When recalling the fateful day of May 17th, 2025, at 2 am, I distinctly remember anxiously tapping my feet together while waiting for my Seattle to Taiwan flight to depart from the takeoff strip. I thought to myself, “This is it, it's finally happening! My dream of going to Taiwan after learning Chinese for over six years is about to happen”. I felt like a child on the night before Christmas; this was finally the beginning of my long but exciting Taiwan journey. In that moment, I had not realized all of the amazing things I was about to experience and the challenges I was going to face. The United States and Taiwan are vastly different; however, I was eager to learn, take challenges in stride, and learn from a new culture that may challenge some of my previous notions. This paper will explore those cultural differences and serve as my reflection during my two-month stay in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

The first and largest difference between Taiwan and America is human interaction in its most basic form. From an American perspective, Taiwan structurally appears to be more introverted and quiet compared to America. For example, it is highly frowned upon to be loud in any public area, most notably on public transit like buses, trains, the MRT, etc. I found that even when walking to class that I tend to speak loudly even if I do not intend to, since so many Taiwanese students speak so quietly around me. Compared to the United States, public spaces and public transportation are typically much louder, which encourages extroversion. For example, there have been many instances where I have taken a walk to the park and see people using music speakers while throwing a football, and people talking loudly to each other. In addition to public transportation, New York subways often contain people publicly taking calls, people shouting at each other, and sometimes people getting into fights on the subway, which all tend to be loud.

 

When comparing restaurant cultures, I have also found that Taiwanese restaurants are mainly designed to have as little interaction with the staff as possible. For example, restaurants typically have a “seat yourself” policy, a fill-out-yourself menu that you hand to the cashier after choosing what you want, then paying at the counter. If you have the LINE app, this process is typically even more streamlined and contains even less interaction since you can order and pay all online with just a few clicks. Either way, once you have ordered, your food arrives, and that is typically the extent of human interaction since they do not clear the food for you or refill your drinks for you. On the contrary, American restaurants will have a host who will check you in at a table, then your server engages in friendly conversation with you to build rapport while refilling drinks and continuously checking in with you to ensure that you are having a good experience. There are also certain restaurants in the US called “Sports Bars” where shouting and cheering are encouraged if a popular sports game is on TV, thus encouraging a more extroverted lifestyle.​​

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Another overarching cultural difference is the difference in waste disposal. For example, in Taiwan, I was originally shocked that there were no trash cans to be found on the streets, but remained miraculously clean despite the lack of trash cans. When asking a native Taiwanese college student about why there are no trash cans on the street, she replied that it was a person’s moral responsibility to take their own trash home instead of relying on public trash cans. She also had heard that trash cans were attempted in the 1980s and 1990s, but were eventually abandoned due to them typically overflowing. Additionally, due to strict recycling and trash laws, it is easier for people to hold onto their waste so that they can properly dispose of it in their own homes. On the contrary, American streets are typically littered despite having readily available trash cans. This may be explained due to more relaxed waste removal laws depending on the state, and less of a collective responsibility to hold onto trash if we cannot discard it easily.

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Another difference regarding waste management is that the Taiwanese trash trucks play music, whereas American ones do not. When I first heard the trash trucks, my first reaction was that Taiwan has a lot of ice cream trucks always roaming, but that could not be further from the truth. The real reason why the Taiwanese trash trucks play music is to alert residents and business owners that it is time to bring out their trash. As stated before, there are no trash cans or dumpsters in Taiwan. Therefore, the music assists people to bring the garbage directly to their trucks while also giving them a bit of a time buffer since they can hear the trash trucks from a far distance. In America, trash is often left outside once a week in one garbage and one recycling bin to be quietly picked up by the trash trucks. This contrast in how the trash trucks collect waste exposes Taiwan’s emphasis on active communal participation through the act of physically passing trash to someone else, accompanied by musical reminders.

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When coming to Taiwan, I tried to use my debit card once, but was shocked to find that most places do not use card transactions as payment. The differences in how to pay quickly became another difference I picked up while being in Taiwan. Typically, only certain restaurants and convenience stores will allow you to use a card. However, it is encouraged and mostly necessary to carry cash instead. The emphasis on the use of cash can be highlighted when attending the night markets in Taiwan, since none of them have card readers. However, in America, I use my debit or credit card almost everywhere and cannot recall the last time I have paid in American dollars for something. This difference has made me critically reflect on how different payment methods have shaped my everyday behavior. Back home, I didn’t think and just swiped my card when I needed something. However, in Taiwan, I have learned to budget my cash every day while also planning to collect coins for when I need to pay for laundry. While it is different, I have enjoyed handling cash more than using my card at home since it forced me to be more mindful of my spending.​​

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In conclusion, my time in Taiwan has been an amazing, eye-opening experience that has challenged many habits and assumptions that I have developed while growing up in the United States. From the subtle differences, such as speaking volume and fashion choices, to more structural differences like waste management, payment methods, and schooling, I have learned that differences in culture shape even the most minute details of life. Living in Taiwan has forced me to adapt and grow in ways a textbook could never teach me. Taiwan has taught me so many new cultural nuances, as well as to approach new environments with openness and humility. Returning home, I will remember this experience fondly and take home a greater respect for the different ways people can live, interact, and find meaning in life.