{"id":4419,"date":"2024-07-08T17:49:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T17:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/?p=4419"},"modified":"2024-07-08T17:49:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T17:49:50","slug":"leland-blanchard-post-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/2024\/07\/08\/leland-blanchard-post-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Leland Blanchard: Post 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Leland Blanchard
Provider: Project GO
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2024 Summer

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the university administering my study abroad program, managed to find a hotel that was equally convenient to our host university, National Kaohsiung Normal University, and Kaohsiung\u2019s MRT\/subway system. In total, the walking commute is about half a mile \u2013 which can take up to 30 minutes due to the number of crosswalks and curving paths.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"
Leland and one of his tutors, Selena. His program requires daily 30-minute tutoring sessions with graduate students from National Kaohsiung Normal University\u2019s Center for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. During these sessions, they only communicate in Mandarin Chinese. <\/em><\/p>\r\n

The streets of Kaohsiung are always packed. On the roads themselves, scooters are the main vehicular method of transportation — but walking is also common. Oftentimes, schoolchildren fill the sidewalks during their breaks. For the most part, elderly people are the most visible throughout the workday. On my way to class, I pass by 7\/11s, four parks, two schools, and at least two dozen dogs. My tutor tells me the Taiwanese are cat people, but they sure seem to have a strong affection for dogs.<\/p>\r\n

Kaohsiung can be smelly. Most cities don\u2019t smell great, but Kaohsiung also suffers from terrible air pollution \u2013 in 2019 it was ranked as the \u201csecond most polluted city in Taiwan,\u201d according to IQAir<\/em>. The scent of Kaohsiung reminds of sulfur.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"
A picture from dinner at one of Kaohsiung\u2019s many <\/em>\u591c\u5e02, night markets, in which Leland and his classmates (left to right: Leland, Chris (Leland\u2019s roommate), Jared, Hannah, and Monty) were able to try many of Taiwan\u2019s signature foods: <\/em>\u81ed\u8c46\u8150 (stinky tofu), <\/em>\u8292\u679c\u51b0 (mango ice), and <\/em>\u5c0f<\/em>\u7b3c\u5305 (soup dumplings). Leland was not a fan of the stinky tofu.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The first regret I had was not packing a bag. By this, I don\u2019t mean a backpack or a suitcase (those I did pack), but, rather, a going out bag \u2013 something capable of holding a passport, portable charger, and water bottle. Going out in Kaohsiung often entails dinner, multiple MRT rides, 10,000+ steps, and a U-Bike (Taiwan\u2019s public bike rental system) back to the hotel. Therefore, a convenient way of storing the essentials for a long night out is necessary. I was able to pick up such a bag at Adidas, when our program took us to Taipei for the weekend.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"
\u8292\u679c\u51b0, mango ice, is a Taiwanese specialty food. Mango is topped with sweetened condensed milk and tapioca, served over shaved ice. \u4e50\u5b81 (Leland\u2019s Chinese name) \u7231\u8292\u679c\u51b0\uff01<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the second-best thing I\u2019ve bought has been my \u201cchag,\u201d a portmanteau of chair and bag. I picked mine up at a Taiwanese military surplus store, about a 30-minute walk from my hotel. The store itself reminded me of an American military surplus\/resale store, such as Ranger Joe\u2019s in Columbus, GA, except this one was family run, open air, and had far more than just military surplus for sale. Taiwan has an abundance of everything stores \u2013 in which just about anything you can think of is for sale, such as chargers, snacks, clothes, and pet supplies.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"
The \u201cchag.\u201d At the military surplus store, Leland was also able to get workout shorts (that didn\u2019t fit), a Taiwanese special forces coin, and a Diet Coke!<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Overall, Taiwan has been an absolute blast so far. I\u2019m looking forward to exploring more \u201coff the beaten path\u201d places, hopefully with some of my classmates.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leland BlanchardProvider: Project GOKaohsiung, Taiwan2024 Summer Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the university administering my study abroad program, managed to find a hotel that was equally convenient to our host university, National Kaohsiung Normal University, and Kaohsiung\u2019s MRT\/subway system. In total, the walking commute is about half a mile \u2013 which can take up to 30 minutes due to the number of crosswalks and curving paths. Leland and one of his tutors, Selena. His program requires daily 30-minute tutoring sessions with graduate students from National Kaohsiung Normal University\u2019s Center for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. During these sessions, they only communicate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[137],"class_list":["post-4419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2024-summer","tag-taiwan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4419"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4430,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419\/revisions\/4430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}