This first semester in Taiwan has been incredible, not only getting to experience a nearly never-ending summer (except for maybe the last couple of weeks in December), but also meeting so many amazing people from all over the world.

Learning Mandarin here has also been an amazing experience, learning the traditional script, differences in words between Taiwan and the Mainland, and even learning a little about how Taiwanese (閩南語、台語）influences the Mandarin spoken by the people here on a daily basis. Along with the language teaching here, we’re also offered cultural trips, exploring the local area and Taiwanese history and culture. During the last trip I was able to try on an outfit and the make-up of one of the characters from a 北管 theatre.

Of course I worried around Christmas that things would be difficult, after all, I was about 7000 miles away from my family. But I really shouldn’t have, as I had an amazing time celebrating Christmas in the south, in Kenting National Park. It was a strange experience, celebrating in a still relatively warm climate, and especially going to the beach on Christmas Day, but trips and times like these are what make the IPY worthwhile, at least to me.

Although by now almost all of the people I met here have gone home, I’m still excited for what the next semester here may have in store for me.

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