NSLI-Y 2025 Taiwan – Week 5
你好朋友們! It’s David, Kelly, Tommy, and Nitya to recap Week Five (our second to last week 😱😱😱). This week was jam packed with cultural activities, group outings, and even an excursion outside of Taipei!
Monday ended with a SCHABANG! We paired up with our language partners to compete in our own rendition of “Taboo.” Divided into two teams, each pair had to describe specific vocabulary without saying the actual word–all in Mandarin of course! The team to correctly guess the most vocabulary words would win! The first session ended in a tie or with the pink team winning, depending on who you ask… Thanks Nan Laoshi for the *interesting* score keeping…
During lunch on Tuesday, many of us brought back some classic elementary school games designed to infuriate everyone unaware of the rules. While some of these games were eventually solved by a large portion of our cohort, other games (we’re looking at you Maya) remain a complete mystery…
That afternoon, we participated in a traditional carving class with a professional artist, in which we tried our best to inscribe our Chinese names and other traditional characters in ancient script. Some of us had more success than others, but we all had an amazing time!
After class on Wednesday, we sang our hearts out 😝. Our first group KTV experience was fun, to say the least. We sang iconic hits such as I Want It That Way, Toxic, and Dancing Queen until our voices gave out. Although they didn’t have Nicki Minaj or Beyoncé, we made do with the roster of songs provided by the karaoke machine. Shout out to Mike for his valiant attempt at Mandorap!
Nishta, Marcela, Idhaant, Marshall, Mike, and David singing American Pie by Don McLean.
Thursday was another GREAT language partner session. In this one, we played Two Truths and a Lie–once again *obviously* in Mandarin! Through this activity, we realized that five weeks in, we still had so much more to learn about our friends! For example, did you know that Idhaant crashed an ATV in Jamaica? Or that Rohan drove through not one, but two tornadoes in 2011? Or that Maya has actually met FIVE NBA players?
On Friday, we had an RD meeting about the evolution of Taiwanese culture that ended with a sweet twist: Mandarin tongue twisters with donuts for the winners! Shoutout to me (Tommy) and my team (Stella, Rocio, Mike, and Rohan) for getting the highest average of 8.35/10!
Mandarin tongue twisters–try if you dare!
Saturday began with the Yilan trip we’ve been waiting for since day one! Our first stop was at the National Center for Traditional Arts, where we toured the 博物館 (bówùguǎn, museum). After lunch, we had a puppet show! Here, the puppet master not only performed an elaborate sword fight, but also gave us the chance to paint our own puppets and perform a traditional children’s story (Aunt Tiger). During the free time after class, we had the opportunity to visit the on-site temple, shop, and enjoy some refreshing kumquat tea.
Then, we hopped on the bus to Yilan’s famous Luodong night market! With our college counterparts in the Taiwan Intensive Summer Language program, we explored the bustling streets, getting to eat both classic Taiwanese dishes and unique Yilan treats.
Sam and Valor at the Yilan night market.
Later, exhausted from the day of cultural activities, we were happy to arrive at our hotel for the night. Some of us played a game of darts. Others tried to figure out the rules behind David’s card game that SHALL NOT be named. If you know, you know. The only rule is that you cannot be told the rules before playing 😱. While no one fully mastered this game, we made significant inroads that we hope to build upon throughout our last week! We eventually all went back to our rooms, spending time with our roommates and enjoying some much needed rest!
Refreshed the next morning, we got up bright and early to grab a quick breakfast before heading off to the Gold Museum in Ruifang. Although the tour mini train was closed, we still had the opportunity to take some pics inside previously active gold mines before heading to lunch.
Nat, David, and Mike enjoying the view at the Gold Museum.
The view.
After a delicious lunch and some complementary popsicle sticks, we were ready to continue exploring this beautiful site. As it often happens in Taiwan (and we say this with love) we then promptly got DUMPED on by a sudden thunderstorm. We can say from experience that traversing stairs that more closely resemble waterfalls is not for the faint of heart! Soggy socks and a scenic walk later, we made it back on to the bus. We headed to the final location of our trip, which was Shifen. There, we walked through the memorable main street. We even got to both make and release traditional Chinese lanterns for good luck, as well as future blessings.
Our lovely tour guide!
This pretty much sums up this action packed and all around fantastic week. But it would be remiss to not mention that as he was adding some fun and final edits to this blog, David was attacked ruthlessly by a bird, which used its feces as its weapon… Photos of both the victim and the primary suspect are included below.
David after the incident.
Avian of interest in the investigation.
Jokes aside, we all feel quite bittersweet as we enter our final week in Taiwan! But we can say with confidence that we want to AND WILL make the most of our remaining time here! 🙂