It is 3am in France, and I would kill for a midnight snack. My fridge and shelves are empty, supermarkets are closed. At night, almost every shop is closed except McDonald’s.
The only thing left to do is to try to fall asleep and wait until tomorrow when the shops open again.
Things are different in Taiwan. Convenience stores are everywhere. This is quite life changing. Do you want something to eat? No matter the time, you can find something. You have just cut yourself and need a bandage? You would find it there. Need to print your train tickets? I can basically access everything no matter what time it is.
Before coming to Taiwan, I already knew about convenience stores. In fact, convenience stores, particularly 7-Eleven, are famous back in France. Almost every teenager has stumbled on influencers traveling to Japan or South Korea and reviewing the convenience stores’ items at least once. Most of the time, you would see them trying out new drinks, rice triangles, instant noodles, ice cream and so on. Convenience stores are considered really advanced and cool in France.
Naturally, I was very excited when I entered the first 7-Eleven I saw in Kaohsiung. I could not believe I was finally experiencing what I had seen through social media. I even recorded bits of the store and sent it to my friends. What really struck me was the variety of drinks and their packaging. Back in France, packaging is not as sophisticated as it is here. The products here look so cute that it makes you want to buy them. This cuteness to appeal to customers is one of the biggest cultural differences I encountered so far. On top of that, every other product was appealing to me since it was relatively cheaper than in France.
I had just moved into a new room, so I bought a lot of essentials from a 7-Eleven. I could not help but think of how convenient that store was.
Now that I have been here for a few months, my opinion about convenience stores has evolved. Of course, I still find them really convenient, but I came down to earth and realized that they are in fact more expensive than regular supermarkets. However, that does not stop me from going there at least once a day. This made me realize that convenience stores make me want to consume much more. Indeed, they are open 24/7 and are rarely more than 10 minutes away by foot, even less with a motorbike. How tempting.
The other day, I came back quite late from my practice at the skatepark. I was really thirsty and my friends and I wanted to pass by the 7-Eleven near our house to buy some snacks. Even though I could have waited only five minutes more to get to our home and drink water for free, I decided to buy a water bottle at the store. This story might sound futile, but it made me realize how convenience stores enhance tendencies of consumerism. Now that everything can be acquired fast, I do not take the time to actually ask myself if what I want is really necessary or not.
Convenience stores are indeed very convenient for the day-to-day, but definitely push people to consume more. The products that they sell are not of very good quality either, but it is that way so that they can be accessible to everyone. Not having that kind of shop in France definitely pushes me to be more organized when I do grocery shopping. However, even after coming to that conclusion, I know I would not help but miss them once I am back in France.
Lucia Caneque Bueno is a French exchange student in the Department of International Affairs at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages.
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump’s second administration has gotten off to a fast start with a blizzard of initiatives focused on domestic commitments made during his campaign. His tariff-based approach to re-ordering global trade in a manner more favorable to the United States appears to be in its infancy, but the significant scale and scope are undeniable. That said, while China looms largest on the list of national security challenges, to date we have heard little from the administration, bar the 10 percent tariffs directed at China, on specific priorities vis-a-vis China. The Congressional hearings for President Trump’s cabinet have, so far,
The US Department of State has removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” in its updated Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, which instead iterates that “we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.” This shows a tougher stance rejecting China’s false claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Since switching formal diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the US government has continually indicated that it “does not support Taiwan independence.” The phrase was removed in 2022
US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have each given their thoughts on Russia’s war with Ukraine. There are a few proponents of US skepticism in Taiwan taking advantage of developments to write articles claiming that the US would arbitrarily abandon Ukraine. The reality is that when one understands Trump’s negotiating habits, one sees that he brings up all variables of a situation prior to discussion, using broad negotiations to take charge. As for his ultimate goals and the aces up his sleeve, he wants to keep things vague for
RSS