Steve's sandbox

Tag: Chinese

  • Case Study: Cosmo de Bono, Taiwan, 2023-2024

    Since my year abroad in Taiwan has drawn to a close, I’ve started reflecting on my experiences abroad and the happy times I had living in Taipei.
    I wasn’t too knowledgeable about Taiwan before moving there. Despite having learnt Chinese for a while, I hadn’t spent much time looking at Taiwan in its own right. It was only on the plane to Taipei that I realised I was moving abroad to a country I knew very little about. Whilst it would have made my initial life in Taiwan easier if I knew more about what to expect, I still consider this a blessing in disguise. Not knowing what to expect allowed me to have my own unique experience in Taiwan and slowly discover the island in a natural way.

    I arrived at the end of August 2023 and within a week was starting my language classes at National Taiwan Normal University.

    The language classes were pretty intense and it took a while to grow accustomed to the teachers only speaking in Chinese. However I started to really enjoy my daily life living in Taipei. Living with my host family so close to the university made commuting so easy, and it was always fun to go for lunch with classmates in different areas after class.


    It took me a few weeks to feel confident travelling around Taiwan and leaving Taipei. I started off with small trips to the outskirts of Taipei such a Beitou, and as my confidence grew I started to be more ambitious with my travelling, making the most of my weekends and holidays to explore different parts of the island. One of my fondest memories is travelling across Taiwan to Kenting for a few days during my November holiday. This was my first big trip and my first time taking the High Speed Rail. There were far fewer foreigners in the south and it was really encouraging to have so many locals complimenting my Chinese!

    There were of course some tough moments during my time abroad. There were moments of home sickness and times when I wanted to be back in the UK with my university friends. Cultural differences also started to wear down on you over time. For example the extreme cash culture and reluctance to use cards was irritating at times if you forgot to bring cash with you. However, there are many aspects of Taiwanese life that I really miss being back in the UK. For example, the sense of public safety and trust in strangers. If you were to drop your wallet in Taipei, you could come back a full day later and find your wallet in the same area, placed neatly on the side of the street. This culture of mutual kindness and respect is inspiring.


    Taiwanese food really made my time studying abroad. The sheer number of restaurants and cafes in Taipei is incredible. I was also able to eat at a lot of immigrant-run restaurants near where I lived. The favourites included Thai, Vietnamese, Sushi and Indian restaurants. The night markets and bubble tea both lived up to their reputation and made for some fun food trips with friends.


    Moving abroad for a year was a challenge, but I gained so much from the experience. I now have a real sense of fluency when speaking Chinese and am so much more confident in myself.
    I would like to express a great deal of thanks to the John Speak Trust. The support I received allowed me to get the most out of my time abroad. There was also something quite therapeutic about writing my monthly reports, sharing my unique experiences with others. To all the trustees and Debra – Thank you for everything.

    I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone considering studying abroad to go for it!

  • John Daniel: 我在上海还没到一个月！I haven’t been in Shanghai even a month! July 2024

    上海外滩的景色 The view from Shanghai Bund

    我在上海还没到半个月，不过这段时期的经历又丰富又复杂。

    中国认可工党的成功吗？China approving of the labour party’s success?
    (I am joking, its a hero’s memorial I just happened to visit on the day the UK elected Starmer)

    今天我在上课的时候接受了个电话。因为我以前错过了几次他们给我的电话，当时终于地注意到他们在给我打着电话，所以我马上接起了电话。是警察！ 幸亏，他们只要肯定是否我有没有在派出所填好境外人员住宿登记表。这篇登记表的目的在于保障所有住在上海的外国人都在一个名单。要是不好的事儿发生，政府可以容易地跟他们交流。 此外，这篇也是得到居留证的要求之一。

    得到居留证真是个不容易做好的事儿。我在这个路上已经遭遇许多白跑一趟。不过我在慢慢适应这里官僚的重视。我还有几个要求该满足才能得到居留证，不过我大学的国际学生办公室在努力工作帮助我。

    我觉得我的中文水平在日益提高！除了跟我的同学们说中文以外，我还在认识到许多中国人。 周一晚上我跟三个中国人出去吃晚饭。我们吃饭后去了一个著名的酒吧叫Sober Company。 以前这个酒吧在亚洲最好50酒吧的排行榜上。我们在那儿继续玩儿，整个晚上都是用中文沟通 – 一共5个小时。 我们快要回家之前，我头开始痛。 我没想到我会在这样的环境还活下去！ 我以为在这样自然的环境只说中文会让我觉得有点儿尴尬，但是他们大部分听懂了我的意思，我5成左右听懂了他们的话！

    我小区的一个大楼，很酷. A cool building in my neighbourhood

    我下个月必须做的事情很多。包括我入学之前的三个课程：会计、程序设计、统计数学。我猜这下几个月会非常的忙碌。我很期待。

    I haven’t yet been in Shanghai a month, but the experience in this short time has been wonderful and complicated.

    从农村来的中国人很少有机会认识到外国人。在上海看到从国内来旅行的人请外国人拍照是很常见的. 三个孩子请我拍照。
    People from the countryside in China have few opportunities to meet foreigners. It is very common to see people from the inner country travelling in Shanghai and asking foreigners for photos. Three kids asked me for a photo.

