Written by Beatrix Damashek (Kalamazoo College), Student Correspondent for CET Taiwan, Fall 2023
Thoughts Before Arriving in Taiwan
I was so anxious about living with strangers across the US and connecting with my local Taiwanese roommate. For context, I have studied Mandarin for one year and haven’t lived in college dorms since my freshman year of college. On the plane ride from Chicago to Taiwan, I thought, “What if I cannot express my needs in Mandarin to my roommate? How much English and Mandarin are we expected to speak? Are we sharing a room together? Are they going to help me find our new apartment? What are their habits like?”
Luckily, a few days before arrival, we were put into a group chat with our new roommates. I quickly learned I would be the first of my peers to arrive in Taiwan (at 4 am), which meant I would be the first of my housemates tasked with finding the exact location of our apartment.
Arriving in Taiwan
I was greeted by CET staff and handed my keys, university ID, and cash/instructions for taking a local taxi. I was paired with another student in the taxi since we had different but close drop-off points. Leaving the Taoyuan airport and watching the sun rise over the mountains was a truly magical experience— especially after flying for 16 hours in the dark.
With my taxi-mate, we admired the lush green landscape of Taiwan’s mountains as we drove towards Taipei and exchanged a few words in Mandarin. There is a stereotype in China/Taiwan of taxi drivers hearing 白人 (white people) speak Mandarin— often, they fire off in rapid questions, “你說中文嗎？啊！你說中文不錯！ 你覺得…(Do you speak Mandarin? Your Mandarin is not bad! Do you think…)” which is exactly what happened to me and my taxi-mate. We were both intimidated to speak Mandarin after enduring a 16-hour flight— so we simultaneously responded to our driver with, “— 點! (A little!) Luckily, he did not overload us with a ton of questions.
After driving through the mountains for 40 minutes, our driver took an exit into Taipei. Looking out the window, I was wide-eyed at all the Mandarin signs and noticed that every street corner had a 7/11 or a Family Mart. Before I knew it, my driver dropped me off at the intersection of my street and drove off. Now, I was faced with the challenge of figuring out which of my keys three keys would open what door, as the door to get into the main building of my apartment was unclear.
Photo of my neighborhood, I love the lush green landscape.
The street was quiet, lined wall-to-wall with scooters and bikes. I expected to see people walking around getting ready to work (as it was 6 am), but I was the only person on the street that morning. After sticking my keys in random doors along my street, I finally opened one heavy metal door which led me into the entryway of my apartment.
Finding my Apartment
My next challenge was figuring out what apartment I lived in because the doors are not labeled with apartment numbers, and there were two apartment doors on each floor. My keys said my apartment was on the third floor, so I went up three flights of stairs only to realize that my keys were not working. After messaging the staff, I learned that I did live on the third floor— as the entryway counts as the first floor (we count this level as the “ground” floor in the US, so I technically live on the 2nd floor in US standards)— I eventually fit my key in the right lock.
Opening the door to my apartment, I was shocked. I mentally imagined living in a house similar to a dorm, but the apartment was so much nicer than I expected. Our house has four bedrooms (two double rooms, two single rooms), and I was worried about sharing a bedroom with someone, but I was (thankfully) placed in a single room. Each room has a unique layout with bedding, desk, chairs, towels, house slippers, and storage—and I was pleasantly surprised by how spacious our living room, dining room, and bathrooms are! Although I wanted to immediately go to sleep after my 20+ hours of traveling, I had to stay awake for the next 12 hours to adjust to the time change (as I was 12 hours ahead of my city’s time).
Meeting my Roommates
As the day went on, I greeted my new roommates outside our apartment and helped them bring their luggage upstairs. In my house, we have five Americans from various locations in the US and one local Taiwanese roommate. Our local Taiwanese roommate texted us that he wouldn’t arrive until 8 pm that day (and most of the Americans had moved in by 5 pm)— so we were curious about his language level, his interest in participating in CET’s local living exchange, etc. Our local roommate texted us beforehand, warning us that his English was “not that good,” but upon having a conversation, we learned he spoke perfectly fine! We ended our first night at a house eating Passion fruit and talking about where we’re from and our language experience. I also learned my first Taiwanese greeting, “你食飽未 lí chia̍h pá bōe/bē– Have you eaten?”
As the week passed, our house went out to eat together almost every night. In our district, you cannot walk more than two steps without finding a place to eat, which makes decision paralysis so real. Often, our house will walk past restaurants and sit down at the ones we find most visually appealing. We’ve tried 臭豆腐 (Stinky tofu)，牛肉面 (Beef noodle soup)， 飯糰 (Rice burrito with various fillings)，雞排 (Chicken steak). Even if you feel food fatigue from eating Taiwanese food, we’ve found American, Israeli, Japanese, Italian, and French food on our street! Every meal we’ve had, we learn more about each other’s humor, language experience, and individual experiences in the US/outside the US.
The entrance to the night market in my neighborhood (left) and a selfie with my housemates! We live very close to Taipei 101 (right).
One night, we spent several hours explaining American slang (specifically Gen-Z online language) to our local roommate and going back and forth of explaining it in Mandarin and English. Another night, we played mahjong for a few hours and only played in Mandarin. This weekend, we plan to make our comfort foods from the US (I plan on making Latkes or Mac and Cheese) and have a house potluck. A week ago, I could not have imagined the dynamics of my house or the routines each of us would have— but I am pleasantly surprised by how much fun I have taking the bus to school with my housemates every day or enjoying each other company as we study for our classes. The reality of living with local roommates from Taiwan and other American students is that you may find yourself having too much fun and accidentally stay up past midnight talking about funny stories or exchanging stories.