Studying Abroad

張貼日期：Dec 11, 2015 6:7:43 AM

Studying Abroad

Sherlynn Luo

     Have you been studying abroad? Have you been far away from home to continue your studies? Have you tried adapting yourself to a foreign country? Where would you like to go if you have the chance to study abroad? Would you pick somewhere where they have a similar lifestyle as yours or some place you are totally unfamiliar with? Would you be daring enough to challenge a new lifestyle? I’m a Malaysian and currently studying abroad in Taiwan. Let me share with you what I’m enjoying now. I’ve learned to be independent, gained working experiences when I’m still a student, and improved myself.

     First, I’ve learned to be independent. I’m responsible for my own life once I’m out of my house. So I have to settle everything on my own, for example, transportation, accommodation, meals, and daily expenses. Fortunately, the transportation here is very convenient. All I have to do is walk to the nearest bus station and I can reach wherever I want to go. So, I don’t need to rely on my parents or someone else to send me up and down whenever I need transportation. EasyCard is one of the conveniences I like. It applies to not only transportation, but also when I need to get something from the convenience store. Another lucky thing to be studying at PCCU is they have the dorm ready for all the overseas students. If we are going to rent our own accommodation, we will be paying about two times of the rental. About my meals, it’s either I buy from the canteen or I have to cook. My mum usually prepares meals for me but I need to do it by myself since I don’t live at home. That’s a new challenge for me.

     Next, I’m gaining working experience when I’m still a student. Since my parents are not taking responsibility for my daily expenses anymore, I have to work to support myself. Sometimes, I go to work after classes or work for the whole weekend. I’m currently working as a waitress at The Top Restaurant behind the university. Maybe that would not help much in what I’m planning to do in the future, but at least I have experienced what is going to happen at a workplace. These experiences may help me understand and solve out some similar problems at work in the future.

     Lastly, I can improve myself by experiencing different culture and background in a foreign country. It’s like a totally different world in a foreign country. For the food they eat and the way they speak, there’s lots of culture gap that I have to catch up with. There are different celebrations and festivals which I enjoy celebrating. For example, for Moon Cake Festival, it’s a tradition to have a barbeque event. I joined a barbeque section for the previous Moon Cake Festival and had a lot of fun. One of the famous dishes here is Beef Noodles. I rarely eat beef, and I couldn’t take the taste of the beef noodles. When I first tried beef noodles, the soup was really well-cooked. Then, I started to feel disgusted after taking a few sips. What I was thinking was, maybe the soup is too spicy. I admit that the chewy noodles were tasty, but I still couldn't manage to finish the beef noodles. So, I decided not to take beef noodles again. The night market here is a place where people must go when visiting Taiwan. In the night market, the Taiwanese food is irresistible to most visitors. Although it’s always crowded, I’ll still go to the night market if I’m free.

     Are you interested in studying abroad after listening to my story? Then don't just sit around! Get out there and act now! Start drawing a plan and work on it! This is a once in a lifetime thing. I’m sure you’ll regret it later if you don't give it a try now. Do you remember the old saying? “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you’ll still land among the stars.” It’s worth trying hard to explore more about the other places on earth.