The thing I hope people understand about Taiwan is that it has friendly culture. Personally, I think most people in Taiwan are very friendly. Even though we are not very talkative, and we don’t express our ideas very directly, we are still very easy to be friends with. We have a unique culture too, and it is something that might be quite different from other countries. For example, Taiwanese people really like to invite friends to come to their home and eat food. They provide the food, and they share the food with you. Taiwanese people treat you like you are a part of their family at their home. We also make sounds when we eat. Making sounds means that we like the food, and we want more. My family does the same thing and we do not find it to be a problem. However, I have found that some foreigners do not like this custom. They feel uncomfortable when using a spoon to share food. They think that if they like the food, they will help themselves. They do not like people caring for them when it comes to eating. They do not like the sounds either. For example, one of my Costa Rican friends was having dinner with my family. She felt uncomfortable because my grandmother gave her many carrots. She does not like carrots and that is why she did not add it into her bowl. However, my grandmother thought that she might be shy, so she kept adding food into her bowl. I think it showed the cultures differences between my family and her family. It is important for all of us to be aware of these types of situations. I have learned some differences and we all must learn. That is why I hope more people can realize that our friendly culture does not want to make people offended. Everyone should be respectful to other cultures. Judging will not help. Only understanding will help.
There is another thing I would like to share here. Even though Taiwan has been told that it is a country that is mostly friendly towards white foreigners, I have something to say here. I think that Taiwan is a welcoming place for everyone to come, not just some people from some specific countries. For example, Taiwan is a country that not many countries recognize internationally. Because of the independent state that is arguing with mainland China, we cannot tell people we are a country directly. Because of that, our diplomacy worked very hard to let other countries know that Taiwan is a great country. For example, when I studied in Costa Rica, I realized that not many people could tell the differences between China and Taiwan. However, since Costa Rica once had a political friendship with Taiwan, Costa Rican kind of notice something between Taiwan and China. The best point to illustrate my point is that there is a bridge that is in Guanacaste. The name of this bridge is called “Taiwan Friendship Bridge”. This bridge was constructed in 2003 and it has a huge impact for people in Guanacaste. It was mostly Taiwanese people who went there to build the bridge and donate money for Costa Rica. Because of this bridge, Guanacaste became easier to connect to other provinces in Costa Rica. As a result, I think it is something that people should notice. Taiwan is friendly towards everyone and we embrace people from all nationalities.