Wow! I have no words to truly express my love and gratitude for this past month of my life, but I hope to get the point across here. I am 8,123 miles from my house,… More
My One Month Reflection
It doesn’t feel that long since I arrived in Taiwan, yet I am already one month in. I am really glad I chose to study abroad with CET Taiwan. They have been helpful in terms of adjusting to life in Taipei as well as supporting me with any problems I have as they arise. I am living in an apartment with a couple other CET students and a local Taiwan roommate. I like my living situation, as I often do a lot of activities with my housemates, such as having barbeque for the Mid Autumn Festival and exploring various neighborhoods. Having a local roommate is also pretty helpful for practicing my Chinese with her as well as understanding Taiwan culture. In addition to a Taiwanese local roommate, I have two Taiwanese language partners that I meet up with once a week and practice Chinese.
So far I have enjoyed my time here in Taiwan, but it was hard adjusting to the cultural differences. I have experienced some culture shock while adjusting to life in Taipei. A difference from America is there are a lot of motorcycles. This makes it hard walking across the street, because I don’t want to get hit by a motorcycle. One thing I didn’t expect is how frequently it rains and how humid it is. I always have the AC on in the apartment so it doesn’t get too hot. I am sure I will get used to the humidity with time, and it won’t be that uncomftorable. I always bring an umbrella with me because I am not sure when it will rain. Due to the humidity, there are also a lot of mosquitos. The first day in Taipei I got a lot of mosquito bites on my legs. Now I always apply bug spray and wear long pants to prevent getting mosquito bites. Another cultural difference is that you are not allowed to drink water on the bus or MRT. Before knowing that rule, I made the mistake of drinking water on the MRT, but my local roommate told me I should put away my water. Also, since there is no dryer in my apartment I have to hang up my clothes after washing them. This just means I have to wait a couple of days for my clothes to dry.
Although it was difficult adjusting to culture shock, there are a couple of things I appreciate about Taiwanese life. Everyday I take the bus to National Taiwan University (NTU), and I have found it to be pretty convenient and clean. Busses come almost every 15-30 minutes, making it a reliable transportation. Besides taking the bus, I also ride the MRT which is the local train system. Compared to America, I find the MRT more convenient since it comes around every 6-10 minutes. There are also other transit systems like the high speed rail, which I have yet to take, that is a pretty fast mode of transportation connecting you to other parts of Taiwan. I also love how hospitable Taiwanese people are. Sometimes I get lost navigating different areas, but Taiwanese people are always eager to help me find where I want to go.
I also experienced what it is like to eat in a Taiwanese restaurant. Although I am learning Chinese, it was still a bit difficult to order in Chinese. It is sometimes hard to figure out what characters mean, especially on menus. I had to ask my Taiwanese roommate how to say what I wanted to order. Hopefully with time I can order in Chinese without using Google translate. The food is pretty good and also pretty cheap. Food in Taiwan is generally cheaper than food in America, so it will be nice to eat a lot of good food while also saving a lot of money.
There are a lot of cultural differences that I need to adjust to in Taipei, but I am sure with time I will get used to it. Although there are a lot of cultural differences, there are already a lot of differences that I enjoy about Taipei. I am excited to spend the next two months studying abroad in Taipei. So far I have met a lot of other students in my program, but I am excited to make a lot more new friends. I am also looking forward to exploring various places in Taipei as well as other places outside of Taipei.
Day One: I Didn’t Get My Identity Stolen, But I Am Pub Lore Now
My arrival to Ireland was a tale of exhaustion, stress, and ultimately, tremendous hubris. It was neither air travel nor customs that when wrong. It was what happened once I was in Ireland.
First of all, it was quite difficult to get to the AirCoach pick up spot… because I, a fool, had selected the pickup spot further from where I landed. The AirCoach ride went well, and I got a whole half an hour of sleep (the only sleep I had gotten so far on any part of the 20 hours of traveling I had done).
After I got off the AirCoach, it was time to walk from the AirCoach stop to my accommodation, Ashlin House. A quick look at Google Maps showed that it was a half-hour walk there, and something about me: I walk a lot. I typically get somewhere between 8k-10k steps every day, a half an hour walk is nothing. So, I decided I’d walk rather than get a taxi. Wrong decision. I was excessively sleep deprived, hadn’t eaten a proper meal since I started traveling, and was carrying very heavy luggage. Not only that, the paving stones were very uneven and difficult to drag my bags across.
Despite my overconfidence in believing I could easily complete the walk, I was making some smart decisions. I was walking slowly, taking frequent breaks, and drinking from my water bottle regularly. Yet, somehow, the hydration was what screwed me over. I had set my backpack (which was holding my laptop, IPad, passport, and wallet in it) down to get my water out during one of the breaks, and managed to forget to put it back on before I started walking again. It was about three minutes of walking later that I realized my mistake, and started my panicked dash back to where I had left the backpack.
I thankfully retrieved the backpack with no casualties other than my dignity, which was further injured by the presence of two spectators to my frenzy. There happened to be a pub along the street where I made my run, and there were two old Irishmen in front of it. The Irish, from my experience, are generally rather kind; these men checked on me. They asked me not to “give myself a stroke”, offered me help, and warned me about sketchy areas. I told them, and I quote, “No thank you – this is the result of my hubris and I’m going to see it through.” They let me go after a bit more worried questioning, and I am grateful for their concern… but certain that that will be a story they tell forever to their drinking buddies.
I managed to make it to Ashlin House without any more disasters. Once I was there, one of the employees showed me to my room. The rest of that day was much more relaxed, with the primary goal being to unpack, get the lay of the land, and get some food.
The first few days were all about making adjustments and meeting other foreign students. They were honestly pretty hard; I was quite homesick and felt isolated from everyone back home due to timezone differences. But it got a lot better after the first week. I was able to start making connections here, get used to the environment, and find a new routine. I’ve started to really love Cork City; it’s pedestrian centric, friendly, full of art and historic cites, and has a lot of good nature spots (many of which are on UCC campus, that place is ridiculously stunning).
It’s now my third week here, and I’m very glad that I made the decision to come here. I’ve been loving Ireland as a whole, and my place in it. I can’t wait to see what adventures it has waiting for me.