    Today when I was in class I received a phone call. Because I had missed their calls a couple of times before, finally noticing them calling me then,  I immediately picked up. It was the police! Fortunately, they were only wanting to confirm whether or not I had filled our the foreigners accommodation registration form. This objective of this form is to ensure that all the foreigners living in Shanghai are on a list. If anything bad happens, the government can easily communicate with them. Besides, this is also one of the requirements for getting the resident card.

    Getting a resident card is not an easy thing to do. I have already been on many wild goose chases. But I am slowly getting used to the love for bureaucracy here. I still have a few requirements I need to fill before I can get my resident card, but the international student office is working hard to help me.

    I think my Chinese level is getting higher each day! Other than speaking Chinese with my classmates, I am also getting to know many Chinese people. On Monday night I went out for dinner with 3 Chinese

    这些人都是我的同学们。 因为我们都来自不同国家，我们为一个共同语言是中文！再加上我们是高级班的学生，所以我们更好只说中文吧！
    These are my classmates. Because we all come from different countries, our only common language is Chinese. Furthermore, because we are all in the top set, its better we just speak Chinese right!

    people. After eating, we went to a famous bar called  Sober Company. The bar

    我跟三个新的中国朋友。 在 Sober Company
    Me and 3 new Chinese friends. At Sober Company

    used to be on the list of Asia’s Top 50 Bars. We continued to hang out there, and the whole evening we spoke Chinese to communicate – a total of 5 hours. Just as we were about to head home, my head started hurting. I never thought I would survive in this kind of environment. I thought that in this kind of natural speaking environment, only speaking Chinese would make me feel a little awkward, but they mostly understood me and I understood about  50% of what they were saying!

    In the next month I have many things I must do. Including the 3 pre-admission courses: accounting, programming, and statistics. I guess the next few months are very busy. I am looking forward to it.

    我跟两位中国学生住在第四楼。
    一位是我硕士第二年级的
    第二位是经济硕士二年级的。
    I live on the fourth floor with two chinese students.
    One student is in the second year of my masters programme.
    The other student is in his second year of economics masters.
    我大学最著名的大楼 My University’s most famous building
    我的课都在里面进行！
    My classes are all held inside
    这两个女生是我在上海最喜欢的朋友们。 他们俩是一半中国人，一个是一半法国人，另外一个荷兰热人。他们的中文很流利！ 我们常常只说中文然后要是一个话题太复杂，用英文说明 These are two of my best friends in shanghai. They are both half Chinese, one is half french and the other is half dutch. Both of their chinese is really fluent. We often only speak chinese and if the topic is too complex then we use english to clarify.

  • Cosmo de Bono – Final Month in Taiwan, June 2024

    在台灣最後一個月
    這是我在台灣的最後一個月。我從八月底就來了，所以我覺得我已經看到了這個國家的許多東西和文化。由於最近我沒有旅行，我想在這最後一份報告中談一談我對台灣美食的體驗。
    兩週前，我去參加了一個台灣烹飪課。我的一個朋友參加過這個烹飪課，向我推薦了它。我們做了雞湯麵、珍珠奶茶和小籠包。我收到了每個菜的食譜，可以帶回英國。課堂上的人大多數是日本遊客，也有一些台灣本地人。用我的語言技能討論美食真的很有趣，我還學到了一些有用的詞彙！
    這個月我還去了我在台灣去過的最奇怪的地方–一家以廁所為主題的餐廳。所有的椅子都是馬桶，每個菜都是在一個小馬桶上的。我在社交媒體上聽說過這家餐廳，覺得和同學一起去會是個有趣的地方。食物和服務都糟糕，但也許這就是廁所主題體驗的一部分？最有趣的是在小廁所裡吃巧克力冰淇淋……這樣的體驗真的很奇怪，但很難忘。離開台灣以後，我會懷念這麼奇怪的地方。
    昨晚，我和同學一起去了海底撈火鍋店。這是台灣一家很有名的火鍋店，不過價格不便宜，所以不能常去！雖然在台灣生活了近 10 個月，這還是我第一次去專業火鍋店。首先要選擇火鍋口味，然後用 iPad 點肉和蔬菜。用餐期間還有舞蹈表演，非常有趣。
    美食是我在台灣生活的最重要部分之一。在餐廳吃飯往往比自己做飯便宜多了，所以我在國外期間享受到了很多美食。這可能是我離開台灣時最懷念的事情之一。
    在台灣的日子即將結束，我開始反思在這裡的時光。我會在我的旅行結束報告中詳述這一點，但我沒想到離開台灣時會如此興奮。我意識到我在這裡有多少美好的回憶。
    陈白宇

