Eric Chou lived at US homestay to improve his English, ended up teaching their kids Mandarin instead

Some of us want to emigrate to pursue our dreams, but most of us don't have our minds set on it as children.

Not Eric Chou though, who revealed that he wanted to move to the US aged 11 because his cousins, who were his best friends at the time, were emigrating there.

The Taiwanese singer told host Quan Yi Fong on the latest episode of the talk show Hear U Out: "I used to take the bus to school on my own, and I remember having this thought then. I held onto the handle on the bus and wondered if my life was always going to be so ordinary.

"I felt that I needed a change, so I asked my parents to let me go to the US."

But life there wasn't rosy for Eric, 28, from the get-go.

He lived at a homestay with a family where the mum was Taiwanese and the dad was Spanish, and had to adjust to their rules and customs which he was initially unaccustomed to.

Yi Fong, 49, added: "So you had to make your bed and organise your clothes…"

"Yes, they were very strict. They expected me to set a timer while studying," Eric replied. "Only when I had studied enough and the timer stopped was I allowed to take a break and watch TV."

His older brother Alex wasn't with Eric either, having gone to Boston directly to study while Eric spent a year at the homestay in Portland, Oregon, to improve his English skills.

But because he was in his "comfort zone", with people who could speak Mandarin, Eric's English didn't improve immediately.

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"The wife was from Taiwan and her children could speak a little Mandarin when I first arrived," he explained. "Of course, I was fluent in Mandarin and could hardly speak English then.

"By the time I left after a year, her three children could speak Mandarin really well, while my command of English hadn't improved at all. We always ended up speaking Mandarin."

Eric made the "major decision" once he entered high school to avoid befriending people who could speak Mandarin as he felt it was the only way he could master English.

He also played ice hockey for seven years in school to try and assimilate into American culture.

"I felt that it was a different kind of sport and it seemed cool, especially when in full gear," he said.

"It also seemed like a sport for the whites, so I thought it could help me integrate into their culture."

Back then, Eric said he had "two sides" to his personality.

"In school, I was what they'd call a jock-y boy. I was athletic and quite into White American culture, but on the other hand, I liked to write songs and do oil paintings in my room."

'I liked her for some time, but I was rejected'

While Eric took piano lessons at the age of eight or nine, it was while he lived in the US that he started thinking of a music career.

"I started writing songs at the age of 12 when I was in middle school," he said. "But it was purely for fun, and I was inspired to write songs partly because I matured early and was fond of a classmate.

"I liked her for some time, but I was rejected."

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He said that the rejection robbed him of his confidence for a period of time, and he built his confidence back up through music, believing people would find him "cool" when he played the piano.

When he first started, Eric used to write songs on the piano and didn't sing yet.

"I was only 12, and my voice was still high," he said. "At that point, singing was just a tool for me to write a song with. After all, a song only consists of vocals and a musical arrangement.

"I guess it was when my voice changed in my high school days that I started going to karaoke and some of my classmates said I sang well."

While breaking his voice gave Eric the confidence to sing, it took something away from him too.

Singing a bit of the song Lydia by Taiwanese group F.I.R., he lamented: "Before my voice changed, I could really hit the high notes for the full song, and now I can't."

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drimac@asiaone.com

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