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.
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
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
Hello, and welcome to my final blog! The last time we left off, I had managed to visit the dentist in 台湾。 That is no easy feat. Afterwards, we were lucky enough to be able to visit an Indigenous Elementary School in the mountains. This was an amazing experience, where we were able to teach them about…Continue Reading Visiting 台北 and return to 纽西兰
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
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
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
I thought I’d have a detailed itinerary for Taipei. I have landmarks to visit, from Maokong Gondolas (gondolas which fly over the expanse of lush, green forestry to the south of Taipei) to Houtong Cat Village (the attraction is in the name!). However, thanks to Bonnie and Rachel’s influence, I’ve learnt that rough plans are…Continue Reading A Whole New World (in Taipei)
University in Tainan has plunged me into the kind of growth I’d never experienced in New Zealand. Who celebrates their 21st with friends they’d only met two weeks prior? Who tries yoga for the first time soundtracked to Taylor Swift at the university park? Who else has had the pleasure of learning cup music with…Continue Reading Familiar Places, New Beginnings, Same Me.
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