My favorite thing that I did in Taiwan was just walk around at night. I loved walking to the Pier 2 night market. It has a ton of good food and fun things to buy, like, genuinely some of the most beautiful jewelry and art I have ever seen for under $20 USD. Kaohsiung is very walkable and safe, so I had a lovely time just exploring the area. There is a lot of public art and exhibitions that you can see for free!

Another cool thing we got to do was go to Sun Moon Lake. It was stunning there! That was definitely my favorite trip within the Maymester that we went on. We went to a cultural village, an amusement park, biked around the lake, saw temples, took boat rides, and had a bunch of free time to explore and pet cats. 10/10.

If you have the chance to do this program, take it! I get quite homesick, and I still walked away so grateful to have had this experience.

Also being able to have cold items when the weather gets too hot and humid.

This picture was from a visit to Coda cafe with Belle and Olivia where we got to interact with the cutest ducks while also getting out and practicing using the language that we spend so much of our class time learning about.

Aside from that, I would also say that I'm really grateful for the experiences and interactions that we were able to have with locals who were always incredibly friendly, welcoming, and overall had a huge impact on the positive experience that I had while here!

If I had to choose one excursion/activity (which I do), I think I'd have to go with biking at Sun-Moon Lake (pic above). The views were breathtaking, and being able to leisurely cycle around the lake, snagging risky one-handed bike selfies was something else. Photos really don't do it justice.

This program was awesome! I truly left feeling more confident and conversational in Chinese, and the cultural experiences (and just being able to experience Kaohsiung City) made this program worth it and then some!

Also Sun Moon Lake was especially beautiful! Such wonderful sights.

In the morning, we built our own oven out of rocks and stone (something I never imagined I’d get to do) and though I wasn’t too confident in our group’s cooking abilities at first, we ended up making a delicious meal! After our meal, we even got to make a little sweet treat by pounding the rice to make some traditional mochi.

In the afternoon, we visited the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, where we wrote proverbs on our own scrolls, practiced a bit of meditation, and, of course, saw the giant golden Buddha. I just wish we had a little more time to explore the area!

Overall, this program has been such a special experience! I walked into it not really knowing what to expected but it truly deepened my understanding of Taiwanese culture, gave me the chance to practice Chinese in real-life settings, and left me with so many new friends and fond memories. I can't recommend this program enough!

The language exchange was conducive to improving my proficiency & meeting many new local friends. And, facilitated by this program, I was able to make many friends local to LA. Many nights were spent at the night market and days traversing town to find the very best matcha.

These past four weeks have been so productive, educational, and fun! I am so lucky to return home with memories that will last a lifetime.

This course allowed me to make many friends (both from USC and NSYU alike) who shared my interest in learning Chinese, and we also went on lots of field trips to places like Tainan, Sun Moon Lake, and Lukang -- we got to see so much of Taiwan in such a short amount of time. I also learned so much about Taiwanese history and culture from all of the guided trips and museums, which I was not that familiar with before.

If you are apprehensive about taking this course, don't be. It is such a great experience to be able to go abroad and study here for a month; the teachers, tutors, and staff are all so kind, friendly, and understanding. Going on this Maymester made me realize how I could actually use Chinese in my life and while travelling. Even if you don't need to take this class, I recommend going on it (if you have room) in order to understand why language learning is important for everyone. It will make you want to keep learning Chinese :)

When speaking to the locals in Taiwan, it's also really apparent how friendly and kind Taiwan is to everybody. A highlight of my trip would be the random conversations with locals who would approach me while I was out shopping or exploring. They were super encouraging whenever I would speak Chinese! Although I still struggle a lot, I feel less stress about trying to be perfect. I found there was a great importance in simply trying to speak, and not necessarily speaking perfectly or understanding everything.

I'm going to miss Taiwan a lot!

If I had to choose one moment that was the most memorable, it would definitely have to be our trip to Sun Moon Lake! It definitely hit all the points in terms of scenery, culture, entertainment, and food! It felt so early in the trip but left such a large impression, the first week really went by like a rollercoaster

Everything else was also really fun and just picking one really feels like a disservice to all our other events!

If you have any doubts on going, just do it! Everyone is super nice, from the people in Taiwan to the other USC students, the barriers you might anticipate really aren't a big deal at all and everyone helps you out to overcome them. You won't regret coming at all, and you'll definitely make memories that last for a lifetime!!

I'm so grateful that I had this opportunity to visit Taiwan for the first time! I definitely want to come back and visit in the future. It was also very fun trying to speak Chinese with the locals. It was challenging at first, but the locals are very kind and open to letting you practice with them.

I think all the trips and activities we did were so much fun and I wouldn’t miss a single one. But I especially liked the Sun Moon Lake trip. The views were absolutely amazing there and they had so much to do that I wish I could spend a whole month there. I also really liked interacting with the students at NSYSU, they were all super nice and fun to talk to. The food here is also amazing, I have been getting 3 boba teas everyday.

If you have the chance to take this maymester, you should absolutely do it. It has been super awesome and memorable.