Here's a Taiwan chill pill for your Pelosi-induced anxiety

As news of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's arrival in Taiwan has lit up the headlines, I've been hit by a virtual tidal wave of messages from well-meaning acquaintances in the West who are genuinely worried for my safety.

Meanwhile, the biggest drama in my Taiwanese family's group chat currently is how I missed my car's annual smog check appointment and how a cockroach infestation has sprung up in my Taipei bedroom while I've been away on vacation.

Sometimes I find myself toggling between two alternate realities -- one submerged in existential dread in the face of potential armed conflict, and the other with mild trepidation about my cockroach situation as life goes on as normal. That is, until I realize that the political rhetoric is almost exclusively from the outside, and that most people in Taiwan remain unfazed. Taiwanese politicians had also largely been mum about Pelosi's visit.