Payton Taiwan Trip By: Anthony Mei 梅敏湛 1 week in Deguang Catholic High School 天主教德光中學

Hosts We were all a little worried about meeting our hosts, we’d be living with them for a week! After meeting them, though, we all felt very welcome. The hosts helped us grow accustomed to life in Taiwan.

Weather Personally, the weather was the biggest change that we faced. November in Chicago is much colder than Tainan’s November. In fact, Chicago experienced its first snow of the season while we were here! Our hosts told us this weather was cold, and we laughed. To us, this was very hot.

Education System Taiwan’s education system is different from Chicago’s. Instead of having 3 years of high school, we have 4 years in Chicago. Also, we don’t have to stay as late as the Taiwanese students. Our school ends at 3:30 PM, while school may go on up to 9:00.

School with Deguang Students The local students were very nice to us. They treated us as our guests, offering to help whenever we asked. The students would always go out of their way to help. Other students were more excited to see us, though. They were fascinated because we were Americans. Many wanted to take pictures with us, and others would stare as we walked past. We didn’t take offense to this, though, because we understood that foreign students are a rare in any country.

English Classes Unlike language classes in America, Taiwan is heavily focused on English classes. They have English grammar classes and English conversation classes. In the United States, we only have one class devoted to one language. So, our knowledge on Chinese culture and language is not as good as Deguang’s students’ knowledge on English.

Night Markets Taiwan’s night markets are famous around the world. Naturally, I was excited to go to one. Walking around, all my senses were overloaded. The sights, the smells, and the sounds were not only present, but were competing for my attention. Stinky tofu and fried bits had a hold on my nose, while the sounds of vendors trying to attract customers and people talking were everywhere.

Sightseeing Taiwan, especially Tainan, holds many wonderful sites that we visited. We went to a variety of historical, popular, food, and natural locations. The sights, much more here than in Chicago, were all very exciting. It was a shame, though that we didn’t have time to visit all of Taiwan’s sites.

FOOD Taiwan’s food scene exceeded my expectations. When watching television shows about Taiwan’s food, the hosts usually claim the food is incredible, but dirty. This was an unfair judgment, though, because there are many clean restaurants with unbelievably delicious foods. They also vary from tradition to modern to adaptations of other cuisines. Still, all of these tasted very good, and each dish had a distinct taste.

Beliefs Like any other culture, most Taiwanese people have some form of faith. In addition to being part of an exchange with a Catholic school, we visited the Confucius Temple. Because of the guided tour, we are now more knowledgeable on Confucianism. Also, attending a Catholic school, even if for a few days, showed the impact of religion on school. Learning more about religion in Taiwan highlighted the importance of faith to most, if not all, Taiwanese citizens.

再见, 德光 ! 再见, Taiwan!