I arrived in Taipei about 2 days before ICLP started, as I knew from past experience that I needed some time to settle into a new country. While I was nervous about attending ICLP since I learn relatively slowly and the program is said to be quite intensive, I’ve decided to give it my all! My first test came on the day of my arrival, when I arrived to the airport after the SIM card kiosks had closed, and had to navigate my hotel without Wi-fi. How did I find my hotel, you ask? By asking locals for directions in Mandarin! Thank goodness I had just studied directions for my Chinese 102 final, because I was putting the terms to good use—particularly the term for traffic light, 紅路燈！By asking how to get to my hotel from my current location, I was able to inch closer and closer to it, and located it after only 20 minutes! Not bad for someone who struggled to navigate routes in a class exercise shortly before my departure!
While Taiwan is certainly humid, the weather does not feel as bad as I had feared. Besides my first day here, I have felt pleasantly, but not overpoweringly, warm. Fortunately, the first week of ICLP also passed by without too much difficulty. The teachers are all very kind and helpful, and while I am struggling with the knowledge gaps in my grammar class, I have already noticed myself getting better at expressing myself in Mandarin—in fact, now I know how to describe myself on my first day here: 迷路了！I have been mindful about prioritizing my mental and physical health first this summer, as I indubitably put my Chinese studies before myself last school year, but I’m glad that my homework so far has been manageable and I haven’t had to speak with my instructors about the workload. Judging by our class schedules, this week definitely seems more intense, but I’m hopeful that I can continue learning comfortably, joyfully, and healthily as I did in my first week for the rest of the summer!
I’m incredibly grateful to both the donors and the selection committees of the Wilmers and Linen Fellowships for helping me to fulfill my dream of being back in Taiwan. Although I have only been here for about a week, I already know this will not be my last time here. Every day, I am struck by the earnest kindness and warmth of others (shop-owners keep giving me free products and snacks when I enter into their stores?!) and I can really envision myself working here as either an English teacher or as a comparative education researcher. While I am enrolled in ICLP, I still plan to fulfill my Wilmers and Linen application mission of speaking to local teachers and professors about elementary education here, to set a foundation for an independent project in Political Science/EALC/Global Studies later down the line. I will initiate this process through speaking to my ICLP instructors tomorrow. Overall, I feel very pleased with how my first week in Taiwan and at ICLP went, and I look forward to the next!