By: <Yu, Ching-Cheng>

“At first, it’s actually a little scary,” said Liao. When Liao first got to America, everything felt flesh. She felt like she was in a strange new place. She thought it was going to be hard to fit in. When she’s got a problem, she doesn’t need to worry because her parents will help her figure things out. However, when she’s here, they aren’t here to support her. Rosa Liao, 23 years old, an one-year exchange student of University of Oregon from Taiwan. She typically has to rely on herself now in Eugene, Oregon.

When Liao first starts to speak English, she isn’t very fluent, so sometimes she doesn’t know what’s being said. She thinks if she can handle things on her own, she doesn’t need to tell her parents because she really doesn’t want them to worry. She will rarely tell her family any bad news.

In the beginning, Liao really missed Taiwanese food. When she first got here, her stomach couldn’t handle the food. It is obvious the Chinese food that her family makes is totally different from American Chinese food and it doesn’t matter how similar it seems. It’s still different. Besides, she also missed the people in Taiwan because at that time it was hard to make new friends. When she looked at Facebook, she said, “Ah my friends had another party.” “Looking at them on a tiny screen just isn’t enough,” said Liao. When Liao’s friends are waking up as she is going to bed. She can never find a time that works. Therefore, she starts to feel lonely.

            When she first arrived U.S., she was kind of shy about making friends, and she couldn’t bring herself to talk to strangers. “Americans just think that oh you guys already have your own group,” said Liao, “we don’t need to include you.” When she’s back home, there’s always someone she can talk to. Now she’s alone, so she used to get really homesick. When she was feeling down, she’d think “why am I here? I should never have come to America,” said Liao.

            However, as time goes by, she gets used to it. She can figure things out on her own. Also, in fact, she can tell that most of local people are very easy going. It is easy to make friends with them. They are like older siblings and they look after her. She has made so many friends in America now.

After all, it isn’t easy to come to America and not everyone has this opportunity. “I chose the path and I have to keep pushing forward,” said Liao. After being in America so long, she definitely a different person. Things don’t scare her like they used do. People always ask her, “how did you become so American?” and “do you want to go back to Taiwan?” Liao answers that “I don’t know. Time will tell.”