    Last Month in Taiwan
    This was my last month in Taiwan. I’ve been here since the end of August so I feel like I’ve seen a lot of the country and culture now. As I haven’t done any travelling recently, I wanted to discuss y experiences with Taiwanese food in this last report.
    Two weeks ago I went to a Taiwanese cooking class. A friend of mine had been to this class and recommended it to me. We made chicken noodle soup, bubble tea and Taiwanese soup dumplings. I received a recipe for each dish that I can take home with me to England. The class was mainly Japanese tourists but also some local Taiwanese people. It was really fun to use my language skills to discuss food and I learnt some useful vocab!
    This month I also visited the strangest place I have been to in Taiwan – a toilet-themed restaurant. All of the chairs are toilets and every dish is served in a miniature toilet. I had heard about this restaurant through social media and thought it would be a funny place to visit with my classmate. The food and service was not great but maybe this is part of the toilet themed experience? The funniest part was eating chocolate ice cream inside a small toilet… Experiences like this are really strange but are extremely memorable. I will miss strange places like this when I leave Taiwan.
    Last night I want to HaiDiLau hotpot restaurant with my classmates. This is a well-known hotpot restaurant in Taiwan, although it isn’t cheap so you can’t go there too often! Despite living in Taiwan for nearly 10 months, this was my first time going to a specialist hotpot restaurant. You first choose your hotpot flavour, then you use an iPad to order meats and vegetables. There was also a dance performance during our meal which was fun to watch.
    Food has been such an important part of my experience in Taiwan. It’s often cheaper to eat at a restaurant than to cook your own food so I’ve enjoyed some amazing meals during my time abroad. This is probably one of the things I will miss most when leaving Taiwan.
    As my time in Taiwan is nearly over, I’m starting to reflect on my time here. I will write about this fully in my end-of-trip report, but I wasn’t expecting to feel so emotional about leaving Taiwan. I’m realising how many wonderful memories I have here.
    Cosmo

  • Cosmo de Bono: Earthquakes in Taiwan – May 2024

    Visiting the Presidential palace with my classmate and language partner

    台灣地震
    現在是五月份，我來台灣已經 9 個月了。我大部分時間都在學習，但是也進行了一些旅行。不過，在這次報告中，我想跟大家分享我在台灣的地震經驗。
    花蓮（台灣東南部）最近發生了許多地震，但是大多數地震在台北還能感受到，而且有些地震規模相當大。跟日本一樣，台灣也有地震的歷史，但是大多數地震規模較小，幾乎感覺不到。我在台灣的頭幾個月，有時會感覺到非常輕微的搖晃，持續時間約 20 秒，但我意識到地面在搖晃的時侯，地震已經停止了。這類地震在台灣最常見，大家習以為常。
    4 月 3 日上午，台灣到處都發生了 7.4 級地震。里氏震級是對數。這意味著每個數字都是前一個數字的 10 倍。比如說，2.5 級地震的威力是 1.5 級地震的 10 倍。因此，7.4 級地震的威力是平常 4-5 級地震的 從100 到 1000 倍。
    這麼大的地震相當可怕。搖晃開始的時候很小，然後越來越大。你可以感覺到周圍的一切都在前後搖晃，周圍的物體開始倒下。最好的方法就是躲在床下或桌子下，遠離窗戶。
    幸運的是，台北的建築物大多具有抗震性能，因此建築物受到重大損壞的風險很小。不過，我的一些朋友的牆壁還是出現了裂縫，家具也被震壞了。我附上了一些朋友公寓的照片。幸運的是，我的公寓沒有受到任何損壞！
    在接下來的兩到三週裡，餘震不斷，大部分都發生在晚上。這些餘震大多在 5 級和 6 級之間。不過現在我已經習慣了，也知道如果發生更大的地震該怎麼辦。
    必須強調的是，我在台北是絕對安全的，但我認為解釋這些地震的經歷會很有趣，因為它們為我在台灣的經歷增添了意外的驚喜。
    陳白宇

    Language centre after the large earthquake

    Earthquakes in Taiwan
    It’s now May and I’ve been in Taiwan for 9 months now. I’ve been mostly studying but have done some travelling as well. However, for this report, I’d like to share my experience of earthquakes in Taiwan.
    There have been a lot of earthquakes recently in Hualien (southeast Taiwan) but most of them can still be felt from Taipei, and some have been quite large. Like Japan, Taiwan has a history of earthquakes, but most are small and can be hardly felt. In my first few months in Taiwan, I would sometimes feel very minor shaking for about 20 seconds, but by the time I realised the ground was shaking it had already stopped. These types of earthquakes are the most common in Taiwan and everyone is used to them.
    On the 3rd of April in the morning there was an earthquake in across Taiwan that measured magnitude 7.4. The Richter scale is logarithmic. This means that each number is 10 times greater than the previous number. For example, a magnitude 2.5 earthquake is 10 times more powerful than a 1.5 magnitude one. So the 7.4 earthquake was 100 to 1000 times more powerful than the usual earthquakes which are between 4 -5 on the Richter scale.

    My friend’s kitchen after the earthquake

    Earthquakes this large are quite scary. The shaking starts small and keeps getting bigger and bigger. You can feel everything surrounding you shaking back and forth, and objects around you start to fall over. The best thing to do is to hide under your bed or a table and stay away from windows.

    Luckily, the buildings in Taipei are mostly all earthquake-resistant, so there is little risk of major damage to a building. However some of my friends ended up with cracks in their walls and broken pieces of furniture. I’ve attached some photos of my friends’ appartments. Luckily mine wasn’t damaged at all!

    For the next two to three weeks there were many aftershocks, most of which happened at night. These were mostly between magnitude 5 and 6. By now though I’m pretty used to these and know what to do if there is a larger earthquake.

