Taiwan Experience

By Jennifer Martinez
(Attended in Summer 2023)

Introduction

It was on June 2nd while standing in line to board my flight that I realized I was going to fly to another country. I don’t travel often, so I was very nervous about going on the plane by myself and staying in another country for 3 months without my parents. However, I was enthusiastic to see what Taiwan had to offer.

Arrival

After 16 hours, I finally arrived in Taiwan. I was immediately greeted by the humidity and brightness outside. One important thing to keep in mind is that Taiwan is relatively humid and hot. Even when it’s nighttime, it is still relatively humid. So, be sure to pack lightly! Upon arrival, one of the first things I did was exchange money. I encountered no problems with that since the airport had an ATM. The next order of business was to buy a phone plan. You can talk to your carrier to see if your phone has international service. My phone carrier did not have international service so I needed to purchase one. However, keep in mind that if you have an iPhone 14, they do not have a physical SIM card, so you cannot go to any store at the airport. I had to go to a store called Chunghwa Telecom where they were able to give me a plan for 3 months and it was around 2,100 NTD. After sorting out my phone plan, it was finally time to head to Kaohsiung. To get from Taipei to Kaohsiung you need to take the high-speed rail (HSR). You can book tickets online or buy tickets in person. Once I arrived in Kaohsiung, it was time to find my apartment. There are vast modes of transportation to take in Kaohsiung such as the bus, subway, or bike. I was very jetlagged and since I was carrying my heavy suitcases, I opted to take an Uber to arrive at my apartment.

Housing

In terms of finding a place to live, you can look at the website called Daya which allows you to search for rooms. Prices are relatively cheap, however, a lot of these places do not have a kitchen. If you’re someone that loves to cook then perhaps these places might not be apt for you. I wanted a kitchen because sometimes I like to cook. In this case, I decided to rent an Airbnb with a friend. Although it was a little pricy, it is much better than paying rent in NYC. In addition, we had access to a gym and a pool. So, I think it was very much worth the price.

Food

Once I settled down in my apartment, I was very hungry. I decided to stop at a convenience store and was surprised at how cheap things were. Stores like 7/11 and Hi-Life are popular in Tawain and are usually open 24 hours. There are a bunch of food options you can choose from. Often, I would order takeout due to how convenient and cheap it was. I do recommend eating beef noodles and dumplings. Although there were times I did miss the food from home, I was able to find a Mexican restaurant in Kaohsiung. Regardless of what foods you eat, you will find them all to be tasty!

Transportation

Although I was tired on the first day to go out and explore Kaohsiung, I did stop by 7/11 to purchase an EasyCard. You can buy it at any convenience store. An EasyCard is similar to a MetroCard. It costs 100 NTD to buy the card, and then you can choose how much money you want to put into the card. You also have options to see which design you like the most. I decided to buy a Gudetama card. I started with 300 NTD, but as the months progressed, I put in more money since I often traveled. You can use an EasyCard to ride the bus, the train, the ferry, and rent a bike. In addition to using it for transportation, it is also convenient to use in certain restaurants and museums.

On the second day, I was ready to use the bus. Compared to New York City, the buses are usually on time. Although there were times the bus did take a long time. You can track the bus on Google Maps, however, I found it to not always be accurate. Therefore, I downloaded an app called Taiwan Bus to help me track the bus in real time. You can almost get anywhere in Kaohsiung using the bus. However, there were times when I did not want to wait in the sun so, I would use the train. Kaohsiung has only two lines to get around, the red and orange lines. The wait time was minimal, as the trains passed every 6 minutes or so.

Classes

I only had a week of break before classes began. Before enrolling into classes, Wenzao requires its students to take a placement test so they can be in a class adequate to their Chinese proficiency. Once taking the placement test, within a couple of days you receive your class and which session you will be in. Classes were divided into morning and afternoon sessions. I was placed in the morning session. Classes were from Monday through Friday from 9:10 a.m. to 12 p.m. It was a bit scary at first because a lot of the students already knew each other from previous semesters. In addition, the class was all in Chinese meaning that you really had to pay attention to what the teacher was saying. It was a bit challenging at first, but I quickly adapted to the class. We had quizzes every two days and a test after we finished every chapter. I was a bit shy to first talk to my classmates, but the classes encouraged group discussion which enabled me to become very good friends with them.

Entertainment

Once classes ended, I had the rest of the day to myself. Although I did dedicate some hours to studying, I also spent that time exploring Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung may seem small, but there is a bunch of things to do. You can go visit museums, go shopping, go to the beach, try new restaurants, etc… There were a lot of times the weather was too hot and I did not want to go out. However, I always made an effort to at least explore my neighborhood or stop at a convenience store where there was an air conditioner. Some of my favorite attractions in Kaohsiung are the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Hanshin Arena, Cijin Beach, and Pier 2. No matter how often I went to these places, I could never get tired of how beautiful they were. I did not explore outside of Kaohsiung, but I do recommend taking trips during the weekend to other cities. It is very convenient to travel to the high-speed rail. A trip that I did take was to Jiufeng, which is a popular tourist area. If you ever get hungry along the way, a night market is the way to go. You can find a lot of food vendors as well as people selling clothes or jewelry. You’ll always find yourself occupied in Kaohsiung!

Conclusion

Although 3 months seemed like a long time at first, time quickly went by. I fell in love with Taiwan. I was able to improve my Chinese skills and met great friends along the way. If you do get the opportunity to study abroad in Taiwan, I definitely recommend it!