Filled with expectations, I arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei. A middle-aged Taiwanese woman with an aura like someone from Kansai held a paper with my name written on it and stood waiting.

I had felt uneasy about coming to Taiwan alone. However, such feelings were assuaged by the woman’s friendly smile. I introduced myself and she took me to the dormitory. To be honest, the sight of the dormitory made me shudder.

The dormitory where I would spend the next one month was located on the furthest outskirts of town. Moreover, it stood at the top of what seemed to be a small mountain.

The room was sparsely furnished with only a bed and desk. It looked like a prison to me. However, as the proverb “home is where you hang your hat” says, people can adapt to any environment. I was sure that I would adapt to my new living environment after 3 days or so.

While thinking so, I headed to the communal toilet. At that moment, what was scurrying across the floor was the extremely hardy insect that no one wants to see in their living room—a cockroach!

“I can’t live here!” I said to myself. However, my time in Taiwan would move on regardless. I would be here for a month. Harboring feelings of uneasiness, I decided to go to bed.

I was so overcome with uneasiness that I felt like I would suffocate. I actually had trouble swallowing food. Even so, I became accustomed to the dormitory and university. I made friends. A few days later, I was fully enjoying my life in Taiwan.

One thing I learned in Taiwan is the spirit of coexistence. It seems that cockroaches are present all throughout the city. Although they have a somewhat disgusting appearance, cockroaches are living creatures just like me. Watching their stealthy movements, I imagined that cockroaches are shy and even found them somewhat cute. Although I could never consider such an insect as a friend, I decided to coexist with them as a fellow living creature. I forced myself to consider this enlightenment towards coexistence as one fruit of my foreign study.

Prince Jin

The university I attended in Taiwan was quite interesting. All of the friends who I made at university were unique individuals. Their friendship made for a very lively month. One of my friends from class was a boy named Jin. Coming from Taiwan, Jin had the appearance of a prince.

In actuality, Jin was quite wealthy. During his month in Taiwan, he stayed at a luxury hotel. Indeed, he may have really been a prince.

In Taiwan, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on August 13th. In Taiwan, women present chocolate to men. Men can also give chocolate to women. Jin gave chocolate to all 12 girls in our class. Such generosity was typical of the prince. The chocolate I got from Jin was really delicious. In some strange twist of fate, Jin, who never ate chocolate, got a cavity a few days later.

A lonely-looking Jin left class early in order to visit the dentist. From that day onward, Jin constantly grumbled that his tooth hurt, even during class. I sat in front of Jin and heard him complaining. I became worried and was unable to concentrate on class.

Jin’s gleaming white smile was charming and appealing. I hope that his tooth no longer hurts.

Another acquaintance of mine was Danie, an Israeli student who I met at the university library. Danie was 17 years old. It is hard for me to express in words how surprised I was when we first met. My Chinese-language abilities were behind other students in our class, so I went to the library every day after class and studied hard. About a week passed and the only thing that I could say was shye-shye (“thank you” in Chinese). I felt the urgent need to improve and constantly had my face in the textbook.

Danie the Magician

“Let me show you some magic,” said the boy sitting next to me while I was studying. I had never seen the boy before. It was Danie. My mind was filled with the Chinese language and I feverishly tried to envision the Chinese characters to decipher what Danie was saying. Seeing my confusion, Danie pulled a pack of card from his pocket.

I finally understood that Danie was talking about magic—but I could not understand why? Why was this boy going to perform magic in the library? Maybe performing magic was a way of greeting people in his country? In any case, I decided to remain quiet and watch. Danie showed me magnificent magic which easily surpassed my imagination. Was it an illusion? No, it was more like clairvoyance or ESP. I will not write about what Danie did. It would seem like a lie if I were to put it into writing. This unusual encounter with Danie made him a particularly memorable part of my experiences while studying abroad.

Danie was more than just a magician to me. We enjoyed each other’s company, becoming friends and often eating lunch together. Sometimes, he would perform a terrific illusion for me.

At some point, the time would come for us to part and return to our native countries. “I’m going home this Saturday,” said Danie to me on a Wednesday. There was almost no time left for us to meet. I felt very sad, but I dislike gloomy farewells. “Really?” I said with a smile. “Thanks for showing me such good magic.”

I wondered what Danie would do after returning to Israel. When I casually asked him, I was shocked by his answer.

Danie made the gesture of shooting a gun. Perhaps thinking that I could not understand his Chinese (Danie spoke Chinese much better than me), he said the English word military. Danie was going to serve in the military. Why hadn’t I noticed this earlier? Danie was 17 years old. In Israel, all men must serve for 3 years upon turning 18. Although I had heard about this sometime before, I had never thought about military service when Danie told me that he was from Israel or when he told me his age. Such a thought never occurred to me in my warm and comfortable life.

I felt as if someone had grabbed my heart. I was unable to speak for a while. Even once I tried to speak, I was unable to express myself due to my poor English and Chinese. This was the type of moment for which words existed. Why couldn’t I speak? I felt so frustrated.

“Even if I could speak English or Chinese, I probably still couldn’t say anything,” I thought. I could do nothing but silently eat the beef bowl which I held in my hands. When I was finally able to speak, I simply told Danie in Chinese to be careful. He thanked me with his ever-present smile.

The following day, classes were cancelled due to a typhoon. I overslept on Friday and was unable to meet Danie again. However, he promised that he would show me magic again, so I am looking forward to that day. I shudder to think about the force of his magic if he improved his skill even more. I am sure that he could easily perform some unthinkable feat such as moving a distant planet. It is frightful to think that I am not exaggerating in the least.

Thanks to the interesting friends that I made, I spent a very fulfilling month studying in Taiwan.

For people who are considering going to Taiwan, I would warn them that insidious cockroaches are plentiful and that you must never drink the water. Not even a sip.

Steamed buns are delicious when dipped in a sauce which is 3 parts vinegar to 1 part soy sauce.

As long as you remember what I have listed above, you are sure to have an enjoyable time traveling or studying in Taiwan. Unfortunately, since I spent my time in Taiwan together with my friend from Kansai, I became more proficient in the Kansai dialect than in Chinese!

See you next time.

Chinese Culture University

As part of the JTB Short-Term Chinese Language Foreign Study Plan, the author studied Chinese at Chinese Culture University in Taipei City for 26 days from July 26th to August 25th, 2013.