About Me

I’m studying intensive Mandarin at the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei, the island’s top university. I’ve been studying Mandarin Chinese for three years and Modern Standard Arabic for one. Raised in the Philly suburbs, I’ve also lived in China and Ghana before coming to Taiwan. I recently graduated from Haverford College, where I majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures with a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. This fall I’ll be at Peking University, where classes and thesis will be in Chinese as part of the LSE-PKU dual degree in international history.

My writing spans from covering the Palestine protests at my alma mater Haverford College, to mosques in Shanghai while I studied abroad, to op-eds about my Chinese adoptee identity in The Philadelphia Inquirer. I’ve also published on Chinese foreign policy, including my TED x Talk about Chinese propaganda and Yasser Arafat’s 1970 trip to China.

About the Logo

I’ve come across many flower tiles while perusing through small shops in Taiwan, and wanted to capture the unexpected Taiwan-Middle East connection found in one of these tiles. During the 1920s and 30s, flower tiles decorated homes to represent a number of good omens on the family that lived there, such as peace, health, good fortune. This particular tile is from Lukang, a city on the Western side of the island facing the Taiwan Strait, and features a Persian speedwell to represent a newborn and surrounded by health and peace from all corners of the tile. Why the flower is Persian I have no idea, but I find it a rare symbol of Taiwan-Middle East relations dating back to the Japanese colonial period.

About the Blog

Follow my time in Taiwan, from my experience studying at ICLP to my time outside of the classroom. I’ll write mostly in English with occasional entries in other languages.

Reach out to me on Substack or email at zggammage@gmail.com if you have any inquiries.