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What Happened When I Met My Ex-Student in Taiwan

She became my teacher

By CarriePublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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What Happened When I Met My Ex-Student in Taiwan
Photo by Yeo Khee on Unsplash

In 2017, I started teaching English as a Second Language in Vietnam.

In 2018, I began teaching English online to children and adults around the world. I didn't think I'd still be here doing it nearly four years later.

In 2019, I was teaching adults on a platform that I won't name and became close to one of my students T (real identity preserved). We got chatting and connected on all things travel, music and life. She works in the music industry in Taiwan. In 2020, this connection took a turn that I never expected.

After about a year of tutoring, I quit teaching adults. I much prefer tutoring children. I found that teaching adults gave me great anxiety. As an excuse to take a little work break, I decided to travel around the Eastern side of the Asian continent, starting in January 2020. I was keen to visit South Korea, as the small community I lived in within Central Vietnam is hugely influenced by Korean culture. I also wanted to experience Japan.

I planned to visit South Korea and Japan before flying back to Vietnam to live for a month or longer (it turned out to be six months cut short by the pandemic). It's pretty easy for me to pick up teaching work in my old city in Vietnam, given that I've kept my teaching connections.

After I stopped teaching adults, I kept in contact with T. We frequently emailed, and I told her about my travels. "Why not come and see me in Taiwan?" she asked. "I can show you around my home city, Taipei."

Well, she needn't ask me twice. I quickly looked at flights from Hong Kong, where I was due to land direct from London. They were relatively cheap on the Hong Kong Express. "Yes, I'll come!" I excitedly emailed back.

I'd fly from London to Hong Kong and spend a couple of nights there, recovering from the jet lag I always succumb to. Then I'd fly to Taichung, a city located in the Central West of Taiwan.

I'm always up for experiencing more than one location in a country. And I really wanted to explore the area by bike. After a few days exploring Taichung and the outside area (which I'll write about soon!), I'd catch a high-speed train to Taipei. During the holiday season, of course. When the trains were overpriced and packed with families returning home. I never make things easy. I'm great at traveling places at the wrong time.

When I first landed in Taichung, I got a taxi to my hostel. The driver must have believed he was in formula one because the car whizzed down the highway at an eye-watering speed. I got out my camera and filmed it in case we had an accident. Braking was an afterthought. Luckily, because it was Chinese New Year, the streets were pretty empty. I caught glimpses of shuttered shops and empty walkways before the taxi halted outside my hostel.

I spent the next couple of days cycling around the empty city and the countryside, which I will write about soon. Then I caught the high-speed train to Taipei city.

T greeted me outside my hostel, and we spent the next two days exploring Taipei. She showed me:

  • Old Taipei
  • The Taipei 101 Tower
  • The famous parks (inc Songshan Creative Cultural Centre)
  • Eslite the famous, cool bookstore (hooked on their tea forever)
  • Shopping malls (Breeze Song Gao)
  • Indie shops
  • Underground shopping centers (that I'll probably never find again)
  • Taiwanese buffet
  • Taiwanese bubble tea
  • Taiwanese street food
  • Fruit sticks (can't remember the fruit)
  • Other sights I've since forgotten!

To say I was a fish out of the water was not even close.

Shop signs, restaurants, and train stations were mostly in Mandarin or Taiwanese Mandarin. I cannot speak or read Mandarin either. T became my teacher. She helped me plan things — like ordering food and drinks, buying items, sorting out my train to the airport, and getting cash out.

It was an odd sensation to have the role reversed. But one I'm ever so grateful for. She even lent me her umbrella to get back to my hostel when it was raining. She also invited me for dinner with her parents and sister.

Lastly, T walked me to the train station at eleven o'clock at night, to ensure I got the correct train on the correct platform and waved goodbye to me. It is the last time we spoke bar one email. I have been worried about her and her family since (due to the pandemic).

It was one of those unexpected adventures that made me fall in love with Taiwan and the Taiwanese people. I can't wait to return.

I would have never had this experience if I hadn't been a teacher. It makes me think about the time I turned down the chance to stay in a student's ancestral home in Hue, Central Vietnam. Or the time I didn't go to a large school event and visit some of my child students in China. I've regretted that ever since.

Now I have four days left in my current job, and I know that I'll never see them again. They will disappear into the void. If I've learned anything, it's to take that chance, take that leap of faith. Accept that invitation.

People can be wonderful — you never know where your adventures will lead!

travel
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About the Creator

Carrie

I write about instructional design, development and travel.

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