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Taiwanese student finds a little bit of home in U.S By
Jessica Johnson Home is where you hang your hat. Logan is a place where many international students call home. Yen-Hsing Lee, 28, comes from the capital of Taiwan. He says it is noisy but convenient. You can get anything you want in a short time. Using his fingers to demonstrate on the table he makes ovals to describe the area of city. It has more than 3 million people in a 400 square-kilometer area. "In big cities, people are very cold," he said. "The people in Logan are very kind and polite and families seem to have a life of plenty. Americans are very rich." Lee was impressed with American children. He said, "They are cute, like a doll." Taipei had department stores comparable to the ones in New York City and San Francisco. An example of a Taiwanese department store is Sogo, with fifteen floors to shop in. Lee usually drove a car wherever he needed to go. He drives a Ford Taurus here, where he can do basic upkeep, like checking the oil, and changing light bulbs. He leaves the rest up to the experts. "Gas in Taiwan is sold for 60 cents a liter," he said. His parents both work in Taipei, his father is an electrical engineer and his mother teaches kindergarten. One grandfather was a farmer and the other a trainman. When given a quizzical look he demonstrated. "Train like dooo dooo," he said. He has gained his first job experience at Utah State as a dishwasher at Carousel Square in the Taggart Student Center. The reason he got the job is because he didn't have enough to do. "I got the job because my classes don't take up too much time, and I wanted some work experience in the United States," he said. His mother was disappointed when he decided to come to Utah. She said, "You can study for a year and you can come back if you don't want to study." He calls his family weekly, which costs him $10. He has only one year left for his bachelor's degree in business information systems. He would like to continue to get his master's degree, and get some work experience in the states to improve his English. Lee has two brothers, one older and one younger. The older brother is a mechanical engineer and the younger is a pharmacist in the military. He also left four dogs behind. He and his parents live in a townhouse that would resemble a home in San Francisco. "We have no yard in front of the house," he said. Lee has visited San Francisco three times while attending Utah State. As well as Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas, Yellowstone National Park, New Orleans, as well as New York. San Francisco was his favorite. "San Francisco has beautiful hills, and you can get great sea food there." He also enjoyed China Town. "China Town is very Hong Kongese. We have been separated for so long it has a different culture." He also celebrated Chinese New Year in San Francisco. He felt at home there. The reason he travels so much is because he wants to experience as much of the United States as possible. "The cities are big and well known." Lee said. Lee spoke no English when he arrived in the United States. He had to learn when he arrived. He had to take English in school, but he didn't study. He spends about three hours a day studying for school, mostly in front of a computer. Utah State wasn't always in the master plan. His friend, Johny Wu were attending St. Jones and St. Mary Institute of Technology Johny convinced Lee to come to Utah State. "The tuition is very cheap here and I always wanted to come to the United States," Lee said. Wu, his wife Tin-Ying, Maggie, and Lee live in Aggie Village and ride the shuttle up to school every day. Waiting for the shuttle isn't like waiting for a flight to arrive and depart in an airport. Lee has had to wait up to five hours in the Los Angeles airport. Sometimes it takes 24 hours for him just to fly home. He has done this three times. Luggage problems are common for Lee. He has never lost it, but sometimes the luggage doesn't come with him and catches up to him a couple days later when he has had to go the post office to pick it up. Lee is a member of the Taiwanese student association that has about 50 members. Lee only knows about 30 though. Last year they had a party with a drawing to win a VCR, a TV and movies. They only get together twice a year to celebrate the Moon Festival and Chinese New Year. The Moon festival is a mid-August Festival on the Chinese lunar calendar where they display lanterns from the past. Shopping for Chinese food is not a problem for Lee. He shops at the Lotus grocery and the Korean Grocery. Then he eats out at least once a week for Chinese. Hong Kong Buffet is the most authentic. "Royal Garden's buffet is Americanized and not as good," he said. His favorite American food is steak and seafood. "Taipei is near the ocean, we get fresh seafood all the time," he said. Lee is not shaken up about the terrorist attacks. He is saddened but has faith in the government. "Bush treats Taiwan very well," he said. "The United States is the strongest military." According to the China Post President Bush is negotiating a free trade area pact with Mainland China that will allow Taiwan to trade more freely with the United States. He shows no fear in the United States. Lee feels safer in the U.S. than in his own city. He won't let this attack stop him from doing what he wants to.
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