Yina Xu
Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia, Chinese Language Study Abroad
Introduction
Kia Ora,
My name is Yina, and I have just finished my four-year conjoint degree in Commerce and Global Studies, majoring in Management, Economics, and International Relations and Business at the University of Auckland.
As part of Global Studies, I had the opportunity to pick a language to learn, and I naturally chose Mandarin Chinese! While I have an extensive informal background in learning Chinese, being of Chinese heritage, through my degree, I was able to undertake some formal language study.
This Chinese language study abroad programme in Taiwan is somewhat the perfect end to my university life by allowing me to immerse myself in a Chinese learning environment, experience the local culture, make memories with fellow students, and help make up for missing out on a previous exchange due to the pandemic. I hope to make the most of the few weeks here in Taiwan by trying as many new things as I can, and I am most looking forward to all the food and, of course, bubble tea!
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Chapter Five: Insight into Taiwan Culture
As part of the programme, we get to have cultural classes, which allow us to experience various aspects of Taiwanese culture in depth. Tea Ceremony While many cultures have a tea ceremony, they all differ and are unique. We headed to 耕讀園永華店, where we got a lesson on Taiwanese tea; we were taught how to…Continue…
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Chapter Four: Welcome 2023
(Being busy has resulted all my posts being belated, but we will pretend this was posted two weeks earlier) It is crazy to think how fast 2022 has gone by, especially as it has officially been my last year at the University of Auckland! Ending the year in Taiwan is not a bad choice. I…Continue…
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Chapter Three: Christmas (feat. concert)
In all honesty, I feel like the older I am, the less excited I get about Christmas. However, this was the first time I would be spending it not in NZ, and away from my family. To help with the being away from home, a secret Santa was organised amongst us PMSA students in Tainan,…Continue…