2012-13 Student Photo Essays

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I am an immigrant from Canton, China, I moved to California when I was twelve. I am the oldest daughter in my family.

Taiwan is a small island next to China. The main language is Mandarin and Southern Min. Since my first language is Chinese, I picked Taiwan for my place to study. Study abroad in Taiwan gives me a chance to truly see Asia.

I am studying at National Taiwan University, which is in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. You don't have to worry about not having a car here; the convenient Taipei Metro (subway) can take you anywhere you want.

Taiwanese Street food is very famous here. If you go to a night market, You can find lots of yummy street food. There are lots of night markets in Taiwan; I hope I can visit them all before I go back to the U.S.

If you are not used to the street food, you can still find western cuisine, such as Spanish, Italian or American food. However, western cuisine is way more expensive compared with local food.

National Taiwan University has an amazing campus. This is the best university in Taiwan. Every student at this University knows how to speak English. If you only know English, you still can survive.

Every student at this university needs a bike. I bought a second hand bike for $14 with a lock. If you don't have a bike, it's way less convenient to travel around the campus.

Since I can speak Mandarin fluently, I am only taking one Chinese class for 6 units. It's a night class for 3 hours a day, twice a week. My classmates are from everywhere outside of Taiwan, so it's ok to have a weird accent when speaking Chinese.

The only thing you have to be concerned about is the weather. I really hate the weather in Taipei. It was really hot in the summer. After summer, it rains every week. My laundry cannot completely dry because of the humidity. Everything inside can mold easily if you don't take good care of it.

I am living in BOT ShuiYuan dorm. It cost about $160 per month. The dorm facilities include bedroom furniture, a private bathroom, internet, telephone, etc. The lobby has a TV, study lounges, vending machines, and automatic washers and dryers. It provides a small kitchen for you to cook, as cooking is not permitted in your room.

You don't have to bring a lot of clothing to Taiwan, because clothes and shoes are very inexpensive here.

I took this picture on the 89th floor of the Taipei 101 building. From this view, you can see what Taiwan truly is.