I met Phoebe through Fiona.
Phoebe's Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/phoebeism
Phoebe grew up in the UK in an ethnically mixed family. Her step mom and siblings are Japanese. Therefore, when Phoebe told her family she wanted to move to Asia at age 18, they were supportive and understanding. However, no one imagined that she would leave home for a total of 8 years. Phoebe said that she could live in Taiwan for so long was the Japanese influence that made her feel nostalgic for her childhood. However, when she first moved her, Phoebe often felt lonely and isolated being a foreigner without any other foreign friends. This forced her to learn Chinese and make local friends. One of her friends owned a cafe, and she spent her days there hanging out and chatting with the customers. Since Phoebe never learned Chinese in a formal setting, she said that her accent is quite good, but her vocabulary is still quite limited. Despite this, she was able to make lots of local friends and integrate herself into Taiwanese life. She also dated a Taiwanese man, and lived with his family for a period of time. During her first stay in Taiwan, she supported herself by modeling. Phoebe feels like the beauty standards in Taiwan are quite rigid. People here place a high importance on being thin, and often comment on her pale skin, pronounced nose, and blonde hair. Even though people directly comment about her appearance which sometimes makes her uncomfortable, Phoebe thinks the pros of being a foreigner in Taiwan outweigh the cons. She finds it interesting that people think moving to Asia at 18 was brave because Phoebe thinks moving back here at age 33 was much harder. Back then, she had nothing to lose. On the other hand, she had to give up a comfortable place, lots of friends, and a good job to move back to Taiwan this time. However, Phoebe thinks that living in Taiwan presents opportunities that are harder to achieve in London. For instance, Phoebe said that London attracts the very best people in the world. This is good if you like being challenged and improving quickly, but makes it much harder to succeed. Thanks to Taiwan being a small market, she finds it more possible to network with people that can support her creative pursuits. In the future, she wants to explore ways of sharing her experience online.