It’s time for the Social Study Trip!!
I decided to go to Tainan because I love the sea and I was really interested in the snorkeling activity. I was in between Tainan and Hualien, but ultimately I chose Tainan because it seemed to fit my research idea better.
We woke up pretty early to catch the high-speed train to southern Taiwan. It was my first time in a high-speed train, and I am shocked by how fast we got to our destination and how I did not feel the speed at all. After, we took a bus to Kenting. I really liked Kenting’s night market, it was a bit more expensive than the others I’ve been to, but they had a really unique selection of food.
Snorkeling was even funner than I expected! We got to see all kinds of fish, and then we got on a boat and got on a banana boat, which was super fun but nerve wrecking.
We went to different parts of Tainan, I especially liked learning about Taiyu. I hope I get a chance to learn about it more in the future. Unlike Taipei, where Taiyu is less commonly spoken, a lot of people in Tainan speak it, so I was able to hear it being used in my environment. Previously, I only knew a little bit about Taiyu because my host family’s father explained some basic phrases, so it was super interesting seeing it be used in real time.
We also went to National Cheng Kung University to talk and interview some of the local university students, and it was super interesting to get to know them. I asked some students about their views on Latin America-Taiwan relations and I really enjoyed hearing their perspectives. I was also really happy that I was able to use a lot of the new Chinese I learned to ask more complex questions and understand their points of view. Although I had to record their answers and play it back multiple times to understand their opinions, I am really excited by the fact that I can begin to use Chinese to understand real-life issues. I also really enjoyed drafting the social study research essay because I realized how a lot of the new grammar that we’ve learned can be used to discuss current issues.
The social study trip is definitely a highlight! It was super nice to get a break from class, I really enjoyed spending time with my friends exploring Tainan.