    It’s important to emphasise that I’m completely safe in Taipei, but I thought it would interesting to explain the experience of these earthquakes as they have been an unexpected addition to my experience in Taiwan.

    Cosmo

  • Cosmo de Bono: A Trip to the Alishan Mountains – March 2024

    阿里山之旅:

     
    我來台灣已經七個月了，雖然感覺沒那麼長。現在是國語中心的春季學期，我的語言學習進步順利。
    現在是三月，我決定去台灣南部的阿里山玩玩兒幾天。阿里山是台灣有名的自然風景區，茶葉和櫻花。
    不過，從台北到阿里山並不簡單。我需要從台北坐高鐵到嘉義市一個在與南部的城市。從嘉義出發以後，我又坐了阿里山森林鐵路，但是這個鐵路不到阿里山。坐完火車以後，還要坐一個小時的車才能到阿里山。雖然旅程非常長，但是火車上的景色太好了，而且還能穿越森林。
    阿里山有幾個道步。第一天，我散步上了阿里山的最高點-大塔山頂（海拔 2,666 公尺）。道步旅行很美，但是有很多台階…
    在阿里山的隔天，我早上 5 點起床，坐日出小火車了。這輛火車會到高山上的一個觀景點，然後你就可以觀賞日出了。然而，我去的時候是陰天，但日出的景色依然很美。然後散步下山，大約 90 分鐘。
    一般來說，每年的 3 月和 4 月是遊覽阿里山的最佳時節，因為這時候可以看到櫻花。我去的時候其實是櫻花盛開的季節，所以大部分樹都開了花，但花還沒完全綻放。
    阿里山最吸引我的地方是它的環境。我過去不認為台北是一個繁忙或緊張的城市，事實上，我還認為跟歐洲城市比，台北真的很平靜，但台灣南部更平靜。我現在明白為什麼台灣南部的人會開玩笑說台北人總是「匆匆忙忙」的了！
    我計劃不久以後去高雄旅行，我非常期待這次旅行。
    感謝您們閱讀我的報告，希望您們喜歡這些照片！

     

     

     

    A Trip to Alishan:
    I’ve been in Taiwan for seven months now, although it doesn’t feel that long. It’s now the spring term at the language centre and I’m making good progress with language learning.
    As it’s March I decided to go to Alishan in the south of Taiwan for a few days. Alishan is a famous area in Taiwan for its natural scenery, tea and cherry blossoms.
    It’s not easy to get from Taipei to Alishan though. I had to take the High-Speed Rail from Taipei to Chiayi – a city in the south. From Chiayi I then took the Alishan Forest Railway, but this doesn’t arrive in Alishan. After the train journey you still have to take a 1 hour bus journey to get to Alishan. Although the journey was really long, the train ride was amazing as there were amazing views and you travelled through the forest.


    In Alishan there are several hiking trails. On my first day I hiked to the top of Datashan, which is the highest point in Alishan (2,666m). The hike was beautiful but there were a lot of stairs…
    On my second day in Alishan I got up at 5am and took the sunrise train. This train arrives at a viewpoint high up on a mountain and you can then watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was quite cloudy when I was there but the views were still incredible. You then walk back down the mountain which takes about 90 minutes.
    March and April are generally considered the best time of year to visit Alishan as this is when you can see the cherry blossoms. I went early in cherry blossom season, so most of the trees had blossoms but the flowers hadn’t fully blossomed yet.
    My favourite part about Alishan was the quiet atmosphere. I never used to consider Taipei as a busy or stressful city, in fact, I still think that compared to European cities Taipei is really calm, but the south of Taiwan is even calmer. I now understand why people in the South of Taiwan joke that people from Taipei are always in a rush!
    I’m planning a trip to Kaohsiung soon which I’m really looking forward to.
    Thanks for reading my report and I hope you enjoy the photos!

  • Cosmo de Bono: April in Taiwan

    Visiting a Daosit Shrine at the Lotus Pond

    台灣四月

    自上次月度報告以來發生了很多事情，包括一場地震，但是我還是選擇在本報告中重點介紹我周末的高雄之行。像往常一樣，我附上了一些照片，希望它們能讓你們對我去過的地方有一些了解。我會在下一篇報告中討論地震問題！
    這個月我決定了去一趟高雄，因為我還沒去過。高雄是台灣南部最大的城市，以其美麗的建築很有名。這是我期待已久去的地方，所以終於可以去了。幸運的是，從台北到高雄乘坐高鐵只需要大約 2.5 個小時，所以我在周五上午上完課後就離開了台北，下午就到了高雄。我在那裡住了兩個晚上，週日晚上返回台北。
    高雄給人的感覺就像一個更小、更輕鬆的台北。那裡仍然有地鐵，但比台北的地鐵小很多。那裡的老人說話的台灣口音也比台北重，但是要聽懂他們在說什麼不太難。
    週五下午，我來到了高雄的蓮花池。這是一個位於城市中央的大型人工湖，周圍有許多寺廟和佛塔。我使用免費的公共自行車環湖騎行，然後在主要的寺廟和神社停留。美麗的建築和平靜的湖面對面輝映，使這裡成為我在台灣迄今為止最喜歡的地方之一。
    在參觀一座道教神廟時，一位名叫馬克（英文名茲）的當地年輕人向我走來，解釋說他是業餘導遊，很願意免費帶我參觀！馬克帶我參觀了神廟，並教我如何利用神廟來算命。他還幫我翻譯寺廟裡的文字和雕刻，練習我的古代漢語。這樣的小經驗讓我在台灣度過了美好的時光。
    第二天，我參觀了高雄郊外的佛光山寺。這是一座巨大的佛教寺院，也是世界上最大的寺院之一。寺院中央還有一尊巨大的金色佛像。我花了一整天的時間參觀了整個寺院和遊客中心，但這是值得的。
    總而言之，我在高雄度過了一段愉快的時光。如果有機會再來台灣，我還想在那裡多待一段時間。這裡平靜的氛圍和熱帶氣候是絕妙的組合。
    陳白宇

