Milan Pijnenburg shares his experiences and adventures as an exchange student at Dong Hwa University in Hualien, Taiwan.
In search for things to do in the surroundings of the university area, some more unusual experiences have found my path in Taiwan. I had set a goal for myself to try and find some (voluntary) work, so that I can blend a little better with the local culture. Luckily, my school had some contacts with the local archaeology museum of two towns next door, and to my surprise I was actually welcome as a foreigner to come help.
I got a very warm welcome from the manager, who handed me a bamboo broom and dustpan. Unfortunately, it immediately became clear to me that this broom was very much not made for tall Dutch people. And, even worse, the floor was already clear and spotless.
Tall guy brooming the floor
The area here has a very rich history, and the indigenous people from New Zealand (Maori), Hawaii, Madagascar and large parts of southeast Asia actually all originate from this Island. Nevertheless, when the visitors had the most precious historical artifacts right in front of them, they still seemed more interested in the tall guy brooming the floor. In fact, the kids from the school trips were so excited to meet a foreigner that their teachers had to forcefully send them away from talking to me so that they could actually finish their tour.
By the end of the day, I was prepared to tell my manager that I would not be returning to the museum as I got myself a free hernia for cleaning a total of 2.5 grams of dust.
Lost in translation?
However, it was at this moment that some of the people of the office upstairs had noticed me. They proposed to guide me around their office and the ‘behind the scenes’. It was right then, that I was showed this small, slightly dull but magical room. Here, in the centre was a large piece of boxed soil. The soil was special as a 2500 year old pottery grave was found in it.
To my surprise they asked, if I was maybe interested in helping them with the excavation a week later. At this point I thought we were just a little lost in translation, and that they meant something different. But before I knew it, after exchanging a few texts I was right there handling precious ancient materials.
An excellent mascot
Whereas in the museum, the archaeologists are portrayed as these badass Indiana Jones-like characters. However, in reality it was a freshly graduated girl together with two middle aged ladies who looked like they could just as well be the local street vendors. One of them was called Ing-Ing, and she was absolute savage. She kept telling me how I should style my beard next time and asking to sing her a song or have a duet. The excavation was done mainly with plastic tools from the local Chinese shop. But nonetheless, I was absolutely frightened to do any task in this environment where any small language barrier, or slip could become fatal.
Except for some minor mistakes, they were happy with my work that day, especially as I think they found me an excellent mascot, cracking jokes left right and centre, without much understanding of one others language. I was asked to come back a few times, and though I did not contribute that much in terms of skills, it was perhaps the most memorable learning experience of my whole student life.
