My mom grew up in a quite conventional family in Taiwan. Gender inequality, supreme parental authority, and cherry on top, the marital law Taiwan was experiencing at that time and lifted when she was 28 years old.

 

After the bachelor graduation, she determined to go to Spain despite the fact that her dad was full-on against it. There were a couple of times that the relatives would try to persuade her not to go due to her dad’s request. As the fierce woman she is, she did all the research, got herself enrolled at Universidad de Salamanca, booked the flights, and asked her dad to pay. Just like that! Reluctantly, her dad paid for the expenses under one condition: that she has to finish the studies yes or yes. And a bit of background story, girls in the family at that time are usually not supported for education.

 

She finally arrived in Spain, started the courses, and realised it was so much harder than she imagined. Her classmates were all Spanish who already knew much sophisticated Spanish than her and there were quite some times she felt she wanted to quit. Heck, there were some Christmas holidays that she couldn’t go back home cuz she had to prepare for exams. A side story to get a glimpse of how strict her parents are, she still had curfew when she was back home during the summers. Her dad did not give her the keys of the house so that if she stayed out late she would have to ring the bell, woke half the city up, and dealt with her dad’s long face. Quite an passive-aggressive way of controlling your kids, isn’t it? Anyway, after 6 years of ups and downs, she finished the studies and return to Taiwan.

 

She started to work in a university as a Spanish teacher and had me. After 5 years of working, she decided to get a Phd. Married with a 1 year-old kid, she took me to Spain with her since my dad’s working conditions couldn’t allow him to take care of a baby at that time. So I always remember my childhood in Spain with either her students or friends taking care of me in the mornings as she had classes or working on the thesis. When I turned 7, we went back to TW so I can start the primary education back home. Until she finished her Phd, we travelled back and forth between TW and  Spain twice a year. Up till now and even occasionally more the 2 times a year.

 

Submitted by Paula Chang

Edited by Paula Chang