I arrived a day early for this trip as I have been in Southeast Asia and Australia since January for a different abroad experience. The different time zones of the US and Singapore caused the mishap in flights, so I got to explore Taiwan for an entire day by myself. Sadly, I could not explore as much as I want. I did not get to sleep on my 1am flight so I had no energy when I arrived at the hotel. After taking a nap in my hotel room and waking up at 5pm, I explored the local area and went to the local night market. The area was decorated with wonderful lights and festivities while also being filled with stalls for food and entertainment. I was able to get some flame grilled angus beef before heading back to my room for the night.
The next day was the first day I had seen everybody else that was supposed to be on the trip. I met them all in the lobby early in the morning. I knew some students already before the trip, but I did not know the majority of the people here. I also was not able to attend any of the pre orientation events due to my abroad experience, so I knew I was going to struggle with connecting with everybody in the beginning. We explored the same areas I went to the day before and took the train to see some historical buildings. Taiwan has a very rich and interesting history considering the relatively short lifespan this country technically has with the immigration (or invasion depending on the person) of the Chinese people in 1949. The historical buildings hold many inclusions of the first “president” of Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek. His legacy is filled with controversies and political drama with his civil war when in mainland China and also the political tensions he created by coming to Taiwan with all his people and resources. There is still so much to learn about Taiwan’s political history but it was good to learn at least some of it in these buildings.
We also decided to go to Taipei 101, which is the tallest skyscraper in Taiwan with a skyline view so very beautiful and jarring to see. It also held some cool figures and history of the making of the skyscraper itself.
After all of the exploration and some time in the hotel by ourselves, we finally went to dinner at the Grand Hotel. It was a buffet style restaurant inside what seemed to be traiditional style Chinese/Taiwanese hotel. It felt as if we were stepping into the past with the building we were eating at, with the hotel providing photos of important political figures eating there for the first time in the 20th century.
Overall, I believe the day was a success as not only did I learn a good amount about the history and context of the makings of Taiwan, but I was also able to connect heavily with the other students throughout the day with the activities we decided to do.