Adam CP # 4

Today I met with my conversation partner from Taiwan, Yen Yin Chen. He was very happy and enthusiastic in conversation. We walked over to the Sweet Shop where I ordered a cup of coffee and he ordered a milkshake. We held a conversation about the differences between the American and Taiwanese education system. For example, I learned that in Taiwan students wishing to enter middle or high school must take a very competitive entrance exam. Taiwanese students also must take an entrance exam to get into university. Unlike the SAT, it is the only factor that is used in determining student admissions to good universities in Taiwan. We also discussed the differences between simplified and traditional Chinese characters. Yen Yin Chen said that he had little difficulty reading simplified Chinese characters, but that people in the PRC had difficulty reading traditional characters (the latter is the writing system used in Taiwan - this led to a discussion about Chinese history and how Mao simplified the way Chinese characters were written, which Yen Yin Chen said he thought was a poorly thought out decision). We also talked about different brands of computers, which led to a discussion about FoxConn and their working conditions. Yen Yin  Chen said that FoxConn was actually based in Taiwan and that he had heard about their working conditions directly from their employees. I thought this was very interesting as this was an issue I had only really encountered secondhand through the news. This led to Yen Yin Chen talking about how in Asian countries (including Taiwan) working hours were also generally longer than working hours in the United States. We also ended up discussing stereotypes of different parts of the United States. For example, we discussed stereotypes of people from the southern United States as well as stereotypes of people from the northeast, and I explained why those stereotypes exist. In general, we had a lively and interesting conversation that covered a variety of topics. Before we parted ways, we agreed to meet again, and Yen Yin Chen said that he would like to invite me to dinner with his friends on Sunday evening.