Example: Student F
(R: Researcher, F: Student F)
R: I’ll ask you some questions about your adaptation process and some activities you have attended in Taiwan. First of all, I would like to gather some basic information.
Where do you come from?
F: I come from Malawi.
R: When did you come to Taiwan?
F: Last year (2007), I remembered we came on the 27th of August. I arrived in Taiwan on Sunday.
R: So you even remembered the date.
F: Yeah. Because we slept and we woke up the other day was Monday.
R: Is this your first time here?
F: Yes, it’s my first time here and my first time to be in Asia.
R: May I ask you, when were your born?
F: 1981.
R: In the first part, I’ll ask you some questions about your life in Taiwan. You’re here about 8 months already. Do you remember what did you feel when you first arrived in Taiwan?
F: The first thing when I was at the airport, when I got out, I thought there was steam from the factory’s chimney. Because inside the airport it’s cold but when I went out it’s really hot. But then I ask my neighbor, they said “No, it’s the weather. It’s hot.” I said,”Wow, it’s hot outside.”
R: So actually there was no factory outside but it’s the weather that’s hot.
F: Yeah! It’s like that in the air port there’s air condition. But the moment when I got out, the differences is so huge. And the air is polluted immediately. It has bad smell.
R: So your first impression of Taiwan is the weather.
F: Yeah.
R: In Malawi, the weather isn’t so hot?
F: At times, in summer the weather is hot. But the difference is that our air is not polluted. And we normally have air breath. We have mountains and we have lakes,
we don’t have the ocean or the sea. We’re almost flat, of course there is certain part where high land is, but the air flows through whole country. Unlike Taipei, it’s a basin so the air doesn’t blow. If it is 24 degrees here, I feel like 28. But at home, we also have 24 degrees, but the heat is different.
R: So the 24 degrees here is different from you home.
F: Yeah. Like the day before yesterday it was also 24 degrees. Although there is no sun shine, but the heat is so much.
R: So the first impression of Taiwan is the weather. Any other feelings when you first arrived?
F: Like the first morning in the school, they told us there was fish sandwich. The sandwich I know it, but the fish……ah……
R: You mean tuna fish?
F: Yeah, tuna sandwich. Maybe it’s because of the preparation is different or the cook.
It’s a different taste than what I know about fish sandwich.
R: So you can still remember that the first day you walk out of the airport and found the weather is different. The second day you woke up, the food that fish sandwich is very different. Besides the weather and food, did you feel excited about everything or did you feel worried or any other feelings?
F: The day I knew I’ll come here I felt excited because you’re going to a new place for study. You get excited because having master is another achievement. In home, if you have a master degree and you are women and you have more advantages. I was excited. When I came here, I knew that it’s going to be differences. Maybe I don’t know lots about Taiwan. The night before we came, we had the dinner with some Taiwanese embassy people. So there were some foods. But the foods that we had are different from the food here. Now my conclusion is that the food there was in Malawi, so it’s a little bit different. I was excited when I came. I think, OK, I’m going to have orientation that is held by ICDF. But because I was tired and I didn’t sleep enough and I had jet lag. So even we were not moving I kept being confusing. So many times, I don’t know how to read Chinese, I only know 謝謝.
R: How do you know 謝謝?
F: Because the night before we came, the embassy people taught us how to say 謝謝 and 你好. So we only know that before we came. They did not tell us much. They only told us about the night market. And we’re looking forward to visit the night
market.
R: So at first you feel is excited then you find different things like the weather and the food. Did you feel comfortable or adapted in Taiwan when you arrived?
F: When I arrived, I think umm…I need to adapt in little time. Chopsticks, it’s difficult. Now I’ve already struggle with the food, and I have to struggle with the method of eating. It’s really hard and it’s hard for me to select food. Because the only seafood I eat is fish. And here they eat a lot of pork and I don’t eat pork. I don’t eat duck. For food, it’s kind of problem. I didn’t know what is contained with in this and that. So somehow, I’m resisting the food because most of foods are already mixed up.
R: So what did you do about food problem?
F: If I go to a restaurant, I have to ask this, this, this. And most of the restaurants, they will understand. Like no pork, no seafood, no duck. Most of the time, I’ll eat the chicken food. Because I’m not used to the food, I remembered within the first two weeks, somebody told me “Esther, are you eating?” And the second time she told me, “You have lose weight.”
R: So food is quite a challenge for you.
H: Yeah.
