. Personally, I thought I was scholarly inclined but after weaving in and out of Taiwanese friends’ demanding lives for an occasional lunch more than once, you start to think, “I need to do more with my life.” So, from the second day forward, I did. I enrolled in pole dancing classes; I enrolled in a local dance studio and went at least once a week; I joined the Chinese Medicine Club and Adventure Club, I filmed sufficient footage to make an informative film on the medicinal aspect of the culture; I experienced attractions, people, and food like no other; I developed relationships that will last a lifetime; I went up a level of comprehension in the Chinese language; I can say I woke up every day and gave it my all; I was here.
The passion and energy that Taiwan contains is now a model for my current demeanor. I’m now ready, with reinforced integrity, to live my life with a passion that anything is possible. Nothing at all I would change about this experience.