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Updated Tuesday, January 10, 2012 11:58 am TWN, By Vanessa Sheu

'Flexible' Taipei charms recent college grad

My name is Vanessa Sheu. I am a recent college graduate with a love of language and literature. My mother was born in Taipei City, and my father was born in the rural township of Mailiao; both emigrated to the U.S., where I was born. I grew up speaking elementary Mandarin Chinese while being more or less illiterate in that language (despite the best efforts of the local Chinese school to condition me otherwise). After completing studies in Spanish and English Literature, I enrolled for a semester in the Mandarin Training Program of National Taiwan Normal Univerity. I lived for three months in the Beitou District of Taipei.

Throughout my childhood I spent summers in Taiwan. Every time I visit, I am always impressed by Taipei's flexibility for a densely populated urban center and its capacity for development. During my most recent experience, I was charmed by the city's ever-evolving transportation system. Attending classes in Guting and tutoring at Zhongxiao Dunhua meant that my academic life was dependent on the Metro. Add in my ventures to Wufenpu for shopping or Liuzhangli for KTV, and one can say that my social life was also at the mercy of the MRT. Buses were another convenient and inexpensive means of transportation. In districts where perhaps historical design predates zoning, these modes of transit are an efficient alternative to navigating crowded streets.

There are some aspects of Taiwanese culture that I am quite unused to. Seeing students attend cram schools and practice with tutors until late evening and on the weekends convinces me that a young person's life here must be unbearably hectic. It seems that several students with whom I've discussed cram schools generally express that it makes them more exhausted and less productive. Another aspect is the tradition of placing greater importance on men than women; I've encountered those from the older generation, especially from rural areas, who bequeath their inheritances to a male descendent over a female one. Yet most members of the younger generation I've spoken with believe in gender equality. Lastly, I've been surprised by the polarization of the political sphere, perhaps because it was not something I noticed when I was younger. Nonetheless, the excellence of the NTNU program, the devotion of the teachers, the community of foreign-born Taiwanese classmates, as well as the special hybrid nature of Taiwan, have made me determined to return again.

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'Flexible' Taipei charms recent college grad

Vanessa Sheu

Nationality: U.S.A.

Occupation: Student

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