Putting the world in my art, and showing my art to the world.

This is another essay for international scholarship
I'm suppose to state how studying internationally would change my art/goals and experience

Putting the world in my art, and showing my art to the world.

John Keats once said "Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced", I have read many things about Taiwan while I studied in England, but nothing could compare to the first time I set foot outside Taoyuan airport and felt the warm humid air, surrounded by people who looked just like me yet so different from what I've ever seen.

I lived an odd life, My family travels a lot, I grew up in mainly three countries: England, Taiwan and China. For me no place was ever really home yet in a way home was anywhere I went. I felt like I was studying internationally all the time, learning about local habits, why people behaved in certain ways and the stories behind idioms and sayings.

I find the most joy in blending into a new culture/society. It's the minor differences that shows you've become a local, during my stay in Taiwan I've learned that instead of saying "seven-eleven" for convenient stores you just say "seven", I became able to catch the tempo of scanning metro cards as I head out of the MRT and finally I discovered that little tweak in accents and started using it myself. Also another thing I've gained from living/studying abroad is understanding and tolerance, I am able to stand in other people's shoes, and a lot of times it humbles me and I learn how to respect and appreciate.

This year my family moved to china. It blows my mind how two places that share the same language can be so different, I've quickly learned how to read simplified chinese, learned new words for bus, taxi and trash can and realized how China did not turn out to be how it was portrayed in Taiwan. Yet during my stay I am also reminded about the importance of opening one's mind and to see the world. The people here don't know much about what's going outside, for that exact reason, they don't think, they merely accept what is given to them and it's understandable because they are not given different choices or view points.

Studying internationally allows me to experience new languages meet new people, listen to their life stories, it makes my art more believable and easier to connect. I have tried to draw a dancer before, but I was not very successful at it. It was until I started learning ballet that I finally noticed the lines of the human body, how it feels when a string is pulling your head, how you can move different parts of the body and finally how in ballet you always have to "turn out". The same goes with the arts and other cultures, you have to live in it, experience it in order to reflect it better, wether it's acting, writing, or painting.

Nelson Mandela said "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." I plan to see as much of the world as I can, and bit by bit, learn how to speak to the hearts of different people through art.

I am a Taiwanese!!
I'm so surprised(:

I have a suggestion for punctuation :)


The first part is nice, but the latter sounds a bit confusing. :(


Instead of feeling belongingness, I felt like studying my own local habits from an international perception; why my people behave in certain ways and what are the hidden messages of those idioms and sayings.