    April in Taiwan
    A lot has happened since my last monthly report, including an earthquake, but I have chosen to focus this report on my weekend trip to Kaohsiung. As always, I have attached some photos, so I hope that they give you a sense of the places that I’ve been visiting. I will discuss the earthquake properly in my next report!
    This month I decided to make a trip to Kaohsiung as I still hadn’t been yet. Kaohsiung is the largest city in the south of Taiwan and is famous for its beautiful architecture. It was somewhere I had wanted to visit for a long time, so it was lovely to finally go. Luckily it only takes about 2.5 hours on the high-speed rail to get from Taipei to Kaohsiung, so I left Taipei after my Friday morning classes and was in Kaohsiung by mid-afternoon. I stayed there for two nights and returned to Taipei on Sunday evening.


    Kaohsiung feels like a smaller and more relaxed version of Taipei. There is still a metro but it’s a lot smaller than the one in Taipei. Older people there also speak with stronger Taiwanese accents than in Taipei, but it wasn’t too difficult to understand what they were saying.
    I spent Friday afternoon visiting the Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung. This is a large man-made lake in the middle of the city, and it is surrounded by numerous temples and pagodas. I used the free public bikes to cycle around the lake and would then stop at the main temples and shrines. The combination of the beautiful buildings and the calm lake made this one of my favourite places I’ve been to so far in Taiwan.
    When visiting one Daoist shrine, a young local man – called Mark (English name) – approached me and explained that he was an amateur tour guide and would love to give me a free tour! Mark showed me around the temple and taught me how to use the shrine for fortune-telling. He also helped me practice my classical Chinese by translating the writing and engravings in the temple. Small experiences like this are what make my time in Taiwan great.
    The next day I visited the Fo Guang Shan monastery outside of Kaohsiung. This is an enormous Buddhist monastery and is one of the largest monasteries in the world. There is also a giant golden statue of Buddha in the middle of the site. It took me a whole day to visit the entire monastery and visitor centre, but it was worth it.
    Overall, I had a lovely time in Kaohsiung. If I ever come back to Taiwan, then I would love to spend more time there. Its calm atmosphere and tropical climate are a wonderful combination.
    Cosmo

  • Cosmo de Bono: February in Taiwan (Feb 2024)

    二月台北

    二月在台北過得很平靜。現在我已經非常習慣台灣的新生活，所以呢時間過得很快。在遊覽了許多著名景點以後，我也開始參觀台灣的一些小地方。

    Rainy day in the Yangmingshan mountains

    兩個星期以前，我去了陽明山國家公園。這是台北北部的一個山區。雖然從市到區不很遠，但由於山路崎嶇，坐公共汽車需要兩個小時才能到達。我去的那天天氣不是很好的，但還是值得一去。我們去的第一個地方是一個古老的養牛場。由於起霧，我看不到牛，但據農場主說，牛就在那裡！這兒的景色非常綠，非常美。走出城市，來到鄉間，感覺非常好。

    我參觀的下一個地方是蔣介石的度假故居。故居的內面是西式設計。這反映了蔣介石希望被當作更西方化，也吸引外國外交官的願望。官邸的花園也很美，儘管建築本身看起來像軍事大院。

    我參觀的下一個地方是蔣介石的度假故居。故居的內部是西式設計。這反映了蔣介石希望被視為更西方化並吸引外國外交官的願望。官邸的花園也很美，儘管建築本身看起來像軍事大院。

    我此行的最後一個目的地是美麗的陽明山花圃。那裡有很多櫻花樹和其他種類的植物。雖然天氣不是很好的，但是還非常漂亮！附上一張我在花圃旁小溪旁的照片。

    我寫這篇報告的時候，正因為值春節假期，所以我很享受學習之餘的休息時間。我打算在下次報告中介紹春節期間的慶祝活動！

    陳白宇


    February has been a calm month in Taipei. Now that I’m very used to my new life in Taiwan, time is going by quickly. I’ve also started to explore smaller places in Taiwan as I’ve visited lots of the most famous destinations.

    visiting the cherry blossom gardens of Yangmingshan National Park

    Two weeks ago I visited Yangmingshan national park. This is a mountainous area north of Taipei. Although it isn’t very far from the city, because of the mountains it takes 2 hour by bus to get there. The weather wasn’t amazing on the day I visited but it was still worth a visit. The first place we went to was an old cattle farm. I couldn’t see any cows because of the fog but according to the farmer they were there! The scenery was very green and beautiful. It was lovely to be outside the city and in the countryside.

