Day in the Life of a Student in Taiwan

My day begins a little after 7:20a.m., due to Taiwan’s location it is already bright and sunny! I get dressed and ready for class and will usually be out the door by 7:40! Depending on the days weather is how I will get to class, but most days I love to take the city’s bike service called “YouBike”, my 15-minute ride will usually run me about $5 NTD. As Taiwan is a more tropical climate then Ohio, on the days that it rains I will choose to ride the bus close to campus and walk with an umbrella the rest of the way! Sometime before I finish my walk to class I will always stop and get a bite to eat from my favorite coffee shop Louisa Coffee! I almost always get a Bacon Egg and Cheese on a Bagel and a Mango Green Tea, which comes out to $115 NTD! Something interesting about this shop is that all their bagels also come with peanut butter!

I try to arrive to class around 8a.m., but if that isn’t possible, I am always there before my class starts at 8:20. For the next 3 hours from 8:20-11:10 I have my Intermediate Chinese Class! We don’t just go three hours straight though as we are given 2 10-minute breaks; the first at 9:10 and the second at 10:10. Once the bells ring though, I meet up with my friends and we embark to our lunch choice of the day. To be completely frank we are all indecisive, so even if we plan something out the day before we never end up following it. My friends might stay longer, but I try to wrap up my lunch around 12p.m. Around that time I will begin my walk back over to Louisa Coffee, as the upstairs is open by that time! I try to start on my homework as early as possible, so the lesson is still fresh on my mind. Due to my trip to Taiwan, and the constant studying that comes with Chinese I started a new study method, using pandoro timers, and it has done wonders for my studying! My homework depends on the day, but usually is; writing down 10 sentences our teacher sends us to practice listening, memorizing how to write that lessons character sets, and will sometimes include working in the workbook that comes with our textbook! Because the second floor of the coffee shop closes at 5:30, I like to wrap up my first round of studying by 5pm. Then I rent a YouBike and bike back to my apartment, and after parking my bike I will grab dinner around my apartment depending on how much more studying I need for the night. I try to take a break for an hour, in that time ill get my Tiktok fix in and try to talk to my parents before they head to work (due to the 12 hour time difference.) After I finish my break, I will try to study for another hour or so before I get ready to wind down for the night. My goal is to be done by 9p.m. every night so I can watch some TV and shower before 11p.m. where I brush my teeth and head to bed!