Today I'd really love to share my best experience in English, probably it's the first English article in my blog :) So, another chance to share Taiwan with my friends <3 <3
As I did the last Taiwan introduction in German, this time I asked the teacher if I could share something about Taiwan with my fellow friends, and to my surprise, Birgit immediately said yes!! Even though I had the same situation as last time, busy balancing schoolwork, traveling schedule and regular life, sharing Taiwan has always been my priority. In other words, it is the most important thing for me, one of my goals that I make great efforts to achieve while exchanging in Innsbruck.
This day has finally come, I put on makeup for the very first time in my life just for presenting. The weather was so great this morning, as if the world is wishing success for my presentation. I woke up early to prepare bubble milk tea. I knew it is probably the last few times for me to share Taiwan, so I left only a tiny bit of tapioca ingredients, and cooked the rest with full heart.
I remembered the other day when all Taiwanese friends were in Karl Kunst Student dorm, Bulat approached me and asked if there were any bubble milk tea. I'm really glad that this tiny thing creates such great attractiveness. I didn't expect foreigners to love it, but here in Europe 99% of people who I've met liked it!!
Back to my presentation, I did a small exercise about Taiwan in the beginning, asking if anyone knows this country, and how many of them knows more than the location of Taiwan. Only 4 out of 20 remained standing, and none of my classmates have been to Taiwan (obviously, it's not so popular yet, but I believe it will).
Then I did a quiz with Mentimeter, which is an idea inspired by Birgit, letting my classmates guess the population, brands and languages in Taiwan. Birgit also invited another teacher to listen to my presentation; I told her, the more people listening to my presentation, the more excited I would be! And that's true, I don't panic or feel anxious when sharing Taiwan, instead, I enjoy every moment shining Taiwan <3
I introduced about some common information of Taiwan, including the location, spoken and written languages, races, brands and so on. I also shared delicious food, Taiwanese people as well as the landscape of Taiwan. Owing to that it is Dragon Boat Festival on the next day, I also told the story behind this festival. Sharing always makes me exhilarated, and I also enjoy seeing everyone's concentrating expressions.
I find myself smiling and confident when sharing Taiwan with my friends, and this really brings me a great sense of achievement. I could shine Taiwan for nothing and I have endless passion for it; simply knowing that more and more people notice Taiwan is worth it :-) I knew I'm not as significant as a country's president, but I knew I have some NOT-SO-TINY influence, where I can share Taiwan to whichever friends I've met. Therefore, if there's a chance to get another opportunity to shine Taiwan, I would probably be overjoyed =)
Seeing my classmates enjoying bubble milk tea, everything became worth it. They not only concentrated on my presentation but also asked a lot of questions. I'm so lucky to have such great and interactive audiences. Couldn't love them more :-P And I have to say I'm also touched when Birgit offered to help me prepare milk, sugar and tea-brewing tools. What she did for me was so impressive and caring. I feel so loved to meet a teacher who is so open-minded and pours 100% efforts in her class! <3 <3
Q & A for today's shine Taiwan:
Q1: How cheap is living in Taiwan?
A1: You can eat out and be full for just 1.5 to 2 Euros per meal. Renting a flat costs a student around 200 to 250 Euros in the capital city.
Q2: How much does it cost to go to Taiwan from Europe?
A2: Personally, I spent around 870 Euros from Taiwan to Munich and back.
Q3: Do I need a Visa to enter Taiwan?
A3: According to the government, the followings are countries do not need a Visa but still can stay a duration of up to 90 days: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. , and Vatican City State. (Click HERE for more information)
Q4: What's the temperature like in Taiwan?
A4: In summer the average temperature is 28.5°c, while in winter it's 17°c in the north and 21°c in the south. -[info from HERE](It probably goes onto news when the temperature goes lower than 10°c in winter, some elders also get heart attack when temperature goes that low.)
--> The reason why I was asked this question was because European people couldn't ride motorcycles in winter due to heavy snow, so Andre was curious about the temperature in Taiwan (makes a lot of sense, huh!?)
Q5: Is there snow in Taiwan?
A5: There is in the winter in the mountains, but we've never seen snow in the plains.
--> It was a really exciting experience when I first seen snow in Innsbruck, you don't know how surprised I was when I first seen snow!
Q6: How many Taiwanese people understand English?
A6: I'd say 80%, but you have 90% opportunity to solve your problem when you turn to locals, because even though a person couldn't speak English, he or she will try their best to help you out, either by finding a person who understands English, or by general body language with the help of English dictionary!
Q7: How many University students are there in Taiwan?
A7: By 2014, the ratio is around 45% of residents aged between 25 and 64 (info from HERE)
Q8: Is there safety infrastructures for Mountain Jade?
A8: There are at least ropes to keep you from falling, so no worries! ( do remember that you need permission before you climb Mt. Jade!)
Q9: What is the unemployment rate in Taiwan?
A9: By April in 2017, it's 3.67%. (To tell the truth, I didn't noticed this statistics before, but thanks Matthias for helping me search for the numbers; also I found this is relatively low, since the ratio is around 5% in Austria and 20% in France.)
Q10: Is the issue between Taiwan and China serious?
A10: This is a very hard question to answer, but my answer would be yes. Although in the history Taiwan was once a part of China, but now we have our own government and president. Our sense of nationality is clear, but it's hard to not see "Taiwan (province of China)" in any kind of international form. It's a complicated issue that can take up 3 entire days to explain it. Therefore, if you're really interested in this issue you're welcomed to leave a message below or write me an email.
My classmates are really asking awesome questions, which also make me do some researches and understand more about my country :) Each time when I share something about Taiwan, I learn from the reactions and questions from the audiences. Today the audience showed great interests in going to Taiwan, and that makes me super delighted!
I knew I won't stop; I knew I'll continue on shining Taiwan.
"The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."--Steve Jobs
