PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

Chapter 4- Home, domesticity and belonginganother Tai gan and his wife living opposite my door often came to invite me to join themwatching films or DVDs. While watching, we also chatted; so, before long, we got knoweach other better. Sometimes, we would just visit each other to chat. This experience reallymade me feel less bored and lonely being here on my own. Also, I didn‘t miss home asmuch as I felt there is still somebody who cares about me.In short, the discussion in this section has shown that domestic practices aroundtransnational media consumption play a significant role in Taiwanese expatriates‘everyday lives, also, it elaborated the ways in which their feeling of home andbelonging is generated through invoking various identities (Zelinsky and Lee 1998;Tsagarousianou 2001; Ehrkamp 2005). As such, my empirical study is consistent withexisting studies that recognise the diasporic media as a useful tool and mechanism toarticulate and foster transnational migrants‘ identity and to facilitate feelings ofbelonging (Hiller and Franz 2004; Lee 2001; Thompson 2002). In addition to thecommunication technology used to shape the atmosphere of the domestic space and toturn it into a transnational space, the daily habitual practices are of the same importanceas they allow the Taiwanese people to re-live a Taiwanese lifestyle or experience thehomeland in the foreign land.4.4.2. Recreating the sensual landscape of home through food production andconsumptionFood, among other things, is what often mentioned by my respondents as what theymiss most about home (and Taiwan) and as the most useful thing in soothing theirhomesickness. As Adam (in his late 30s, lives alone in suburban Shanghai for one andhalf years) said:139