Made in Taiwan 01

Some people might think it's a bit old fashioned keeping a journal, and to be honest, as the years have passed I’ve kind of lost interest, finding myself writing in it less and less, but looking back now, I'm glad I wrote down my experiences as these words are the only real link I have to who I used to be.

Not many people know my story and the few people I have told, never truly believed me, thinking it to be more fiction than fact, but every word I'm about to tell you is true, it really happened, this is my story.

So, where to begin, I guess I’ll start with my name, Grant Gale, or at least it used to be, nobody ever calls me that anymore.

Back before all the craziness started, I used to think my life was pretty boring, just a typical guy living in the city of Chester, northwest England. You see, from an early age, my life had been all mapped out for me, but looking back now, I realise that was probably not such a bad thing, and if truth be told, I’d probably do just about anything to turn back the clock and go back to it.

After finishing school at eighteen, I had my heart set on going to university but my overbearing and controlling father, William Gale, had other ideas. Having spent his entire life building up a reasonably successful business, I was destined to learn the ropes and eventually take over after he retired.

The problem was, knowing this from a young age had left me soft and lazy, never really putting much effort into my school work, I just scraped by with minimal effort, after all, what did it really matter?

Three years after leaving school, I was battling depression, every morning I would wake up and just go through the motions, wishing away the days and living for the weekend. Every day was a dull mundane affair, I guess, the family faucet business just didn’t really get my juices flowing. But things changed around mid-May of that year when just after lunch on a typical day, bored out of my mind, my father called me into his office where he had something important to discuss with me.

Taiwan, where the hell is that? I remember saying, stunned after he’d explained his proposal. He wanted me to spend a year out there, an island off the coast of China, learning Mandarin Chinese in the hope that it would open up doors and future avenues for the business.

I listened silently as he went on to explain that Taiwan was responsible for manufacturing the vast majority of all the faucets sold around the world, your bathroom tap, kitchen sink, all of them were most likely made in Taiwan, he announced in his arrogant tone. He wanted to get in on the action, cut costs and maximise profits.

It took a moment for the idea to sink in but then it hit me, it was my way out, well for a year at least. It would be a year of adventure, meeting new people, discovering a part of the world I never even knew existed, and best of all, not having to listen to the old man drone on about taps all day long.

I jumped at the chance and two months later I found myself, after a small farewell party to say goodbye to my friends, at Manchester airport marching through the departure gate, having just waved goodbye to my teary-eyed mother. In my mind, freedom and adventure lay ahead, not knowing at the time that the next time I stepped foot on English soil, I would be a completely different person, a person that not even my overemotional mother would recognise.

I guess you could say I made some pretty poor decisions in the months ahead, letting my life get away from me. But I’m probably getting too far ahead of myself again, to really understand what happened to me, we have to back to the beginning, back to where it all started.

Day one

Dragging my small suitcase out of the cool airconditioned terminal building at Taizhong international airport, a waft of sticky hot humid air hit me like a bucket of water. It was the end of July, and the weather was nothing like I’d ever experienced before.

Looking around to get my bearings, my head felt groggy as I struggled to work out what time it was. It was seven o’clock in the morning but having taken a sixteen-hour flight with a short stop off in Dubai and also adding in the fact that Taiwan was eight hours ahead of the UK, time had lost all meaning.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I located a taxi and somehow after explaining to the driver who spoke very little English that I wanted to go into Taipei city centre, I jumped in and was off ready to begin my new life.

I remember dosing in and out of consciousness as the taxi sped down the highway on its forty five minute journey into the city, the fascinating mountainous scenery occasionally snapping me back awake as I drank it all in.

Awoken abruptly by the driver nudging me, I slowly opened my eyes to see that the rugged rural scenery had changed drastically. I was now in the middle of a concrete jungle, tall buildings stood all around me as people scurried about on either side of the car. Taking out a 1000NT note, I paid the driver and received no change but too tired to argue, I retrieved my suitcase from the back of the car and once again ventured out to be assaulted by the humid sticky climate.

After wandering around for a few minutes, shocked by all the sounds and smells of the completely alien culture, I stumbled upon my hotel and checked in with little issue.

The place was nothing to write home about, a small room with a window that looked out onto the wall of the adjacent building, but it was cheap and at least had air conditioning. It would do for a few days until I found somewhere more permanent to live but finding somewhere to live was the last thing on my mind at that moment, I needed to sleep! Almost falling onto the bed, I was out for the count before my head even hit the pillow.

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It took me a few moments to get my bearings after finally waking up and after locating my phone, I found it to be five-thirty in the evening. Stumbling to the bathroom to empty my bladder, I felt my stomach rumble and realising I hadn’t eaten in over 24 hours, I made the decision to venture out to explore my new surroundings and get something to eat.

After brushing my teeth, splashing some water on my face, and changing into a more weather appropriate outfit, the reality of my situation finally hit me. I was on the other side of the world where I didn’t speak the language or know a single person. I remember feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement thinking about lay waiting for me once I ventured out of my pokey little hotel room and into the sprawling city beyond.

What actually awaited me was sensory overload, cars and motorcycles whizzing past on a busy two-lane road, honking their horns, and revving their engines. On either side below of the road, beneath the grey overcast sky, I looked up to see a row of tall grey buildings covered in Chinese writing, full of what I guessed to be shops and restaurants, a stark contrast to the old stone buildings of Chester.

Joining the stampede of pedestrians rushing along the pavement, full of optimism and anticipation, I set off in a random direction, ready to explore and experience all that the city had to offer.

I knew the next year was definitely going to be eventful, I just didn’t know at the time, quite how much it would change my life forever.

(See image 01)