It's not what you think
I grew up in a Catholic family, not a terribly serious one. My father was a regular church goer. My mother was hit-or-miss, more often miss than hit. I had religious education classes and was confirmed. In high school I attended church religiously. I also prayed nightly – confessing my sins and counting my blessings.
I was a pretty good Catholic! Maybe that was why I started to doubt my religion. There were a lot of people in church, and I was a teenager. I felt like I was judged by some of the fellow church goers. Few and far between, but I lead a more honest and Catholic life than almost everyone I knew. But the feeling in Church, the atmosphere, it led me to some doubts. No one’s perfect all the time, but it often felt like people let that be an excuse. It wasn’t the last straw, but it was a start.
Then I went to college – Boston University (BU). What a great place! I found myself studying mechanical engineering and meeting people from all over the world: Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, China, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Massachusetts. It was great to explore other cultures. I loved learning about different lifestyles (did you know its common practice for German men to pee sitting down – not just common practice, but good manners!). Now, fully removed from my Church, I began to think more and more about flying independent. I continued to pray, although probably not every night. I didn’t feel like I needed to hear the moral lectures and the stories anymore. I didn’t feel the need to profess my faith or go to Church. I found myself more interested in culture.
I began exploring Japanese culture. I had studied Karate and the ideas of discipline and martial arts were really attractive. I talked with my Japanese friends more and more. By studying culture I thought I could figure what parts of the way we live are cultural and learned, and which parts are more naturally human. Comparing and contrasting how different cultures perceive different things and express the same emotions is a great way to get started.
As I dove more into cultural study I found myself farther and farther away from the Church. Then, I thought about history more than before and found myself upset. The idea that when the savior came to Earth, came to us, he came to one spot. Okay, in the Middle East. At that time a central location, but, the most advanced civilization was China. Couldn’t more people have been saved; couldn’t the word have been spread faster and farther? Certain people were chosen to receive salvation? Others were damned, despite ignorance. That’s not cool. The forgiving and understanding God, a father figure, he would not select only a few of his children for salvation. Especially not when he’s omnipotent and all powerful. He could easily spread the world to all civilizations.
A serious lapse in faith.
Not reason to denounce God, or the chance of a higher power. But reason for me to leave my Church (it’s easy when you’re Catholic; we have a great policy on forgiveness). Is there a god? I don’t know, but I’m comfortable not knowing. At this point in my life I asked myself: “What do I really know?” Seriously, ask yourself, “What do I really know?” Now anything that’s second hand experience – you don’t actually know (ever seen Jim Carrey inThe Truman Show?). The only things you can be sure of are first hand experiences. Do a little research; I encourage you to look up the Rashomon effect. Soon you’ll realize that you can’t even trust your own first-hand experiences. There’s a bias. Fortunately, once you’re aware of a bias, you can take corrective measures and get a good estimation on the truth. There’s always a degree of uncertainty (I’m a big critic), But some things are more certainty than others. Knowing this I began my venture – my quest for knowledge, for truth that I could be sure of based on my own experiences.
Suddenly foreign cultures were more than interesting: they were a way to learn about myself. What things: actions, behaviors, even thoughts and feelings – how much is taught through culture? How much is natural? Language is a key part of culture; to study the culture you’ve got to study the language and vice versa (blogged on this).
So, why Taiwan?
Well, I was initially steered in the direction of Japan, even started practicing with Pimsleurs Japanese. Then I met a Chinese girl from Taiwan studying at BU. After a while I decided to change to Chinese, her parents couldn’t speak English and if I were to travel internationally it seemed like I’d go to Taiwan with her before I went to Japan. I also made a promise to myself to not change languages again, and to continue studying Chinese until it was good. Regardless of my personal life, I was committed to the language.
After graduation (BSME Class of 2009) my Chinese was not fluent. Job hunting, well I blogged about that. It was time for me to move to Taiwan or China and continue studying. The best opportunity came in Fengyuan City, Taichung County, Taiwan.
Now my original goal remains very much the same. But another goal has come up. I’m not here studying the language and culture just for self realization anymore; I’m doing it to build a career. My goal is to combine my technical strengths and knowledge with the cultural expertise I’m developing: to serve as the technical expert on Asia – specifically Taiwan and China. It’s early now, but so far so good.
