My first three weeks in Taiwan have been an incredibly new experience to me. This has been my first time actually living outside the country and I was filled with anxiety as to what would happen as to when I would arrive. I still remember the worried look on my family’s faces as we all had dinner together before I left. I laughed away their anxiousness at the time but underneath I was really just as nervous. During my time in my undergrad I was notoriously shy and not exactly a person you would expect to go out of there way to spend 8 weeks in a foreign country It wasn’t all to long ago since and while I had moved past that phase in my life some of it still lingers in me to this day.
That moment stepping off the plane was one of awe and bewilderment not exactly as to my surroundings, but I guess I never really took it all in till that point: that is I was an ocean away from my closest friends and family and in an unfamiliar environment. But having taken the moment to have caught my bearings I quickly made my way through the airport and successfully called a taxi, the trip would take a bit over an hour and on the way I got to understand the physical differences almost immediately, this was not the anything like the flat Salt River Valley or the victorian architecture lining the Potomac, I was faced with the tropics for the first time, a sea of green unending in its depths while the occasional traditional structure would be darted along the road, the country flashing between ancient to modern as I entered into the city of Taipei. Eventually finding myself at the on campus hoteI, which also happened to be where I would be taking my classes.
The program I am in is an eight week intensive program and it definitely has been grueling so far, not that I can’t cope with the workload but there’s not as much time to explore the country as I had hoped. Be that as it may I still have my outings even if they are more local then I had hoped. Just last weekend I made a trip to the Chaing-Kai Shek memorial and spent most of the day there around the museum sections and admiring the courtyard and surrounding gardens. Besides this the program also includes a large assortment of activities on the weekends which has so far included things like simple tours and Chinese cooking classes to more unique excursions to the Taiwanese countryside where we would get a bit sized experience of working at a tea leaf farm and brewing our very own batch, which I found quite fun.
Although I had these initial anxieties I have come to work past the growing pains and enjoy Taiwan. Forgoing the weather of course which while I was warned about I was not fully prepared for, with the hot humid air feeling painfully similar to an all too familiar Arizona summer.
Be that as it may, I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. COVID prevented my hopes of studying abroad when I was in my undergrad so this was an experience I was desperately wanting for a long time and so far it has not disappointed. Taiwan has proved to be a beautiful country, especially around the outskirts of Taipei and further out counties like Yilan where the natural aspect of Taiwan could be more appreciated. As far as first impressions are concerned, I’d happily return after the fact if given the chance, though I may choose a season with better weather! But at the moment I’m looking forward to spending more time here and finding new experiences as I continue to explore Taiwan!
Cole Rubin, M.A. in Asian Studies
Sigur Center 2024 Language Fellow
Taiwan
