Over Thanksgiving weekend, NSLI-Y organized a cohort-wide overnight trip to Yilan, a county in northeastern Taiwan. When I called my family back in DC before Thanksgiving dinner, I joked that the trip was conveniently scheduled to overlap with the American holiday so as to distract all of us from the impending homesickness that seems to accompany yearly traditions.
Well, the trip was wonderful! And my Chinese teacher challenged my classmates and me to take document the trip and interview Yilan locals, urging us to practice our Chinese in a new environment. I’ll let the video do the talking.
I must say, though I was certainly apprehensive at times to walk up to strangers and attempt to strike up conversation, the assignment taught me two things:
- Taiwanese people are extremely friendly. This we already knew, but you can see in the interviews that many of the people I spoke with were enthusiastic to discuss their personal stories and passions. Though quite a few people denied my request for an interview, they all did so politely, and the 50% success rate taught me…
- I now possess sufficient Chinese proficiency to continue conversation on a wide range of topics! I have the confidence to approach strangers now, and I can break the ice by commenting on cool clothing choices (我很喜欢你的毛衣!你在哪里买的?) and the weather (今天的天气冷得不得了), or asking more insightful questions about career choices and Taiwanese politics. What’s the worst that can happen? Gesticulating and circumnavigating words I don’t know how to say are my two best friends.