Seniors in Taiwan Reflect On Their Experience Abroad
The following excerpts are written by a few of students abroad at Taiwan, including seniors Thomas Chou, Emma Kim, Kendall Kuzminskas, Jordyn Marlin and Mei-An Nolan. They recount their favorite memories and what they’ve learned on their trip thus far, culturally, academically and personally.
Hey guys! This is just a quick summary of everything in the term abroad in Taichung, Taiwan. We're here between January and March and just finished celebrating Chinese New Year. Besides the fact that we’ve gained weight from the amazing street food, we want to let you know what’s been going on around on the other side of the world.
-Hiro Kuwana
When in Taiwan you only need to know one word: 对 (duì) which means correct. This is the answer to every question (and I mean every question). What’s your favorite color? Correct. Do you want to go to the night market or park tomorrow? Correct. The only exception to this rule is if they ask do you want to try stinky tofu. Personally, I don’t think it is that bad, which, according to Marlin, could range from being pretty good to “gutter trash.” If someone asks you if you want to try stinky tofu, I still recommend you answer ‘dui.’
However, you should know it tastes exactly as good as it smells. When it comes to food, I have exactly one rule: try everything before you ask what it is. Or just don't ask, especially if your stomach does a flip at the words “congealed” and “blood.” If you are one of the people who cringed at the thought of jelly blood: this is not a bad thing, but you will find your fellow tourists, or guai lou’s, at Starbucks.
Second, I ten out of ten do not recommend you get the plague (also known as the common cold on international steroids) when you are visiting the Great Wall. Unless you want another reason to be out of breath as you attempt to climb up the stairs, which alternate between 1 inch and 1 foot tall.
The weather. Taiwan can get pretty cold: Some days it might only be 18 degrees (Celsius, of course). At these freezing temperatures, the local people will bundle up in their down coats. Anyone wearing a t-shirt is a fellow foreigner. It is a surprise that when Taiwan had its coldest day (a whole 0 degrees Celsius) in 40 years, the entire island didn’t shut down. Most of the stores are extended onto the tiled sidewalk (and by sidewalk I mean a tiled area so crowded with parked mopeds that people walk in the streets) outside. Stores can overflow onto the street since there is no need to worry about weather that isn’t rain or sun and theft isn’t an issue.
-Kendall Kuzminskas
Hello from Taiwan! I'm having a fantastic time here, though I miss people on campus—shoutout to the Merrill girls! I've been hearing rumors of snow sightings on campus. It was 76 degrees a couple days ago. Just saying. Anyway, hope you guys are having fun with, wait, what are they called again? Finals? Yeah, we don’t have those in Taiwan. I don't have any more time that I can dedicate to writing this letter. I’m just too busy! I'm running really late for my afternoon nap, and we have to go wreck some Taiwanese kids in basketball.
-Mei-An Nolan
Hello Exeter! My Taiwan trip has been pretty cool. I have a host dog named Milou. He’s cute, but he’s super fat. That's okay. All dogs deserve to be loved. There are way more dogs in Taiwan than I expected! We’ve seen lots of small dogs, but the most exciting thing was when we saw Great Danes in Taipei. In other nature news, I’ve seen a lot of cool rocks! There are all kinds of rocks here. It’s awesome!
-Emma “Emu” Kim
Hi everyone back at Exeter! I’ve been having a great time here, and I can’t believe it’s coming to an end soon. My host family has been wonderful, and they've taken me to experience a lot of the attractions that Taiwan has to offer. We've been traveling a lot throughout Taiwan, and we even stopped over in Beijing and Hong Kong on our Chinese New Year break. From visiting historical landmarks to hanging out at the beach (and going to class, I suppose), I’ve been loving this term abroad.
-Thomas Chou
Hey everyone! We’ve been having a dismal time abroad actually! The average temperature here is a frosty 60 degrees. We've gained a cumulative 100 or more pounds from all the Chinese food we’ve been eating. Our classes are just killing us! Every night we have to go home with no homework and don't get to have any formal assessments either. We miss Exeter so much and can't wait to return to the home of the guai lou.
-Jordyn Marlin