R: Besides food problem, any other things you feel hard to adapt?
H: Another thing I think was the language problem. It was really hard. If we’re in the school, we want to get some information and the information normally came in Chinese. For example, we went to health check up, and they just tell you this is saying that and that is saying that. But maybe it’s because of the translator. And you wonder, how come all these Chinese is so much and just translate to a small sentence. So we just have to trust people what ever they tell us. You go for check up, register; everything is in Chinese and you nee somebody to help you.
R: So who help you though this process?
F: There are a lot of people helped. I remembered Richard, Austin did this and some other girls in our class.
R: So your classmates helped you a lot.
F: Yeah. They are very helpful and they are still helpful. When you ask them, they help. Maybe the problem is time so you have to find someone who is free and you’re free at the same time. But they’re willing to help.
R: So the language is also a problem in school because most things are in Chinese.
Besides asking your classmates to help, how do you solve this problem? For example if your classmates are not available or when you’re outside of school what do you do?
F: You just find somebody who knows how to speak English and Chinese. Like if I’m at the dorm, there’re two restaurants. One of them has menu and every time I goes there, the lady has to find somebody to tell me the menu. And they offer different food everyday so they have to explain what is this and what is that. But like most of the school websites, sometimes you find that the English version that you cannot get in. But when you go browse the Chinese website, the information are there but you don’t know what it means. You just discover something and you click back to the English version, but the information doesn’t come. Even the grade comes in Chinese. So the only thing you can read is the number. This I got 92 and that I got…but you don’t know which subject. When you go to the site, you have to ask someone what does this subject and you have to remember what this is. But you know it’s my grades, you have to ask others.
R: So in the school, not only when talking to people is a language problem but the website is also a language problem.
F: Yeah, a lot. Sometimes if you don’t have any helper, you just leave it. You’re missing opportunities because you can’t understand the language.
R: Besides the food and language problems, are there any other things that you’re not used to?
F: The living condition in the dorm…Where I come from, when I was an undergraduate student, we used to sleep two-two in the room. And for master program, it’s always one. So my thinking is that most people who go to UK or USA, they will tell you that master program they sleep at one bedroom. When I came here I’m like “What?!” Not only that, you have to climb up to the bed. And a lot of rules, a lot of rules. You have to do this, you have to do that……I remembered that I got dorm mates and they put up the rules in Chinese. And we didn’t know what it meant. And they think that we should be silent and this and that…But the surprising thing is that when we talk, they tell us we’re making noises. But later at night, they talk! And now, who makes the noise? Everybody is making noises. They would call up a meeting and just to remind us that we should not make noise, should not do this, should not so that…And they put up the rules in Chinese that we couldn’t read. And some of them just come and said that rule
has changed; now we should not do this and that…Who has changed the rules?
Because the time that rules have been made that we were all together, and we made the rules together. And now we have to change but who has changed the rules? And for whom we changed? Because they know we don’t understand the language, and they go behind our back and talk and discuss and making rules for us and expected that we just changed like that.
R: In the dorm, who is in the charge of the rules? Who set up or organize the meeting?
F: I think my roommate is the coordinator because every time she is the one who says there a meeting or the member of that room said we should have a meeting or we’re going to have a meeting. It’s good to have a meeting but you didn’t come to ask us. You should ask us when we are free. Sometimes they just tell us that we have agreed on this or that, or telling you that you should do this or that. But you did not come to ask us and just makes the rules. And the most surprising thing is that they make the rules and they are the first one to break it. And when we break it, then they come back say that we should have a meeting.
R: So the communication about living in the dorm is not the same in your own country. Not only how many people in a room, but also the rules. And the communication process is quite different.
F: Quite different. They don’t come to you but they always talk behind you. Back home, when we have a meeting, you put up a notice on the bulletin board and then people will come on that day. We should find our representative and each floor will have representatives. So if that floor has issues, you go to the floor representative and she goes to the hostel president. We don’t call it dorm but we call it hostel. So when the rules of the hostel are coming, they come through the agreement of all students. And when you have issues, you go and talk. You don’t do behind. If you do something behind, nobody would agree. They would think that you do things behind my back and I have the right.
R: So the communication way is not the same and maybe the language is also a problem.
F: I don’t really think the language is the problem. Because like the coordinator in my dorm, there’re people who teach Chinese as a second language, and these people mostly and also they learn English so suppose they have to communicate with people who don’t speak Chinese. If they don’t know English, how do they communicate? So they must know English and Chinese. The leader, she has
English books and she reads and she writes. So it means she understands. Maybe she is shy, maybe she doesn’t want to talk or something like that.
