Chen Qiucao (陳秋草), a Vietnamese who immigrated to Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese, has used her skills as a nail polish artist and now owns a nail salon in Yonghe City’s (永和市) busy Lo-hua night market. Not only has her business been a success, but Chen also serves as a model for other Vietnamese brides seeking to make a living for themselves.
Chen, 28, is different from most Vietnamese brides in this country. For one, she did not marry a Taiwanese to lift herself out of poverty or to help her family financially. Tired of constantly arguing with her mother and following an introduction by a friend, she met her future husband when she was 19.
Chen said she started studying cosmetics at 14. After giving birth to her two children, she set up a small cosmetics stand in a vegetable market in Yonghe’s Yuhsi Street and slowly started to make a name for herself, with her clients including Japanese and French women. For six years, Chen did a roaring trade at this stand before moving on to the nail business.
When Chen first started painting nails, her husband’s family worried that working at a night market might be tricky, or that it could be a bad influence on her.
“Luckily, my husband supported me and my efforts,” she said, adding that she adapted to her new environment rather quickly, picking up Mandarin and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
Now, Chen said she can communicate easily with her clients, offer them the latest in nail polish design and even make a financial contribution to her husband’s family.
“I love living in Taiwan, and I love my new salon,” she said.
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