My Background

The short answer is that I am half-Taiwanese, half-Vietnamese. The long answer is more complicated. My mom is from Taiwan and her family has lived on the island for as far back as she can remember. My dad is from Vietnam, but his dad (aka my grandpa) immigrated from China to Vietnam. So, ethnically, my dad is Chinese but his nationality is Vietnamese. My grandpa is from the Chinese province of Fujian, which is located close to Taiwan. This is the reason why my dad can understand some Taiwanese when my mom speaks it– his parents speak Fujian hua, the language spoken in Fujian, which sounds similar to Taiwanese due to the geographic location. The reason I tell people that I am half-Vietnamese, rather than Chinese is because I feel that my dad’s story with Vietnam and his escape from the communist country is a very important part of his identity, and therefore a very important part of who I am.

So… how many languages do I know?

Taiwanese was my first language (the first language I could speak) but English is my primary language (the language I use most). In all honesty, I can not speak Taiwanese anymore now. Although, I can still understand it when my mom speaks to me in it.

My parents talk to each other in Mandarin– it is their common language (besides English). I am more fluent in Mandarin Chinese than I am in Taiwanese. I can read a few (basic) characters, understand (almost) everything, and speak back (mostly). The reason I say “almost” and “mostly” is because I don’t practice speaking Mandarin. I have become so comfortable with English that I will automatically reply to my parents in English when they speak to me in Mandarin. I hope that one day soon I can change this mindset and become more comfortable with speaking, but I believe I won’t be able to make this change until I put myself in an environment where I am forced to learn.

My Story

Travel

My love for traveling was fueled by my family, who would take my sister and me to places like Paris and Taiwan where we had family. They also brought us to explore many of the US National Parks, from the towering mountains and pine forests in the Pacific Northwest corner to lands filled with red rocks and unique formations in the Southwest. I am lucky and grateful to be able to visit these places when I was younger.

When I started earning my own money from all sorts of odd jobs, I would save and spend most of it on experiences or travels. In the spring of 2019, I dedicated most of my savings to traveling during my semester abroad in Rome. It was here that I learned how to travel on a budget. I stayed in hostels, got out of my comfort zone, and explored many of the European countries.

After the semester abroad, life continued like normal in college, but I was always craving the next big adventure. During my last year of pharmacy school, I strategically picked rotational experiences that were in unique locations. I spent a month living on the Navajo reservation in Arizona and embarked on weekend hiking trips to Moab and Sedona. This was the year that I also embarked on two solo travel trips. The first was in Portugal, where I spent a month slow-traveling Lisbon and its surrounding regions. The second was a post-grad trip, where I traveled to South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan and fell in love with the places and the people that I met.

Photography

I have always had a knack for photography and an interest in capturing memories. Perhaps it’s because I’m scared that one day my memory will fail me and the pictures will help me remember. I became especially intrigued by photography in my high school years and I would take my friends on photoshoots every week, practicing my skills in portrait photography. On trips, I would practice my skills in landscape photography. There was a time when I played around with minimalist photography as well. Now it has become a way for me to remember the people in my life, the adventures I’ve gone on, and the places I don’t want to forget.