My Fulbright Year in Taiwan

Many teachers and principals in the local schools have said that they want ETAs because they’re “energetic” 活潑. I really didn’t like hearing them say that, because although some Americans are energetic, not all of us are, of course. I was afraid that the schools were setting themselves up for disappointment. The ETAs had no idea what was expected of them, because Americans typically don’t know what the stereotypical American is in the eyes of the Taiwanese. The locals had this expectation of the ETAs, but the ETAs didn’t know what the expectation was.

The stereotypes that the Taiwanese hold about Americans is a challenge for me and the ETAs to overcome. There is a negative stereotype and infuriating prejudice that the Asian American ETAs have to endure here: that the color of their skin means that they are somehow not really Americans, and not really native speakers. I received phone calls from schools asking that they have a “real” American ETA placed in their school. They wanted a white person, and weren’t at all ashamed of coming right out and saying so. I had to choke back the response that I wanted to give them, namely that in the US, that is an illegal request, and that phone call puts the school in an actionable position. Taiwan has no such law, so it’s perfectly legal to discriminate against people to an extent that is blatantly wrong to us Americans.

Another prejudice that is less insulting, but that is just as unfair and problematic, is the belief that real Americans behave just as the Americans on TV and in the movies do. Hollywood has shaped the image that the rest of the world has of Americans. Think of how people behave on soap operas, prime time dramas, and action films. That’s the America that Taiwanese people see, so that’s how they think we all behave in real life.

Not that America receives an accurate view of Asia at the hands of Hollywood. Every time I see a movie that supposedly portrays China and the Chinese, I want to cringe.

We had a problem in one of the schools that stemmed from this misunderstanding. In the middle of a class, without warning, the local English teacher suddenly turned to here ETA, and asked her to lead the class in an activity. The ETA was stunned, because she hadn’t planned an activity, and had no idea that the LET would ask this of her. She wasn’t prepared to think up an activity on the spot. In the eyes of the LET, this was a reasonable request. After all, Americans in the movies are creative, spontaneous people who have lots of ideas and can pull them out of their minds at the drop of a hat. While there may be such people in the world, it sure isn’t fair to expect that all Americans can do that.  It was an awkward situation for everyone. The LET felt a bit indignant that the ETA couldn’t do what she expected Americans can do. The ETA was indignant that an unreasonable demand was placed on her.

I had to admonish the local teachers not to expect the unreasonable from the ETAs, and I think that it sunk in, but I still have a lot of educating to do. I’m going to earn my paycheck this year.