The Truth About Why I Moved to Taiwan

Have you ever been a little (or a lot) curious about what’s out there? What else can the world offer you?

When you step out of your house to go to work or school and take a look around at your surroundings, have you ever thought to yourself, ”That’s it? Is that all there is for me?”

I have. It first came to me in high school, and frankly, I will always have that question in my pocket.

You see, I’ve always wanted to explore, to see what’s out there in the world, and have first-hand experience learning new things. But the thought of living abroad hadn’t crossed my mind at that time.

Little did I know, the thought that I had back then would actually lead me to a new life—one that has been blessing me continuously ever since.

Toward the end of 2014, as I was just starting to prep to enter the college scene, I came across an unexpected opportunity that would be my ticket to move to a foreign country. I presented this option to my parents without hesitation (unlike the other times I asked them permission to hang out with my friends). To my surprise (well...not really), they were elated that I wanted to move to Taiwan.

One thing that they were most excited about was the fact that I might actually learn the Chinese language if I moved to Taiwan. Truth be told before that conversation happened, I wasn’t keen on studying Chinese, let alone considered relocating to a Chinese-speaking country.

Being a Chinese-descent in Indonesia, my parents had always encouraged me to study Chinese so that we could stay in touch with our ancestry and not forget our traditions. Or at least that’s the argument my mother used to sign me up for an after-school Chinese course.

After years of seeing how reluctant I was, my parents finally let me quit the after-school course when I was in middle school. But even then, they were still determined to converse in Chinese at home. Every now and then, they refused to respond to me when I didn’t speak to them in Chinese.

Right now, I can say that I’m grateful for their persistent effort. I mean, who would’ve thought that I was actually going to be living in Taiwan?

In addition to the appeal of living away from home and having the opportunity to live up to my dreams, the cost of moving and pursuing a higher degree in Taiwan is quite similar (if not cheaper) compared to Indonesia. My parents and I did all the calculations and comparisons from tuition fees, health insurance, housing to living expenses. Added with the perks of living and learning Chinese first-hand amongst the locals, moving to another country outweighed staying.

What justified my decision further was a story that my mother shared with me about her youth and my late grandfather. I’ve heard some of her stories from when she was in Taiwan. But, what I didn’t know was that she did it for her father. Turned out, studying abroad in Taiwan was one of his dreams that was unfortunately unfulfilled. He was hoping that, since he didn’t get the chance to, at least one of his children could experience it.

Another unfortunate event, however, interfered with their plan and forced my mother to return to Indonesia before she could finish her studies. My mother moved to Taiwan when she was 18. She spent a couple of years there, and despite her brief stay, she made heaps of great memories. Hence the full-throttle encouragement to my proposal.

Hearing that story made me even more determined to move. I supposed (and secretly hoped) that I could feel more connected to my grandfather if I went to Taiwan.

In a way, it felt more like Taiwan chose me and not the other way around.

If you asked me back then whether I had any reservations about moving, the answer was a hard no.

Was I worried that I wouldn’t be able to thrive or fit in or even as simple as communicate? Definitely. But I worried about that later.

After all the necessary paperwork was filed and sent, the next order of business was getting familiar with the language.

Sure, I took Chinese lessons in elementary school. But honestly, I had forgotten ninety percent of it (not to mention it was also Simplified Chinese, and I had to rewire my brain for learning Traditional Chinese). So I started an intensive course in January 2015 and took it until a few days before I had to leave for Taiwan. That course was where I first learned how to write my Chinese name, ever.

Yup, for 18 years, I did not know how to write my Chinese name. And worse, I didn’t know what my full Chinese name was until I had to learn to write it.

Believe it or not, learning Traditional Chinese wasn’t even the hardest part that I had to overcome at that point. It was actually packing.

I was struggling to choose what to put in my suitcase. I was going to leave in June and I already started packing one month prior. I kept asking myself ”How much of my old chapters should I pack with me?” or “Do I even want to bring my “old self” to my new life there?” For someone who’s moving to another country at 18, the possibilities were endless and it scared me in the best ways possible. So, another question that floated in my mind was whether I could and should “re-invent” myself once I got to Taiwan. (Spoiler alert: I did not re-invent myself. I simply became “more me”.)

Obviously, saying goodbye to my family and friends was also difficult. Moving away would mean, I’d miss a lot of family events and wouldn’t be able to take care of them if they needed me. But I’ve realized early on that in order to stride forward, some things ought to be left behind.

I’ve been asked by many—fellow Indonesians, foreigners in Taiwan, and local Taiwanese people—as to why I chose to move to Taiwan. At the very least, almost every time my answer was only “I came here to study.” But you know, it’s not as simple as it seemed.

There was a yearning for exploring outside of my then social bubble, and an aspiration to connect with the cultural heritage that my family has been trying to preserve.