Time has flown fast, and we’ve reached the end of the epic year of 2022! In the meantime, I became much more familiar with my classmates, and some of us went together to Everland on Christmas day. To celebrate new year’s, the same group of friends and I decided to see the new year’s celebrations…Continue Reading What An Experience!
See you next time, Taiwan.
Helloooo, everyone, and welcome, sadly, to my last blog :,) These past few six weeks have been the absolute best, with new experiences and new friends! My previous blog was written just before the new year, so I have a lot more to talk about within this one, including the New Year! (Welcome to 2023,…Continue Reading See you next time, Taiwan.
Living the real exchange student life
Welcome back to my page, everyone; I’m terribly sorry for taking so long to upload this blog! It’s been quite hectic since moving into the dorms and getting into the nitty gritty of university life here. I want to focus this blog more on these last 1-2 weeks of December, so I can give everyone…Continue Reading Living the real exchange student life
Some final takeaways
I have now been back in our beautiful Aotearoa for a few weeks and have finally been able to wrap my head around my thoughts to write this final reflection. Coming back was not as much of a culture shock as I expected. It was almost as if I had never left. I was lucky…Continue Reading Some final takeaways
Cultural classes in Tainan
We’re nearing the end of our time in Tainan; less than ten days left. It feels bittersweet. We look forward to seeing our families, but we’ve become accustomed to living here, and we’ve all felt very welcomed. I will miss Tainan when I’m back in Auckland. The Chinese language centre at Cheung Kong University has…Continue Reading Cultural classes in Tainan
Highs and Lows
During this trip, I kept a journal where I made a note of daily highs and lows. Here are a few that sum up some of my favorite memories from my program and some of the learning curbs I encountered. The most reoccurring high… FOOD Low: Large university workload Although I often mention all the…Continue Reading Highs and Lows
My first Christmas & New Years away from home
This was one part of my trip I both looked forward to and was worried about. I have always spent Christmas with family and New Year’s with close friends; I hoped that being in a totally new country with a new group of friends wasn’t going to make me too homesick! Christmas in the Park…Continue Reading My first Christmas & New Years away from home
A Reflection on my time in Tainan
We have safely made it back to New Zealand, landing in Auckland just before the International Airport was completely flooded; so very grateful for that! Being back at home has been great, getting to catch up with friends and family and tell them all about the incredible time I had in Taiwan. All of the…Continue Reading A Reflection on my time in Tainan
Taiwan: Week seven
Monday 23 January–Friday 27 January Fulong Beach I hadn’t seen the ocean since landing in Taipei. My initial desire had been to train to a beach on the east coast with friends in the early hours of the Gregorian new year to see the first sunrise of 2023 emerge from the ocean, the same sun…Continue Reading Taiwan: Week seven
Taiwan: Week six
Monday 16 January–Sunday 22 January The final day of class Monday, 16 January, was my final day of class. I gave a final presentation on some differences between the US and New Zealand before saying 再見 (goodbye) to my teachers 許老師 and 林老師, and my classmates, Noah, Ashleigh, Takahiro, Nicole, Araceli, Daryll, Yung and Asuka for the last time. It was…Continue Reading Taiwan: Week six