Milan Pijnenburg shares his experiences and adventures as an exchange student at Dong Hwa University in Hualien, Taiwan. “Before I knew it I was dressed as a Truku warrior ready to marry the bride.”
Student life at Dong Hwa is not per se, the same as the ‘crazy student life’ people want to live in the Netherlands. Bar culture is almost non-existent, there and no cities in the near area, the main hobby of students consists of sleeping and maybe playing some sports in the evening. And most people stay in their dormitory during the weekend, or maybe visit their parents.
Buddha
That’s why I was expecting to read a lot of books, relax in nature and turn into somewhat of a Buddha. However, three long months have passed and I must admit that I have only read thirty pages, and that I am still all over the place. Reason being is all the different side-quests that came on my path.
First things first, being Dutch I got myself a bicycle to explore the rural areas. Actually, I am writing this blog now from a deserted shrine of the Japanese colonisers in an old tobacco processing village. The more remote you get, the more culture you will find. There are sixteen indigenous tribes in this country and in many small villages you will find indigenous community and ritual centres, statues, and even small churches. Here, their tribal culture is mixed with Christian rites and paintings.
Orange teeth
And whereas my own University is slightly dead, the elderly people in these towns do know how to enjoy life. Often times there is a bar that is no more than someone’s living room with a karaoke Jukebox, and some betelnuts (some sort of natural drug that makes your teeth orange). People here often invite you to their houses or buy you a drink immediately after exchanging three words in broken Chinese. And where most Taiwanese people are a bit more preserved, these people are usually quite outgoing, funny and especially savage (and very sweet). So, finding new local bars has become the equivalent of a Thursday night out in ‘Het Vliegende Paard’.
Truku warrior and bride
There was even the time where a game of basketball with a friend in her hometown turned into a dinner with her family. Her grandma turned out to make the traditional clothing of her village by hand, and before I knew it I was dressed as a Truku warrior (see photo on top) ready to marry the Truku bride. While she was dressed as the child, being the youngest person in the company…
Besides, there are some sixty student clubs you can join. From the tea ceremony club, to model trains, gun shooting and UK gang music. I decided to be Dutch and play some football. My team consists of players from Haiti to Myanmar to Eswatini and Papua New Guinea. We play on a grass field that has not been mowed for ages, in the centre of the athletics track. Nonetheless, sports is a big deal here, and our team is properly coached and trained. After all, if you win a tournament here, thousands of Euros will be awarded to the school.
Losing to a bunch of kids
As football is not very popular here, there are not many teams in this sparsely populated area to play. Thus, for most of our practise games we play the local high-school kids (who are champions of the country). After travelling over an hour, and waiting eighty minutes it was finally my time to shine. Being the only white, and by far the tallest person on the pitch, a lot of eyes were on me, being compared to Virgil van Dijk.
Then a cross came in the box….. I jump …. feel the ball bouncing off my head …. and GOAAAL!!! It was silent for a moment, followed by a lot of shouting and disbelief. The man who is double the height of his opponents just headed the ball in his own goal. Five minutes later the final whistle blew. We lost 2-1 to a bunch of kids. Coach was not happy, and I got chased by a hurdle of [smirking] kids. There was no third half that day.
Milan Pijnenburg is studying Global Project & Change Management at Windesheim
