Life of an INTJ
Eric Kao
Washington University in St. Louis
B.S. in Business Administration '12
Primary Major: Accounting
Second Major: Marketing
Minor: Applied Microeconomics
Resume (Updated 03/23/12)
Contact: ekao91(at)gmail(dot)com
Mission: To share my thoughts and finds with the world
My Taiwanese name is 高新明. Sometimes I'd like to think it means I'm bringing about a better tomorrow.
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Boba in California is better. (Taken with instagram)
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I cackled. A lot.
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WOW FANTASTIC BABY.
I would recommend that you read this series in order, but each piece should be relatively self-contained.
Part I (History) | Part III (The Game of Politics…) | Part IV (What Now?)
So here’s me. Born in Michigan, lived in Maryland, Kansas, Missouri, and Massachusetts. I visit Taiwan every couple years or so. In the United States, I’m Asian. In Taiwan, I’m American. Neither is wrong, but neither is completely correct either. I’ve only recently started to realize that being “Taiwanese American” is actually very different than being “Taiwanese”.
While I am pan-green, I don’t hate people who are pan-blue. Some of my really good friends are KMT supporters.
Sure, I get frustrated if they flaunt it without really knowing what they are supporting - who wouldn’t? In response to attacks on the former leader of the DPP: Even if corruption accusations are true, one person does not represent the entire party - the entire movement - the entire nation that existed on the island before the KMT arrived. But that’s not the point.
Taiwanese Americans are now this new group of people in the United States who have the potential (supplemental response here) to do something big, and really make an impact on the world. I grew up surrounded by the Taiwanese organizations that my parents heavily participated in - but those organizations were “Taiwanese”. I then went on to TAF, and this is where I really developed my identity. The Taiwanese American community really welcomed me with open arms, and I thrived there because I think that’s where I actually fit in.
I’m not Taiwanese nor American in the traditional senses. I’m actually not sure I can call myself a “benshengren”, even if my family is. I think that “taimeiren” (Taiwanese American) is more appropriate. A key assumption in the phrase “taimeiren” is that the people using it are specifically identifying with Taiwan. If that assumption can hold, then I hope the phrase catches on, because then as taimeiren, we can transcend blue/green politics.
As always, Questions?
