This year has been really unlucky for me, and it has made me feel a bit depressed at times. Probably a year ago, I wouldn't have cared as much about certain things, but this year I feel like a different person. I missed out on two TV opportunities and one from YouTube, but I'll provide more details about them later.
On top of everything, today my husband tested positive for COVID-19. I hope he recovers soon. I had thought that COVID-19 was behind us, as life seemed to be returning to normal. Well, maybe not exactly normal. For instance, my son's kindergarten still requires wearing masks, even though it's 35 degrees Celsius every day. It's difficult for the kids to cover their faces in such heat.
Despite the challenges faced in 2023, I had 2 happy things that came my way. However, even though these positive moments bring joy, they can't fully overshadow the opportunities I missed along the way.
Let me start from the beginning. I sell cakes, but for almost half a year, there have been very few eggs available in Taiwan. Initially, we could occasionally buy them at a much higher price, but at least I could still make cakes when someone wanted to order. From March to almost June, the store shelves were empty, and even when eggs did appear, there were limits per customer!
When the problem finally subsided, selling cakes didn't get any easier. The prices of ingredients have increased significantly, and everyone is raising their prices, including me. As a result, I barely have any customers. I also partially blame the place we live in for this situation.
We moved to Miaoli, and people here have a slightly negative opinion when it comes to spending money. In the past 5 years, I delivered cakes to various counties, and I have served many customers, some of whom I have delivered to multiple times. However, I cannot recall receiving orders from Miaoli specifically. Maybe I'm too influenced by Taiwanese people. They often refer to Miaoli as an independent country, with different rules that nobody in other places follows, and they are quite close-minded (if I can say that).
As an example, I have to say that I have resided in Yunlin, Hsinchu, and Tainan. In those counties, if someone's address on their ARC card indicates that they live there, they may be entitled to promotional or even free entry to certain places. Please don't misunderstand me, I have no issue with paying for tickets. However, what bothers me is that in Miaoli, people scrutinize and insist that I pay because I am not from Miaoli. Interestingly, my ARC card states otherwise.
I used to feel a sense of belonging and inclusion in the community wherever I lived. Whether it was in Tainan or any other place, they would acknowledge that I was living in that specific location. I didn't feel like just another foreigner, traveler, stranger. I felt like an integral part of Taiwan. However, living in Miaoli now, the experience is vastly different. I no longer have that same feeling of being part of the community. It's a significant shift that I've noticed since moving to here.
Story 1 - Taiwanese TV
This year, I had two TV opportunities, one from Taiwanese TV and the other from Polish TV. Unfortunately, it seems that both didn't work out. We were contacted by Hakka TV because we live in Miaoli, the most densely populated Hakka county in Taiwan. Everything seemed fine. We had a few conversations, and they seemed interested in inviting us on the show. The woman who contacted us asked about what we do and if we were interested in being on the show, etc.
The show is about immigrant people living in Hakka communities, and they were specifically looking for someone who does YouTube, which fit their expectations since I live in a Hakka community, have my own business, and also have a small YouTube channel. Based on our conversations, it seemed like they were totally okay with recording with us. They discussed dates, mentioning that it would be recorded in July and would take four days to shoot (it's a one-hour-long TV show). They never indicated that we weren't suitable or that they changed their minds.
However, July arrived, and we didn't receive any messages for about three to four weeks, so we decided to contact them. That's when we found out that they decided not to record with us. It's okay if they didn't want to, but shouldn't they have informed us? We are about to move houses, and we had informed them that we would be busy this end of month, so we needed to schedule in advance. Maybe this is normal for TV, I don't know, but I feel a bit disrespected by their lack of communication.
If anyone is curious - TV doesn't pay anything for recording.
Story 2 - Polish TV
The other offer from Polish TV also seems to have fallen through. The headhunter who contacted me said they would let me know within two weeks, and that time has passed, but my phone remains silent. The TV show is called "Polacy za granicą" which records the lives, work, etc., of Polish people living abroad.
I was contacted by the headhunter at the end of June. After my response, she quickly scheduled a meeting for the next evening. She asked me a few questions to get to know me better, although she isn't the one choosing the participants. She recorded the meeting for the producer.
I think I did quite well (my story of how I got to Taiwan is quite special). She seemed highly interested in my story, but I suppose others weren't as intrigued. It could be because I don't live in Taipei (She told me, that everyone she interviews resides in the capital). A few days ago, she sent me information that the recording would take place at the end of July, although she didn't have confirmed information about who they had chosen.
