I still remember when I just arrived in Taiwan, when everything felt so strange. I first thought that I would never become used to the intense heat and humidity of Taipei city. After the semester officially started, finding the right class for me was challenging, and even finding some good restaurants to eat wasn’t easy since I was both physically and mentally exhausted after school. Now, however, I have become so used to the life in Taipei city, to the point of actually not wanting to leave. Even though the course materials themselves have gotten more difficult over time, the overall workload has become more manageable as I get used to the teaching style of ICLP, accumulate know-how regarding how to prepare homework, study efficiently, etc. Also, there are still other cities in Taiwan besides from Taipei that I always wanted to visit but actually never had a chance. The ICLP program itself was intensive enough to make me exhausted after each week, making it nearly impossible to plan a traveling to the middle and the southern parts of Taiwan. If I get a chance to visit Taiwan again in the future, I will definitely visit Tainan, where one can experience Taiwanese traditional culture and try authentic local foods, and Kenting, the southernmost part of Taiwan where one can enjoy the beautiful natures.
While studying in Taiwan, I realized Taiwan has its unique culture different from that of China. I do not have enough knowledge about the political situation and the history behind the sensitive issue of the relationship between Taiwan and China. Studying two textbooks the contents of which are closely related to Taiwanese culture (今日台湾，当代3 中文），however, helped me understand more of Taiwan’s unique characteristics, e.g., the existence of many different aboriginal people with their own languages in Taiwan, and some religious characteristics. I’m really glad and grateful that I had a chance to not only improve my Chinese but also learn in first hand about Taiwanese culture.