    The next place I visited was the former holiday residence of Chiang Kaishek. The interior of the residence is western in design. This is meant to reflect Chiang’s desire to be seen as more western and to appeal to foreign diplomats. The gardens of the residence were also beautiful although the building itself looks like a military compound.

    The final destination on my trip were beautiful flower gardens in Yangminshan. There were lots of cherry blossom trees and other types of plants. Even though the weather wasn’t that good it was still really pretty! I’ve attached a photo of me near a stream by the flower gardens.

    As I write this report I’m currently in the middle of the Chinese New Year holiday so I’m enjoying my time resting from studying. I’ll explain more about the celebrations in my next report!

    Cosmo

  • Cosmo de Bono: 2024 in Taiwan – January 2024 年台灣

    I’ve been in Taiwan for over four months now so am nearly halfway through my time here. It’s taken me by surprise at how quickly the time is passing now. I’m planning to write a bit about my Christmas experiences in Taipei. The big annual holiday in Taiwan is Chinese New Year in February, however, the language centre gave us a one-week holiday for Christmas. It was also interesting to see Christmas celebrations in Taiwan.

    Shilin Christmas Market

    Christmas market:
    A few days before Christmas, I visited a German Christmas Market in Shilin district with one of my classmates. This was actually my first time going to a large Christmas market so I thought it was funny that my first experience of this was in Taiwan. The market only had vendors that sold German food as opposed to gifts or anything else. The food was delicious; it resembled a cross between Taiwanese street food and European dishes. Most of the vendors were Taiwanese however there were also many German expats.

    Christmas party:
    My language centre organised a Christmas party for us a few days before Christmas. We all had to bring food and snacks, including both Western and Taiwanese food. We also had the opportunity to make TangYuan – Glutinous rice balls served in syrup. They sound a bit strange when you explain them in English, but TangYuan is a really common dessert in Taiwan and quite tasty. This was a really fun experience and it was great to learn a lot of Christmas-related Chinese vocabulary.

    I spent Christmas Day with my university classmates in Taiwan. It was a quiet but lovely day and very different to my previous Christmas experiences. We also went to Raohe Night Market – our favourite – in the evening. Christmas felt less important this year because it’s not so important for Taiwanese people so I wasn’t always thinking about it.

    As it’s now 2024 and my time in Taiwan is going by so quickly, I’ve started to think about my goals and intentions for the rest of my time here. My Chinese, especially formal Chinese, has improved so much recently but I have now set three main goals for the next few months:

    1. Improve my tones and pronunciation
    2. Practice speaking more idiomatically
    3. Learn 5000 Chinese characters (I currently know about 3500)

    Thanks for reading my report!

    我來台灣已經四個多月了，在這裡的時間已經過了快近一半。時間過得真快，我完全沒想到這點。我打算寫一點我在台北過聖誕節的經歷。台灣一年一度的大節日是二月的春節，但是語言中心為我們放了一週的聖誕節假期。看到台灣的聖誕節慶祝活動也很有趣。

    聖誕市集：
    聖誕節前幾天，我和一個同學一起去看了士林區的德國聖誕市集。這其實是我第一次去大型聖誕市場，所以我覺得很有趣，因為這是我看聖誕市集的第一次體驗。市場裡只有賣德國食品的點心，沒有賣禮品或其他東西的。這些食物非常美味，就像台灣街頭小吃和歐洲菜餚的綜合。大多數商販都是台灣人，但是也有很多德國外籍人。

    Christmas Eve dumpling dinner!

    聖誕派對
    聖誕節前幾天，我所在的語言中心為我們舉辦了一個聖誕派對。我們都要帶食物和點心，包括西餐和台灣菜。我們還有機會做湯圓–糖漿做的糯米糰。用英語解釋聽起來有點奇怪，但湯圓在台灣是一種非常常見的甜點，而且相當美味。這是一次非常有趣的經歷，我學到了很多與聖誕節有關的中文詞彙。

    我和台灣的大學同學一起度過了聖誕節。這一天很安靜，但很放鬆，跟我過去的聖誕節經歷有點不同。晚上我們還去了我們最喜歡的饒河夜市。實際上，今年的聖誕節並不那麼重要，因為聖誕節對台灣人來說並不那麼重要，所以我並沒有總是想著聖誕節。

    現在是 2024 年，我在台灣的時間過得很快，因此我開始思考我在台灣餘下時間的目標和打算。我的中文，尤其是正式的中文，最近有了突飛猛進，但我現在為接下來的幾個月設定了三個主要目標：

    1. 改善我的語調和發音
    2. 練習說更多的成語
    3. 學會 5000 個漢字（我目前認識約 3500 個漢字）

    感謝您閱讀我的報告！

  • Cosmo de Bono: Holiday Travels in Taiwan – December 2023

    台灣假期旅遊 – 陳白宇

    這個月我有兩個星期的假期，所以有很多時間去旅行。因為我最近在台灣旅行了很多地方，所以我打算把上個月遊玩過的地方都寫下來。大部分的地方都在台北，但我也去了位於台灣島最南端的墾丁和東海岸的花蓮縣。希望你們能喜歡閱讀我寫的事，也能欣賞一些照片！

