My Taiwan Study Abroad Adventure Part 1

After almost missing our flight from Japan, we landed safely in Taiwan. Although I didn’t entirely know what to expect, Taiwan entirely exceeded my expectations! While there, we stayed in the famous Grand Hotel Tapei and I got to slide down the world’s longest secret slide.  We explored a mining town in the mountains and did a sky lantern release. We also visited a famous Night Market, where they sell all kinds of goods and crazy foods. I did soooo much shopping that I actually won a “shopaholic” award! 

5/14/2017

Today was our first day in Taiwan. The breakfast is similar to Japan in that there’s a lot of dinner food. I had smiley fries and regular fries that were really good. The following morning, I saw guava for the first time and decided to try it. A little of the sauce from something that looked like sesame chicken got on my fries. I was either allergic to it or it was so just spicy that it made my lip burn and feel numb. When getting my drink, I couldn’t figure out how to work the water and a local can over and asked if he could help me.

In general, people here don’t seem quite as nice as in Japan. People acknowledge your presence in Japan with a bow; however, there is less bowing here and people don’t smile at you when you walk past. Dr. Lin said it’s because they don’t like to talk to strangers.

The Taiwanese are much louder than the Japanese, which makes us fit in better. I asked Dr. Lin why they don’t drink much water and she said when they do it’s mostly hot. In Taiwan, people bring their own water bottles and have them filled at stores rather than buying them. I learned how to say hello (Ni hao) and thank you (xiexie).

Our tour guide speaks very good English. His name is Jun, pronounced like the month, and he is very knowledgeable. 

Taiwan is an island more south than Japan, and seems to have a lot of green rolling hills/mountains and tropical plants. We passed these beautiful colorful little structures on a hillside that Dr. Peng said are tombs. Then, we ventured to the Jiufen old mining town which was located wayyy at the top of narrow twisty, turning roads. 

The whole situation seemed very dangerous, and many of my peers were terrified, but I thought it was fun. At the top, we got out to look around and take a picture of the beautiful scenery around us. I felt like I was on cloud 9.

Next, we visited the Gold Museum, which was also up in the mountains. We got to touch a huge piece of gold and explore the area. A lot of it looked like the jungle, and I was swarmed by bugs on multiple occasions. There were a few signs up to warn visitors to watch out for snakes, but luckily we didn’t see any.

We went to this really cute, authentic restaurant that had an amazing view. The chicken that I ordered was too spicy, but I really liked the tea and white rice with soy sauce. There were a lot of shops right outside that we were allowed to go to after. I bought a bunch of waterproof coasters, tea, bowls with chopsticks, and an alligator costume for my family’s new puppy.

At the Pingxi old street we did a sky lantern release. Kaitlin and I got a huge, pink lantern all to ourselves and each wrote something on each side. We released them one at a time over a bridge. I didn’t realize how hot they would get before letting them go. It was a really awesome experience and the only thing that would’ve made it better is if we had released them at night.

My favorite hotel that we stayed at was the Grand Hotel Taipei, which is home to the world’s longest secret slide, which we were able to go down.

The last major thing we did today was the Keelung night market. Night markets are a big deal in Taiwan. Essentially they are just a bunch of shopping and street food all in one area. I saw some of the grossest foods in my entire life.

Even the natives will tell you not to eat the food at these due to reliability and how long it sits out. I was thankful for being full after seeing all of the squid, whole roasted pig, and other sea creatures. However, I did get a dessert that was ice cream between two pancakes for approximately one USD and it was to die for. 

I also tried a piece of Dr. Lin’s Taiwanese-style fried chicken. At the market, I bought a black maxi skirt with elephants, a pair of pale pink mini block heels, and a jade green maxi dress for around $16. It was neat because it seemed that whatever I picked up was already my size.

More observations about Taiwan:

1. Everyone rides on these little motor bikes/scooters. They are, and can be driven, everywhere so you really need to watch not getting hit
2. People stare at us constantly.

FitBit step count: 15,627

As action-packed as this post was, it wasn’t my entire trip! Click here to read about the rest of my Taiwan study abroad trip!!

Have you ever been to Taiwan? Do you hope to make a trip someday? What surprised you most about it based on my post or your own personal experiences? Let me know in the comments below!