Now, it's the middle of July, and I haven't received any further information, so I'm guessing it's not me (once again...). I wonder who the lucky five people will be. I don't really know many Polish people in Taiwan (most of them live in Taipei). Apart from Taiwan, they will be recording in Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Each country will have five people, and they only have three days of recording.
As I mentioned, a year ago, I wouldn't have even wanted to be included in any TV show (I'm camera shy). However, this year, I'm feeling more brave and open, so I wanted to try something new (maybe not entirely new, as I've been on TV before), but this time it would be a completely different experience. Who knows, maybe I'll have another chance in the future. What upsets me the most is the Polish TV opportunity because I thought it would be an easier way for my family to see my life instead of just me sharing pictures.
Little update (August):
I haven't received any messages from them since our last communication. However, on July 28th, I came across a post on the Facebook group titled 'We are looking for people in Taipei who are available today and can join us for a recording.' It appears that their organization isn't very efficient and they don't provide clear informations. Prior to that, they had mentioned 'people living in Taiwan,' which encompasses the entire country, right? Why invest time in interviewing people who clearly don't fit the criteria of 'living in Taipei'?
It would have been considerate to send a message saying, 'Sorry, you didn't make it onto the show,' rather than simply ignoring people after the interview and leaving them to wonder whether they would be chosen or not. This leaves them uncertain about whether they should keep that time slot open or continue with their own plans. Unfortunately, this habit of ignoring people seems to be quite common among TV stations in Poland and Taiwan (I'm not sure about other countries).
Interestingly, it appears that they were unable to find enough people to participate in the recording. I also noticed several comments criticizing them, so it's not just my feeling that they are not really good.
In the middle of August, I've got a message, saying, 'I apologize for not reaching out earlier; it was a chaotic time. Unfortunately, our plans didn't work out.'" - Well... I did notice that, it was recorded two weeks ago!
As someone who is involved in business, I make it a point to always respond to messages. If I can't fulfill something, I express my apologies. I don't just ignore customers. While selling food and participating in TV recordings might be different things, it gives me the impression that those TV stations are not worthy of my time.
Story 3 - YouTube
Lastly, there's story number 3.
I don't really use Instagram, especially in the last 1.5 years. I rarely check Instagram since my family and friends mostly use Facebook, and I have become more accustomed to using it. Recently, however, I thought maybe I could use it a bit more to get more people to know about my blog, YouTube channel, and cakes. So, I started posting more often and following more people.
One of the accounts I followed was Stop Kidding Studio, a famous YouTube channel owned by a Taiwanese guy who interviews foreigners living in Taiwan. As soon as I followed the account, a message popped up. When I opened it, I noticed the date - it was from February 2022, over a year ago and it had never appeared before. Normally, I don't check my spam or message requests because there are usually plenty of weird messages from men with offers related to sex, pics of their..., etc. Nevertheless, I still responded to his message, even after such a long time. I didn't say that I wanted to take part in his video. I just wanted to apologize for unintentionally ignoring it.
The only good things this year
2023 really hasn't been my year so far! I hope that things will improve in the future. Perhaps I will have better luck.
One positive development amidst the challenges of 2023 was that I successfully reinstated my cake shop on Google Maps. Initially, after updating my address a few months ago, my account got suspended. Despite reaching out to Google for assistance, their response was automated and unhelpful, leaving me feeling frustrated and uncertain. I discovered that many others had encountered similar issues without finding a resolution. As months passed, my hope dwindled, but I still occasionally checked for any changes. I had to go through the process of re-verification, but the instructions on how to do so were unclear. In response, I was informed that I would need to provide pictures as evidence that the business is mine, such as a picture of the front store and bills with my name on it.
However, since we only rent the place and don't have our name on any official documents, it became impossible for me to fulfill this requirement.
After multiple attempts, I finally discovered how to complete the reinstatement process, and surprisingly, it turned out to be quite easy. I'm unsure why the instructions provided by the support team were unclear, as they failed to provide guidance on what steps to take. Even reading various articles on the subject didn't offer a solution. Nonetheless, through perseverance and trial and error, I managed to navigate the process successfully. Finally, just a couple of days ago, I received the news that my cake shop was back on Google Maps. I updated the new address for our upcoming move, ensuring that I won't encounter any troubles with it for at least a year.
Another positive thing that has happened to me this year is that I was mentioned in Twinkl, a British international online educational publishing website. They featured articles in Chinese about Taiwan and English as a second language, and myself along with a few other Taiwanese bloggers were mentioned in one of their articles. This experience made me feel that my writing is truly worthwhile for the first time in the past six years.
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