Originally from Sebokeng, he used to be a learner at Suncrest High School in Vanderbijlpark. He embarked on his once in a lifetime adventure on 18 January 2020 and the plan is that he will only return in January 2021.
Vaalweekblad caught up with this busy young man electronically. Earl says: “So far being an exchange student has brought me nothing but the best. I am a person who loves traveling and learning different things such as new cultures, history and tasting different food. For me, the best thing about being an exchange student is that it opens your mind to different things that you are not used to or did not know. Every day you will definitely learn something new about your surroundings and that includes the people and their cultural lives.”
Earl is now a grade 2 (known in South Africa as Gr 11) learner at the Dah Yung Senior High School. They have very long school days in Taiwan. Classes start at 07:00 and school only finishes at 16:40, with a “sleeping period” of about 90 minutes every day and a free period on Fridays of about 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Before the Coronavirus he enjoyed skateboarding with friends, just like he did in South Africa. He also liked to spent time with the other exchange students in Taiwan. They travelled a lot and saw many beautiful places and met lots of kind people. “When I first arrived in Taiwan, I did not enjoy the food that much, but after a few days I got used to it and now I’m loving the Taiwanese food and fruits.”
The Corona pandemic changed his day-to-day life dramatically. “I can only travel between school and home now. Being quarantined like this is hard, but I have no option because my safety comes first” he said.
There are very strict precautions now in place in Taiwan. Earl and his fellow students must wear masks to school and in all public areas. There are temperature checking stations at the main entrance at the school where all the students’ temperatures are checked before their hands are sanitized. Earl says temperature checks and hand sanitizing stations are available for the public in most public areas like gyms and malls. “Whenever I return home from school, the first thing I do is to wash my hands, take a shower and wash the clothes I wore on the day.”
Earl says he is currently not sure when he will be returning to South Africa as no-one knows what is going to happen with the corona pandemic, but he would love to stay in Taiwan until the end of his exchange.
“I would like to say to South Africans that they should stay safe at all times, avoid physical contact with anybody, wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your face, use your time wisely and most importantly, pray and keep your spirits up,” he said in an email to Vaalweekblad.