    寶安和孔廟：
    這是台北相鄰的兩座寺廟。我花了 30 分鐘搭地鐵到達那裡。孔廟有一些漂亮的花園，建築風格是傳統的中國風格，但也有一些台灣的影響。我在大學一年級時學習了很多儒家思想與文言文，因此參觀孔廟並在廟裡閱讀中國古典文獻是一件非常有趣的事情。

    寶安廟是朋友介紹給我的，因為很漂亮，但不像台北的其他廟宇那麼熱鬧。由於有人在祈禱，我需要小心地拍照，但是寺廟真的很優美。這座寺廟有好幾層，所以我上了寺廟的頂層，俯瞰周圍的城市。
    貓空：
    貓空纜車位於動物園旁邊。缆车从底部到顶部需要 20 分钟。缆车车厢的地板是玻璃的，看得到下面的树。我在缆车上遇到了一对友好的台湾老夫妇。他们主要讲客家话，所以很难沟通，因为我听不懂他们说的话！在缆车顶端，我徒步穿过一片森林，去看一个小瀑布。那天真的很热，所以我给自己买了一个冰淇淋，然后在缆车顶上的一家当地茶馆里欣赏风景。

    墾丁
    我想在學校放假時離開台北，所以我訂了一張去台灣南部墾丁的火車票。我必須先搭火車到高雄，然後從高雄坐兩小時的巴士到墾丁。墾丁是海濱地區，面積不大，但有一個非常熱鬧的夜市。那裡有很多魚和油炸食品。在墾丁的一天，我去了當地的森林健行區，雖然健行比較累，但風景很美！

    花蓮縣和太魯閣峽谷：
    上週，我和一些在台北度假的家人朋友相約去花蓮縣的太魯閣峽谷一日遊。花蓮位於東海岸，島嶼的中間。這裡的地理環境非常好，海岸線也非常迷人，但這裡的公共交通非常少，所以我們不得不找了一個導遊，由他開車接送我們往返。島上有許多河流、寺廟和健行路線。我們在原住民餐廳吃了午餐，食物還不錯。天氣很熱，但沒有 9 月或 10 月那麼熱。我們早上 6 點離開台北，14 個小時後才回來，所以第二天我已經筋疲力盡了，但這是我在台灣最喜歡的目的地。
    我在这篇文章中附上了很多照片，希望你门能了解这些地方的风貌。未来几个月，我还计划在台湾进行更多的旅行。总之，我在台湾度过了一段很好玩的时光，也开始欣赏这座神奇的岛屿。

    我在這篇文章中附上了許多照片，希望你門能了解這些地方的風貌。未來幾個月，我還計劃在台灣進行更多的旅行。總之，我在台灣度過了一段很好玩的時光，也開始欣賞這座神奇的島嶼。

    This month I had 2 weeks of holiday so had a lot of time to travel and go sightseeing. Because I’ve done a lot of travelling within Taiwan recently, I’m going to write about all of the places that I’ve seen in the last month. Most of the places are in Taipei but I also went to Kenting which is in the southernmost part of the island and also Hualian County which is on the East Coast. I hope you enjoy reading about my travels and seeing some photos!

    Baoan and Confucius temples:
    These are two temples that are both next to each other in Taipei. It took me 30 minutes on the subway to get there. The Confucius temple had some pretty gardens and the architecture was traditional Chinese but with some Taiwanese influence. I studied a lot of Confucianism in my first year at university so it was interesting to see a Confucian temple and also be able to read the classical Chinese texts in the temple.

    The Baoan temple was recommended to me by a friend as it’s beautiful but not as busy as other temples in Taipei. I had to be careful taking photos as there were people praying but the temple was really beautiful. It also had several floors so I went to the top of the temple and looked at the surrounding city.

    Maokong:
    The Maokong gondola is next to the Taipei Zoo. The gondola takes 20 minutes to go from the bottom to the top. The cabins have glass floors so that you see the trees below you. I met a friendly old Taiwanese couple in my gondola. They spoke mainly Hakka so it was difficult to communicate! At the top of the gondola, I went hiking through a forest to see a small waterfall. It was really hot that day so I bought myself an ice cream afterwards and enjoyed the views from the top of the gondola at one of the local teahouses there.

    Kending:
    I wanted to leave Taipei for my school holiday so I booked a train ticket to go to Kenting in the south of Taiwan. I had to take the train to Kaoshiung and then took a two-hour bus to get to Kenting from Kaoshiung. Kenting is a beach area and is quite small, but there is a really lively night market. There was a lot of fish and deep-fried foods. On one of my days in Kenting, I went to a hiking area in a local forest which was beautiful although the hiking was rather tiring!

    Hualien County and Taroko Gorge:
    Last week I met up with some family friends who were on holiday in Taipei and we made a day trip to the Taroko Gorge in Hualien County. Hualien is on the east coast and in the middle of island. The geography is amazing and the coastline is stunning but it has very little public transport so we had to get a tour guide who drove us there and back. There were lots of rivers, temples and hiking paths. We had lunch at an indigenous restaurant and the food was pretty good. The weather was hot but not as hot as it had been in September or October. We left Taipei at 6 am and got back 14 hours later so I was exhausted the next day, but this is my favourite destination in Taiwan.