R: So living condition is also quite a problem for you.
F: Quite different in many ways. They tell us that we’re supposed to clean the toilet. I said, “What?! Why should I clean the toilet?” Can’t you hire somebody to clean it?
Because I don’t think we pay our money and we should do it. I don’t think we have time to do that. Because like in our university, from the teaching area to the boarding area, we have people who do the work.
R: So it’s different here.
F: Yeah. And even for study room, we have to take our trash away. The tuition, when we pay tuition, it covers everything. And when you go to school, you know my objective function is to get my degree here, not to sweep. We talked to our professor, and afterwards they have someone to clean here.
R: So in several different aspects that you feel hard to adapt or surprised.
F: Yeah. Like in the dorm, the other thing is that the rules are in Chinese and they are not interpreted into English. But it is an international school. So of course they have some courses in English, why can’t they interpret the rules into English? The only thing is that they tell you that “no, no, you can’t be outside by this time. The rule doesn’t allow.” Oh, I’m a graduate student; please I know what I’m doing. At here, you have to be pushed that don’t do this, don’t do that. Why do they have to push us to do this? This is not right for me. When you have independent for quite a time, and somebody just sets a lot of laws, I’m so suppressed.
R: What do you do with this situation?
F: Now, I decided to live my life and be happy. The thing is that I don’t make noise and I go shower and do this and that. But if I want to talk, I have to talk. But when we just come, no, no, you can’t play the radio; you can’t do this and that. We couldn’t play music and we have to be quiet, really quiet. And for me, I thought, I’m losing the interest in people. Because there are very few people you talk to, and then they told you to keep quiet. The moment when you walk into the dorm you have to be quiet. And the life becomes boring. Like my case, I’m used to talk with people. But I just feel like my spirit is going down. Even now, when I’m in class, sometimes I don’t feel like talking. I can sit there for three hours and don’t talk.
R: Originally, you’re not like that.
F: I’m not like that. If my professor came and find that I don’t talk in three hours class, he’ll ask “What happened to you?”, because at home I’m very active in class.
Even in the dorm, with my roommate, with friends, we talk and we chat. At the dorm, there are times you have to be quiet. But there are times you are allowed to talk and you can play music and you can do this and that. And that release our tension. But going to the library is quiet, going to the dorm you’re quiet……You just so oppressed inside. So you lose interest to talk because every time you have to shut up.
R: So now you choose the strategy that ……
F: I’ll talk. I tried to obey the rules. But the people who set the rules they don’t obey them. Why should they talk and talk and I keep quiet? So I talk, if they feel like I’m making noise, they should be brave and confront me. If they don’t confront me, they have to contain with it because I contain with their noise. I don’t tell them they’re making noise because I just wait for my chance. When my chance come, when I feel like talking, I’ll talk and we chat.
R: So at first you try to obey and try to act as the rule says. Now you choose to be yourself again.
F: Yeah, because the rule is not working. If you set the rules, all of us have to obey.
But you set the rules and instead you break the rules. That doesn’t work.
R: Besides the things you’ve mentioned, how about other things? Like traffic or…
F: Traffic is too much! At home, of course, traffic is there. But at times like peak hour, there is a lot of traffic but no scooter. Here, motor bicycle, scooter, vehicles, buses.
At home, no scooter, a lot of mini buses, cars, trucks. But they are running different time. Here, every hour, every minute.
R: So many kinds of vehicles running on the road here and always very busy.
F: Yeah. I think it because the land is small and a lot of people especially Taipei.
Taipei is over crowded.
R: Is it easy for you to go around? Can you use like buses or MRT?
F: MRT that is another hard thing for me because I have to go to church on Saturday.
Wow, where is MRT? OK, they tell me I have to take MRT and I have the map.
We went to the MRT and I have to look for where we are going. We have to get on the train. But which train is blue line? At home we don’t have MRT. The train we have is for long distance. So within the city we don’t have the MRT and a lot of people use cars. In the main city, we don’t have MRT running like here. So I had
no exposed to MRT. What does blue line mean? So you look the side of train, but it’s gray. So where am I going? I look at the map but I don’t know the direction.
But now I know how the MRT operate, I think if I go to some place, maybe like
But now I know how the MRT operate, I think if I go to some place, maybe like