Settling into Life in Taiwan | 適應台灣的生活

September 9, 2022

It’s been awhile since my last post. I’ve been busy with getting my dorm set up, finalizing classes, orientation, and exploring Taipei. I’ve certainly settled in. I’ve become familiar with public transportation and have started finding local restaurants and breakfast shops. I’ve passed the “honeymoon” phase where everything is novel and have been having moments of loneliness and homesickness. I expected these moments to come, but it doesn’t make them any easier. I’m hoping that as I develop a routine that I’ll meet some more students and make some new friends. Anyway, here’s some stories and things I’ve been up to the past few weeks!

I spent the early part of last week participating in different orientation activities put on by NTU to familiarize us with the campus and meet new people. First, I participated in an escape room game which was really fun! Then, I went on a campus tour and enjoyed lunch afterwards with some of the other international students. There was also a long orientation session to familiarize us with NTU resources and important things to take care of as classes start. I attended a mini club fair (full version coming in a couple weeks). I met a student there who was able to show me the NTU symphony orchestra facebook page. I decided to sign up for an audition, so we’ll see how it goes.

Last week, Taiwan had a typhoon (hurricane, but in the Pacific Ocean). The government issued land warnings, but thankfully we were only hit with the outskirts of the storm. Life pretty much continued as normal, I just didn’t go outside much because of the heavy rain. Typhoons are an important part of Taiwan’s climate because they fill up the reservoirs that provide water supplies to the island until the winter rains come.

Typhoon Hinnamor near Taiwan

My orientation group of international students

Royal palm boulevard at NTU

On Sunday, Hannah and I decided we’d had enough of being cooped up inside and ventured out into Taipei. We visited the Jianguo Weekend Flower Market (臺北市建國假日化市) which was filled with two city blocks of flowers, bonsai trees, flower pots, plants, and other goods. I was particularly impressed with the orchids at the market. All the plants were so cheap compared to the United States! I’m not sure how their prices play out for locals, but the market was busy. I’m sad I can’t bring any live plants back to the United States because it was hard to resist not becoming a plant mom.

Since I can’t be a real plant mom, I’ve adopted a little paper plant to bring some green to my dorm room. Hannah and I bought small matching paper plant kits, and finally assembled them as a rainy day activity!

Hannah and I also visited the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. We enjoyed walking around and looking at a wide range of different exhibits and pieces. The museum had extremely cheap admission with a student ticket for $15 NT which is about $0.50 USD. It’s really affordable to visit museums and tourist sights as a student here which is great!

After our day out exploring, Wendy took us for shabu shabu which is the same thing as hotpot, but with individual pots. For those of you who may not know what hotpot is, I’ll give a brief description. Hotpot originates from Sichuan province in China. It is a large pot full of broth (usually very spicy but I get mild) where you boil different vegetables, noodles, and thinly sliced meat. It was a really lovely evening to spend with Wendy, her husband, and Hannah. When we got on the MRT to go back to our dorm, the weather had cooled off, and there was a lovely breeze— a nice break from the insane heat and humidity of the past two weeks.

An important, unrelated discovery I recently made is that there is a shop in Taiwan that sells Tony’s chocolate. As many of you know, Tony’s is my favorite dark chocolate (introduced to me by Ellyn Wiley in 2020). Since the chocolate is imported it’s pretty expensive, but it’s nice to know that there’s a taste of home nearby if I need it.

Orchids at the flower market

Full length of the flower market

Bonsai trees

A small cat lamp :）

Tony's chocolate in Taiwan!

Wendy, Alan, Hannah, and I at shabu shabu

My small paper plant

Starting Classes | 開學

On Tuesday, I attended my first two classes at NTU. First, I had my economics class on causal inference and predictive modeling. Unfortunately, I am only one of three girls in the class of about 40 students. My professor seems great though, he’s pretty young and excited about teaching. I also attended my seminar on democracy in Asia. I’m really excited for this class—we will be exploring how democracy has manifested (or not) all over east and southeast Asia. The professor was great; he seems really passionate and has done a lot of work and research on the subject. Chinese classes start next week, so I’ll have more information on those next time I write.

Fulbright Activities | 學術交流基金會的活動

My study abroad program, CSAT, is a pilot program for undergraduates run by Fullbright Taiwan. Fullbright is a program established by the US Department of State to encourage cross cultural relationships worldwide. The program provides full funding for US citizens to live abroad to teach English, conduct research, or pursue a master’s degree.

While I am not currently a Fullbright scholar, I am very interested in pursuing this opportunity after I graduate from St. Olaf. However, since CSAT is affiliated with Fullbright Taiwan, my small cohort of five students has been able to participate in a few activities with the 2022 Fullbright grantees. We attended a welcome banquet and an afternoon cultural tour/tea tasting. I also had the opportunity to briefly meet with Dr. Randall Nadeu, the executive director of Fullbright Taiwan. These experiences with the Fullbright cohort were a great networking opportunity and a small taste of where I hope to be in a few years. I also met a number of the scholars who were all super friendly! A few of them live in my dorm, so I’m hoping to build some connections with them and hear more about their experiences.

Our first meeting with Dr. Nadeau

Hannah and I on our way to the banquet

CSAT with Dr. Nadeau and Astin, our program coordinator

CSAT with the Fullbright Taiwan executive board

I should take a moment to shout out the Fullbright Taiwan team for all the help they’ve given us so far. Astin, the public relations coordinator, is always available if we need any help with anything. He’s given a lot of great advice and been very helpful navigating all the logistical challenges of coming to Taiwan. Kevin, the event coordinator, has been great at organizing all the events we’ve attended and has given some good advice about other places to explore in Taiwan. Charlie helped with all things visa, ARC (Taiwan residence card), and national health insurance related. Her knowledge and expertise has been invaluable in navigating the bureaucratic processes. Her colleague Erin has also been extremely helpful. And finally, a shout out to the Fullbright Taiwan interns! They joined the CSAT cohort for the welcome banquet and were very welcoming and fun to talk to! They have done a lot of important behind the scenes work to support the full-time staff who in turn support me and my fellow students.

I’ve posted lots of new food and boba photos on their respective pages, so feel free to check them out! 手機先吃 (phone eats first:) As always, I would love to hear from you!

Here's a few more random photos of things I enjoyed in the past few weeks:

Opportunity to do calligraphy (書法) at the Fullbright banquet

Dinner near 淡水河 (Tamsui river)

Juvenile Malayan Night Heron

A large snail Hannah found one evening

Looking northwest on the Tamsui river (淡水河)

Dinner after an afternoon shopping

Hannah and I at a night market