A Letter from Taiwan

Hello Urswick! My name is Miriam, and I was a student at Urswick from 2014- 2021. I now study Chinese at the University of Cambridge and am currently on my year abroad in Taiwan! The year abroad is part of my undergraduate degree and helps me to practice speaking and using Chinese every day in real life, (not just in a classroom!).

I have been in Taiwan for just under 4 months now and have already seen, eaten and experienced lots of amazing (and sometimes strange) things. Although I am staying in the capital city Taipei, I have also had the chance to travel to different areas of the country too! One of my favourite trips I have taken so far has been to Sun Moon Lake; a big lake in the centre of Taiwan, surrounded by mountains. Even though I visited in late November, the weather was still very warm compared to the UK and even reached 25 degrees on one of the days!

Taiwan is famous for its night markets and luckily there is one very close to where I live. I often go there to get my dinner as it has lots of stalls with different things to try! My favourite is Taiwanese fried chicken as its tasty plus reminds me of home! There are also lots of stalls which sell a traditional Taiwanese dish called ‘stinky tofu’, which I still haven’t tried; (I have heard very mixed reviews!).

Since being in Taiwan, my Chinese speaking has improved, and I have gotten especially good at ordering bubble tea and coffee (as well as other less important things). I have also learnt lots more about Taiwanese culture and what it is like to live in a completely different environment!

For those of you who enjoy languages, but also wish to explore different cultures and have the experience of living abroad for a year, then I would definitely encourage you to look at studying a language at university when the time comes!

Believe and achieve!

Miriam Summers