JSLALALAND

CITY & ITS PEOPLE

People who move back from LA to Taiwan come in about 5 kinds

I didn't cry leaving LA; I cried three months after landing back in Taiwan. Not about how Taiwan's different, but about the people who go back: the English-mixers, the substitute-hunters, the ones plotting a return, the ones who find Taiwan moved on, the ones finally home, and one kind who never really came back.

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

Key points

Full text

  1. Type 1 | The Code-Switcher, English in every sentence

    'Let me double check this one,' relearning zhuyin, getting stuck halfway through telling the driver your address. In LA you're the one with the accent in English; back in Taipei you're the one mixing English into your Chinese. You're not putting it on; your brain just hasn't finished switching over.

  2. Type 2 | Hunting for LA substitutes everywhere

    First week back, you search 'is there an Erewhon-type grocery store in Taipei,' and haul a whole suitcase of Trader Joe's. In LA you look for Taiwanese flavors, back in Taipei you look for LA ones; what you miss isn't the stuff, it's who you were back then.

  3. Type 3 | The Boomerang, ready to go back after three months

    Month one: night markets, street food, seeing a doctor is so easy; month two: it's too humid, too hot, too crowded; month three: opening Zillow 'just to look.' Some people go back to Taiwan to make sure they still want to leave.

  4. Type 4 | The Time Traveler, who finds Taiwan has changed

    Your favorite little eatery is now a boba shop, the MRT map has several new colors, and braised pork rice costs something different. The hardest part of going home is finding out home didn't stop and wait for you.

  5. Type 5 | The Homecomer, finally home

    The auntie on the corner remembers you don't want scallions, you can still go downstairs for a bowl of noodles at midnight, and calling home finally doesn't mean doing time-zone math. Some people go halfway around the world to find out what they wanted was right where they started.

  6. Hidden type | The one who can't let go of either

    You haven't given up the LA place ('just keeping it for now'), you got a Taiwan number but kept the US one, and in six months back you've booked three flights to LA. Congrats: you're now type 6 of Taiwanese in LA, the migrating bird.

  7. One question, six answers | Why did you come back?

    'The timing at home just worked out,' 'I missed Taiwanese food' (with a suitcase full of Trader Joe's), and the hidden answer: 'I didn't move back, I just switched sides.' Every answer is true.

  8. One question, six answers | What do you miss most about LA?

    Speaking English without getting teased, Erewhon smoothies, that ridiculously big sky, who you were back then, and… the dry air? Whichever one you miss says which type you are.

  9. For you, just back in Taiwan

    Don't rush to compare for the first three months; find a coffee shop that's 'yours'; bring back the LA habits of walking, going to bed early and thanking the cashier. It's not that you can't adjust to Taiwan; your heart just switched time zones.

  10. Leaving only takes once; coming home takes many times

    At the airport, you're smiling and saying 'see you in Taiwan'; three months back, one rainy night, you suddenly miss that dry blue sky, and that's when you cry.

  11. For you, still in LA and thinking it over

    Whichever side you end up choosing, none of these years were wasted. You'll carry both cities with you every day from here on.

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An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).