On 24 August 2015, late evening, I was about to board my flight to Taipei as an exchange student for my Master’s degree programme. Earlier that day, I was asked by my classmates, “are you going to Thailand? Or is it Taliban? You want to join the Taliban?”. Patiently, I had to explain to them, much to their disappointment, saying I was going to Taiwan. Post that, I provided them with a brief introduction to Taiwan, and I was told, “You will face a lot of trouble there”. My immediate response was, I will take things as they come. Since then, I finished my exchange period, returned to Taiwan in 2016 fall as a Doctoral candidate and student, and graduated and received the coveted Doctorate in 2021.