During my time spent in Taiwan, I was able to explore several different locations and communities of cultural and educational importance to Taiwanese Second Life residents. Overall, it was difficult to converse with many people, as my other group mates found, but I was able to find two people that were willing to speak with me in Taiwan.
The first person to speak with me was known as Gabby and I found her in Formosa Mall. When speaking to Gabby, she informed that the Formosa Mall was a place meant to exhibit Taiwanese art, clothing, and culture, as well as a place for Second Life script writers to meet, communicate, and learn how to write script to create new monuments, landmarks, etc. for Taiwan. One of the exhibits, I noticed, was a cypress tree near the center of the mall region, but my conversation with Gabby ended before I could ask her what the significance of the cypress tree was. Gabby was the friendliest of the people with whom I communicated in Second Life, as she seemed very excited to communicate with a foreigner and ask what I was doing in Second Life, as well as other facts about myself. Gabby and I were quick to share information about each other so that we could establish commonalities between the two of us, thus allowing us to better relate to each other and respect each other. Both Gabby and I followed aspects of cosmopolitanism in order to better communicate by being respectful toward each other through showing politeness and mutual interest, as well as expressing a keen curiosity in each other and a willingness to share information.
The second place I visited where I was able to speak to a resident of that community was the NCU Wonderland in Taiwan, where I speak to a Second Life resident named Team 102. I introduced myself to Team 102, and although they appeared busy, they were willing to speak to me for a few minutes. They explained to me that the NCU Wonderland was an educational place and that Team 102’s main function was to teach spelling to students. In the NCU Wonderland, I noticed there were many English spelling games and other learning games for children in Taiwan learning English. Team 102 explained to me that they were part-time students who also worked in Second Life to test accounts for children working on English spelling words. Unfortunately, I could not get any more information from Team 102, as they had to leave to test other accounts in Second Life. As with Gabby, I was careful to follow the politeness aspect of the cosmopolitan credo in order to show respect to Team 102, and I explained my purpose in Second Life so that Team 102 could better understand and relate to me. This allowed us to better communicate and provide information about one another so that we could learn about each other as two strangers.
Unfortunately, other members in my group were unable to find any Second Life residents who were willing to speak to them, as any attempts to speak to another Second Life resident were returned with silence. I believe I was more successful in finding people who were willing to speak to me because I logged on at various times to find multiple people who were online with whom I could speak, I was persistent, but also polite, if they did not respond, and I used Google Translate to say, “Hi,” in Mandarin, just in case the residents were flustered because of my English.
Of the communities that I visited in Second Life, the one that appeared to resemble Anderson’s cosmopolitan canopy the most was the Formosa Mall because its residents were not only from Taiwan, but also other Americans, where everyone was curious and excited to communicate with those that were different from them. Many people at one time were gathered together and communicating in a group chat, absorbing new information about each other, especially foreigners, exemplifying the polite and sincere curiosity that is characteristic of a cosmopolitan canopy.
Between Shadow and Light 