NSLI-Y 2023 Taiwan – Week 6

NSLI-Y Taipei Taiwan 2023 August 14, 2023

NSLI-Y 2023 Taiwan – Week 6

After a six week rollercoaster of exploring, learning, and growing together, our time in Taiwan is coming to an end. In fact, by the time you read this, it already will have. Nevertheless, despite the onset of bittersweet farewells and emotional “lasts,” we absolutely made this week one to remember. Although this is certainly a lengthy post, we (William and Anthony) hope you can stick to the end. We promise you’ll get a welcome surprise!

星期一 (Monday)：We started the week slow, our teachers giving an early dismissal after lunch to provide time for work on our culminating projects. The culminating project is a unique part of the NSLI-Y program; a 5-minute oral demonstration of the language skills each student has acquired through an exploration of a topic of their choice. Our skills were tested even further considering the majority of information in our presentations had to come from interviews with Taiwanese from the local community. By Monday, students began finalizing their slides and going out in public to finish up their interviews, an intimidating but rewarding experience. Of six minimum interviews required, two must come from outside the NSLI-Y program. Although we might lose a couple hours of sleep at night, interviewing strangers is part of the process. Fortunately for us, Taiwanese people are very kind and understanding!

星期二 (Tuesday)：After class, we participated in a cultural activity of creating masks inspired by Chinese Opera, a medium characterized by extensive use of makeup and face painting to express meaning. We were given an overview of the history and archetypes of traditional Chinese opera and painted masks based on common patterns and colors from real opera face painting.

The ‘Jing’ role of Chinese opera.

The group holding our respective masks; we’re expecting a contract in give or take 3 business weeks!

After painting masks, many of us went to an optional Karaoke night. Although Karaoke originates in Japan, the activity is very popular and prevalent in Taiwan! You can easily find places where you can rent a karaoke room complete with microphones, a large TV, an arrangement of snacks, and just about any song you could imagine.

Matthew, Ronan, and Harry singing their hearts out.

Karaoke lyric video for “小手拉大手”, the song we’ve learned to sing in Chinese over these past 6 weeks to perform at the closing ceremony.

Tuesday was also Chinese Father’s day, as 8/8 (bābā) and ‘father’ (bàba) are pronounced similarly in Chinese. We suppose it’s natural that August 8th in Taiwan is Father’s Day. After all, dad’s need their own day too!

星期三 (Wednesday)：On Wednesday, we had our last session with the Taiwanese language partners we had worked with and grown close with over these few weeks. Throughout the program, separated by class, each student has been paired with a language partner individually, essentially meaning each Taiwanese language partner had three American students. For our last session, all classes were united and formed small teams of multiple students and one language partner to compete in a scavenger hunt around Shih Chien University and the surrounding small neighborhood. The (incontestably unrigged) competition ended in a photo finish. The winners were awarded gift cards to the Starbucks on the Shih Chien University campus, a location that has provided a welcome taste of home as we’ve lived and learned in Taiwan these past 6 weeks. This was a truly needed breath of fresh air, especially considering our final exams are the day after. You forget about that?

Avery, Anthony, and Zhang 老師 (teacher), who submitted this photo for points in the scavenger hunt.

星期四 (Thursday)：So it comes to this. Although every student started at their own level, were each separated into 3 classes based on prior experience, and each pursued a unique approach to learning, it’s irrefutable that everybody has grown immensely, both linguistically and personally. After a listening and reading portion, we had our last OPI examination, consisting of a 5-minute conversation with one of our teachers which mimics the real 20-minute exam we all have to complete post-program. The exams are proof of how far we’ve come and a reminder of how far we have left to go!

After our last curriculum class was our last RD (Resident Director) meeting, which included tips for continuing Chinese study and ideas for how to maintain the language we’ve learned this summer. The RD meeting concluded with the paper plate awards ceremony, in which every member of the cohort was awarded a paper plate that highlights a unique aspect of their personality or commemorates a noteworthy event from the trip.

星期五 (Friday)：Friday was an emotional day for many as it was our last day of class. In the morning, we put the final touches on our culminating projects and took turns practicing in front of our respective classes. Then, after lunch, was the closing ceremony in which each student presented their project. It was fascinating to get a glimpse into so many unique aspects of Taiwan through each other’s projects, and encouraging to see how much our Chinese has developed, as every project was presented using a majority of Chinese.

After the projects was the singing of 小手拉大手 (xiǎo shǒu lā dà shǒu / Small hand holds big hand), complete with Mick on guitar, a heavenly viola solo by Matthew, and beautiful vocal flourishes by Kaylee. Then, each of us were awarded our program certificates, which featured photos from throughout the trip as well as the certificate itself, affirming our completion of the program. The jovial mood inspired by the receipt of our hard-earned certificates was no match for what came next: the “movie” or, more accurately, the waterworks. Many were brought to tears as we watched a compilation of videos from throughout the summer, with pre-recorded goodbyes from each student’s host family and from each teacher. The video showcased the significance and depth of the personal relationships we’ve built this summer, and served as a reminder of how special this program truly is with its host family component.

Harry, Ivana, William, Anthony, Avery, and Ronan with their teacher at the closing ceremony.

Finally, without further ado, a non-exhaustive list of the things in Taipei we are going to miss once we return home:

Ann:

Hot pot.

Anthony:

“Miramar entertainment park! Where I passed by everyday on my commute to school and shared a lot of good memories with friends.”

Avery:

Beautiful temples seemingly everywhere.

Evan:

Night Markets.

Ivana:

Forming relationships with so many new people.

Katie:

In class photo shoots with the Tigers.

Kaylee:

Photo Booths.

Liz:

Seeing the beautiful view on the MRT each day on the way to school.

Matthew:

Visiting new places with the host family.

Nolan:

“I’m going to miss going on excursions with everybody the most. Exploring the city with everyone has been the highlight of my trip, and I have been able to see so much more because of the people.”