This article examines the experiences of (re)producing home food in the daily life and food practices of Belgian Taiwanese immigrant women. The research is based on ethnography-both online and offline-and qualitative semistructured interviews with seventeen Taiwanese immigrant women/housewives in Belgium. Participants' food practices involve buying, growing, making, and sharing food. Buying Taiwanese food ingredients presents a genuine challenge, as Chinese and Asian supermarkets in Belgium do not carry all Taiwanese food items. Consequently, many Taiwanese immigrant women and housewives in this study share similar experiences of growing specific foods in their home garden; moreover, by doing so, they also transform their gardens in their private homes into transnational social spaces, and thereby connect their previous lived experiences and homeland memories with their present living circumstances. Moreover, Taiwanese immigrant women like to prepare and cook food with their husband and children while imparting Taiwanese food and cultural values through personal stories. Furthermore, by organizing and regularly participating in activities involving sharing and eating food with other Taiwanese immigrant women, these foodsharing events and behaviors also become an important social networking strategy that allows them to make, expand, and cultivate friendships; in addition, food sharing activities also assist the participants to construct a collective social identity of being immigrant mothers/housewives in a foreign land. However, what is meant by "Taiwanese" food varies substantially between participants, as do the associated emotional and ethnic meanings. Several things were stated to account for the taste of Taiwanese food, such as using certain condiments or the Ta Tung rice cooker. Equally diverse is the personal attachment of ethnonational identity toward the notion of home food, as discussions of childhood memories, ethnonational identity negotiation, and cultural markers are accompanied by critical reflection on the social constructed nature of home/ethnic foods in the migration contexts.
In 2017, Taiwanese government started to implement New Southbound Policy. For this policy, strengthening the cultivation and exchange of skilled people, or “talent,” between Taiwan and the southbound countries (NSPC) is the most important purpose. Notably, current data revealed that students of NSPC are more likely to study abroad in Taiwan; moreover, previous studies have explored this phenomenon called as ‘Global South to Global North’, which means the experience of students from developing countries studying in developed countries. However, compared to students of NSPC, the number of Taiwanese students studying abroad in NSPC is relatively less. To our understanding, no studies have explored what the causes for the above are. Therefore, this is a pioneer study to explore the perspectives of the students from developed countries toward studying abroad in developing countries, so that we can understand what are the main factors which may be considered when Taiwanese students consider studying abroad to NSPC (except for Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand). The mixed methods design was adopted in this study. 147 Taiwanese students accepted the questionnaire survey, 8 Taiwanese students were interviewed. The results indicated that, the following three factors are mainly taken into consideration by Taiwanese students when considering studying abroad to NSPC: academic, economic, and personal factor. Moreover, the results also echoed with the perspective of rational choice theory, which means the above three factors will be considered by students rationally, thereby influencing their decision-making on studying abroad. Furthermore, three suggestions were proposed for promoting Taiwanese students to study abroad in new southbound countries: first, Taiwanese government could assist public to broaden their understanding of these countries; second, Taiwanese government could provide students more necessary information such as the prominent academic subjects and its development in these countries, thereby helping them make decision on studying abroad in NSPC. Third, Taiwanese government could create more working opportunities for these Taiwanese students who graduate from NSPC.
This study makes use of hybridity identity theory and the dynamic perspective of identity negotiation as a framework for exploring how pan-Chinese immigrant descendants in Belgium culturally and ethno-nationally identify themselves, how they negotiate with various ethno-national identity labels, and how they perceive differences between their immigrant parents’ heritage culture and the culture of Belgian host society. Ethnographic and qualitative research methods were employed to collect data from 2017 to 2019 at Sun Yat-sen heritage school in Brussels. Based on 200 hours of participant observation and 30 interviews conducted with immigrant descendants, the results indicate that cultural differences could be observed in participants’ familial and social life, including education, parenting, and lifestyle. Moreover, three vital dimensions whereby pan-Chinese immigrant descendants negotiate, perform, and situate their cultural and ethnic identity are food practices, popular cultural consumptions, and friendships. Notably, few participants identify themselves as either Chinese or Belgian; the majority espouses a dual identity and tends to place their identity “in-between” the pan-Chinese and Belgian ethnic affiliations. This study further finds that the descendants of Taiwanese immigrants find it difficult to settle their cultural and ethnic identity as they frequently struggle to establish a sense of belonging.
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