Late to the Party

Well, explaining my summer, that is. Hello friends, unlike the lead singer of The Ting Tings, my name is Stacey. I am a sophomore and my majors are Chinese & TBA (Economics??). As my sophomore fall starts, I am just beginning to get over my horrible jetlag. Here's why:

This past summer I spent eight weeks studying Mandarin in Taipei, Taiwan! Since I am a U.S. citizen and reached the intermediate-mid level on some speaking test, my tuition and airfare were covered completely by the flagship program, that’s right, $7,000 smackeroos.  

I studied at National Taiwan University (NTU), pictured above at sunset, which is one of the best universities on the island. (When you tell cab drivers you study there, they realize you’re actually smart and not some crazy foreigner, especially the white girl with dirty blond hair and green eyes aka me.)

The campus (above) was a total jungle (unlike the concrete jungle in which Hunter is located) and it was about 800% humidity every single day, but that’s all apart of the experience, adapting to your new surroundings, trying to fit in the best you can. We had tons of independence, lived in off campus apartments, used public transport, the whole nine yards. My favorite mode of transport was biking. Several friends and I signed up for the the bike share system, a super cheap way to see the city, get to class, as well as exercise.

One of the many night markets in Taipei

Obviously there was a whole lot of work, but it was totally worth it. My confidence speaking the language improved a crazy amount, even though I didn’t study as hard as I should of. Hey, I didn’t know when I’d be back so I spent a bit more time exploring than I should have. Ok, a lot more time, but there was so much to see in such little time!

My friends and I traveled all over the island, such as to Taroko National Park pictured above, and every last bit of every trip was planned and arranged by us, so clearly we used the language in “every day situations.”

I also gained like ten pounds since most of the food is so cheap, but now that I’m going to be healthy this semester (ha) I’ll loose it quick enough. (One of the school field trips was to Din Tai Fung, a famous Taiwanese restaurant, food shown above.)

View of Taipei 101 from a nearby mountain

This past summer was an unforgettable study abroad experience, and lucky me, I still have my Macaulay opportunities fund should I want to go abroad again! I think, I’m not so sure how it works, but it is def one awesome aspect of coming to this school.