大家好！This summer, I have the pleasure of studying abroad in Taiwan for eight weeks. As someone who has never traveled outside the U.S. before, I didn’t know what to expect before coming here. So far, living here has been such an exciting experience, and I hope you enjoy learning about what I’ve seen and done!
On my first full day in Taiwan, I met my language partner Ivy. In TISLP, language partners are required to meet with their students at least three times a week for one hour, to help students work on different kinds of skills, as well as to help them get acclimated to Taiwan. Although I was a bit shy on the first day, it took me and Ivy no time to become more familiar with each other. I love having Ivy as my language partner, and although we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, I am so glad to have met her as a friend and as a language partner!
The first week of school, my friends and I found a cute bubble tea store across from our university. Going there during our lunch break quickly became our new routine! I always get the brown sugar milk tea (黑糖珍珠奶茶), which is a classic milk tea in Taiwan. During class breaks, I sometimes take pictures of the school window. Whenever it’s sunny out, the view outside from the hallway is so pretty. The beauty of campus really makes me appreciate attending classes here. After our first full week of living in Taiwan and attending classes everyday, my friends and I were ready to go out and explore. On this day, my friends Emma, Jodee, and I were at the Tamsui MRT Station waiting on the train! We were on our way to spend a fun afternoon exploring Taipei! The MRT station has convenience stores, a boba tea shop, and a donut shop (which we often frequented!)
In TISLP, we often have cultural excursions, which teach us a lot about different Taiwanese practices and traditions. On this day, our cohort took a trip to Miaoli, which is a two-hour drive away from New Taipei City. We arrived at Tongluo Tea Factory early in the morning, where we got to learn about how tea is made in Taiwan. We were given traditional Hakka to wear outside while we picked the tea leaves in the fields, and then, we made our own tea and dried the leaves. Afterwards we were given a delicious lunch before exploring the factory. This was such a cool experience, and it showed me how important tea is in Taiwanese culture! At the end of the event, we got to take our homemade tea bags with us!
On weekends, my friends and I normally like to take the MRT to different districts. One weekend, I went with Ivy and a few other friends to Zhongshan! Zhongshan is considered the shopping district, and this excursion showed me why. We visited so many music stores that sold K-pop albums and merch (and left with so many things and empty bank accounts)! We went to a showing of &TEAM’s “BOUNDLESS” VR concert, where I took a picture with Maki’s (one of the group members) cardboard cutout. We ended the night with the most delicious chicken noodles at Chiyin. Zhongshan is definitely one of my favorite places to go in Taiwan!
So far, I have been having the most amazing time in Taiwan, and I can’t wait to see what adventures are to come in the next few weeks!
