What I learned from my time in Taiwan
When hearing “Taiwan,” people who have some awareness of the world will think of its focal role in US-China relations or computer chips. And if they don’t have much awareness they’ll confuse it with Thailand — yes, this has happened to me multiple times. But most simply do not know much about the island that was once known as “Ilha Formosa” —beautiful island — by Portuguese settlers in the sixteenth century. The colonizers knew what they were talking about. The media tells us about military activity in the South China Sea, fostering fear in most. Before I left for study abroad in Taipei, most people’s first reaction when I told them where I was going was, “Aren’t you concerned about China?” or “Isn’t this a risky time to go?