    I’ve attached lots of photos to this post so hopefully you can get a sense of what these places were like. I’ve also got many more trips within Taiwan planned for the coming months. Overall, I’m having a fantastic time in Taiwan and am starting to appreciate this amazing island.

  • Cosmo de Bono: October in Taipei – Oct 2023

    中文-繁體字
    時間真過得很快，我已經在台北學習了 6 個星期了！有時後我仍然覺得很難適應這爾的新日常生活，因為台灣的什麼東西都跟英國完全不一樣，但我知道這是留學經驗的重要一部分。日子一天天過去，我越來越習慣台北，也發現了這個城市的新地方。

    這個月的主要進步是天氣。因為現在是秋天，所以現在的天氣比以前的舒服多了。當然跟英國天氣比，台灣的溫暖多了，但在戶外也不會覺得不舒服了。雖然刮了一個小颱風，但其實下大雨讓我想起了英國！

    十月有兩個國定假日。第一個是中秋節。人們會吃很多月餅來慶祝這個節日，所以當我的中文老師把她自己做的月餅帶到課堂上的時候，我非常高興。第二個節日叫雙十節，因為是 10 月 10 日。這一天是台灣的《國慶日》，因此台北哪裡都掛著台灣國旗。

    假期讓我有時間出去台北玩兒玩兒和北海岸附近旅行。我去了北投，從台北坐地鐵只需 40 分鐘，還去了這裡的日式溫泉。這非常有趣。在我看來看到日本在這裡的影響也很有趣。最近，我還去了九份古老的金礦村，也參觀了十分的瀑布。這些台北外面的小旅行讓我可以跟本地人說中文，非常有趣。因為台灣人完全沒想到我會說中文，所以我說時候，他們都感到興奮。昨天，一個麵包店的老闆免費送給我一些糕點，因為我會說中文，他非常高興！

    雖然到 11 月底我才有假期，但在台北外面的短旅行讓我更珍惜台灣。

    English:
    Time is going by very quickly and I’ve been studying in Taipei for 6 weeks now! I still find it difficult sometimes to adapt to my new life here as almost everything in Taiwan is different from England, but I know that this is an important part of the study abroad experience. Day by day I get more used to Taipei and discover new parts of the city.

    The main improvement this month has been the weather. Now that it’s autumn, the weather is a lot cooler than before. It’s of course a lot warmer than the UK but it is no longer uncomfortable to be outside. There was a small typhoon but the rain actually reminded me of the UK!

    So far in October, there have been two national holidays. The first was the mid-autumn festival. People celebrate this festival by eating lots of mooncakes, so I was delighted when my Chinese teacher brought mooncakes to class that she had made herself. The second holiday is called double 10th day because it’s on the 10th of October. This is the National Day of Taiwan and because of this, there are lots of Taiwanese flags hanging across Taipei.

    The holidays have allowed me to spend some time travelling outside of Taipei and near the north coast. I visited Beitou, 40 minutes by train from Taipei, and went to the Japanese hot springs here. This was very fun, and it was interesting to see the Japanese influence here. I recently have also been to the old gold-mining village of Jiufen and saw the famous waterfall at Shifen. These small trips outside of Taipei are allowing me to speak Chinese with locals which is very fun. Taiwanese people are always so surprised and excited that I can speak Chinese. Yesterday the shopkeeper in a bakery gave me some pastries for free as he was so happy that I spoke Chinese!

    I don’t have any more holidays until the end of November, but my short trips outside of Taipei have made me appreciate Taiwan a lot more.

    Day trip to Jiufen

    中文-简体字
    时间过得很快，我已经在台北学习了 6 个星期了！有时后我仍然觉得很难适应这尔的新日常生活，因为台湾的什么东西都跟英国完全不一样，但我知道这是留学经历的重要一部分。日子一天天过去，我越来越习惯台北，也发现了这个城市的新地方。

    这个月的主要进步是天气。因为现在是秋天，所以现在的天气比以前的舒服多了。当然跟英国天气比，台湾的暖多了，但在室外也不会觉得不舒服了。虽然刮了一个小台风，但其实下大雨让我想起了英国！

    十月有两个国定假日。第一个是中秋节。人们会吃很多月饼来庆祝这个节日，所以当我的中文老师把她自己做的月饼带到课堂上的时候，我非常高兴。第二个节日叫双十节，因为是在 10 月 10 日。这一天是台湾的《国庆日》，因此台北哪儿都挂着台湾国旗。

    假期让我有时间出去台北玩儿玩儿和北海岸附近旅行。我去了北投，从台北坐地铁只需 40 分钟，还去了这里的日式温泉。这非常有趣。在我看来看到日本在这里的影响也很有意思。最近，我还去了九份古老的金矿村，也参观了十分的瀑布。这些台北外面的小旅行让我可以和本地人说中文，非常有趣。因为台湾人都完全没想到我会说中文，所以我说时候，他们都感到兴奋。昨天，一个面包店的老板免费送给我一些糕点，因为我会说中文，他非常高兴！

    虽然到 11 月底我才有假期，但在台北外面的短旅行让我更加珍惜台湾。