Day 21: Time to Sing

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Today started as usual with a breakfast at 7/11! Our walk to breakfast from our hotel was very scenic with a lot of pretty trees. It’s a nice change of pace being able to take a different route to our morning classes and see more of campus. This morning the weather was extremely foggy and muggy, another side effect of the incoming typhoon. We managed to avoid rain but the weather was really dreary.

At 7/11 I ran into Jack on his way out but was able to catch up before we headed to our Chinese classes. Today in Chinese class we had many fun debates about “what makes a family”. Although the debates were for fun and simply for learning purposes, it got very heated in class (I strongly believe that you can have a happy plant family, while other classmates do not). After Chinese class we got lunch at the “canteen”. We all love to go to the self-serve buffet at the canteen. We are 99% sure that there is no actual metrics to how they price our food, but we always see who can get the most food for the lowest price. Today a lot of us managed to only pay 50NTD! I think that might be a new record.


After lunch me and Fiona went on a little trip to get some Boba. This time I ordered correctly and actually got Boba in my Boba tea :) Then we all prepped for our language partner time. Some of us like to do homework with our language partners others like to just talk and gossip. Today was a great language exchange day. I was able to start on my research project and ask my partner for some help. It’s always really great getting to practice my Chinese. I also love hearing about her family and experiences in Taiwan.




In the afternoon we all had meetings to review our research proposals. It was nerve racking before but ended up being very helpful. After, a few of us went to dinner together at a Japanese place. At dinner there was a “mian fei” section (aka a free section). We were VERY excited for the free flavored ice and sodas, especially Phillip (as seen pictured below).




Dinner was delicious and we all had a great time catching up. As we were walking through Hsinchu, the students were texting and thought it would be fun to go to karaoke! We had all wanted to go but never made it happen, but tonight was the night! Although not everyone could make it we ended the night by singing our hearts out! We may not sing well but it was one of my favorite nights so far. The final song for us was a fan favorite “月亮代表我的心” (The Moon Represents My Heart). We all definitely had fun tonight and it’s a memory I will cherish forever :D


- Sam 


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