Skip to main content

5/20

When traveling across the world to a new continent, there will inevitably be differences in culture. Some of the largest culture shocks I experienced on my first day in Taiwan revolved around the language and food. Although English is a lingua franca, there are still many street signs and labels that are only in Chinese. This creates barriers for non-Chinese speakers to navigate Taiwan. Furthermore, I found it hard to choose my meals when the labels were in Chinese, and there are many foods I am unfamiliar with. 

Furthermore, within our first few hours here, we saw some symbols resembling the Swastika. I was extremely shocked at why this symbol was displayed so frequently and publicly until Professor Young explained that it is actually a sign of peace in Buddhist culture, and the Nazis adopted it and distorted the symbol and its meaning.

Despite these few culture shocks, I have really enjoyed my time in Taiwan so far, and look forward to learning more and immersing myself in its rich culture. 

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.