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I saw a video of Tony online recently and was really blown away by his Chinese. Afterwards, I really hope to have the chance to interview him and get to hear his story. Thankfully he had some free time to meet up at his gym for a chat.
Even though he’d already graduated high school, Tony came to Taiwan in 2010 as an exchange student with the Rotary Club. Since he thought he’d only be here for a year, he didn’t go to class much, and spent most of his time cruising around with his newly found Brazilian buddies.
After a year, he decided Taiwan was a decent place and decided to stay. His parents thought he was crazy because he hadn’t gone to college, have a job, know Chinese, or have any money saved up. Despite this, Tony got a scholarship to study at one of Taiwan’s best medical universities. Graduating was a challenge because he’d only been studying Chinese for a year and now was surrounded by Taiwan’s top 1% of students. However, by living in the dorms for two or three years, Tony was in an immersive environment and now speaks amazing Chinese.
During his fourth year, Tony’s grades dipped and he lost his scholarship. He had to stop studying for a while and take on work at a night club as a champagne boy and also as a male escort. However, Tony’s best client wasn’t a woman, but a Taiwanese-American gangster. According to Tony, most people that went to his escort bar were women with failed marriages. Thus, they were looking for an emotional connection that as a foreigner, Tony had trouble providing.
Eventually, Tony was able to graduate from college and is happy with his choice to stay in Taiwan. He enjoys a level of freedom here that he wouldn’t in the States. One, because he said his home town has little prospects, and two, when you are around family, their expectations constrict your choices. He said that Taiwanese people he meets also want to do their own thing, but say that traditional culture’s emphasis on filial piety prevents them from doing so. For Tony, that is the price of freedom, being willing to leave your comfort zone and loved ones.
Tony also got out of night life once he realized it was a never-ending spiral of drinking again and again. Now he’s happily married and runs a podcast with his Taiwanese wife. He plans on staying in Taiwan indefinitely because the States is dangerous and expensive.