Embarking on a journey from Taiwan to the United States, Galileo Chinese teacher Hsiaowen Hong faced the challenge of adapting to a new culture in a foreign country, having to gradually learn the English language and adapt her teaching methods to the diverse education landscape of America. Her experience highlights the transformative journey of acclimating to a new culture.
Growing up In Taiwan, Ms. Hong’s life was deeply rooted in her native culture and community. She experienced a more homogenous and uniform society with an education system that was tailored to the Taiwanese population. The community was tight-knit with residential areas being cramped and cluttered, so every neighbor was recognizable and generally supportive of one another because of the close proximity.
“Traditionally, Taiwan has a family focus like you take care of your family. It influence me a lot, and my family was open but I liked teaching and followed family job of teaching.”
Tradition, honor, and family was also a big part of her life in Taiwan. In Taiwan, becoming an educator is seen as a reputable profession and seen as one of the most important ways to contribute to society. Ms. Hong also mentioned that her ancestors were all formerly teachers, so it was natural for her to follow in the footsteps of her family trade.
Upon immigrating to the United States, Ms. Hong faced the daunting task of acclimating to a foreign culture, grappling with a new language, and navigating unfamiliar aspects of daily life. According to Ms. Hong, compared to Taiwan, America focused more on individualism compared to Taiwan where collectivism and strong ties to the community were more of the focus.
Ms. Hong resided at the UC Berkeley Village during her early years in the Bay Area, as it was prearranged by her husband, who at the time was a student at UC Berkeley pursuing his Ph.D. in Art History. U.C Village was offered at a relatively low cost for Bay Area standards, and she worked as a stay-at-home mother, with expenses being taken care of by a U.C scholarship in return for her husband teaching Art History classes.
In the housing community, she found it similar to Taiwan in some ways, with small apartments and close neighborhoods. Everybody would know their neighbors after a given amount of time because of the close proximity of each apartment room. This comforted her a little, along with the fact that many of the UC Village residents were also quite often from foreign countries, and she would often study English with them to navigate through the language barrier issue.
After a few months, she developed a solid grasp of the English language as she and her husband learned together, as well as reading elementary-level stories to her child. When it was time for her child to attend elementary school, Ms. Hong found time to do different things in America.
“I lived in Taiwan for most of my life, coming here was new and foreign, but now that I have lived in California for more than a decade, I have come to appreciate and enjoy all the diversity here, especially all the people, food, and music.”
One of the things she pursued was finding a way to earn extra income for the family. Ms. Hong would host private lessons or tutor students eager to learn the Chinese language. Besides this side job, she would also work towards earning her teaching credentials.
When she wasn’t working, Ms. Hong would also take the time whenever to document the scenery of California in her notebook. She used this notebook to document all her trips, from countries all around the world. She wrote and recorded about the charm of California from its mix of cultures to its art and greenery.
Wanting a more permanent job, Ms. Hong decided to apply for open positions after obtaining her teacher credentials. The school just had an opening and Ms. Hong saw an SFUSD announcement for the open position. She applied, went through an interview, and got the role as a Chinese teacher at Galileo High, coming in the middle of the fall semester in 2023 to replace Mr. Bee, who left the school to attend to emergency family matters.
Ms. Hong said, “I was nervous when I first started teaching in what was a new environment in the middle of the semester, but I am much more comfortable now and enjoy teaching at Galileo High School.”
