Poly GIP Taiwan

大家好! This is Cavon and Mira excited to tell everyone about our ninth day (last one digit day 🥹) in Taiwan. This morning began with another early 6:00 AM wakeup call before we all groggily made our way down for breakfast in our hotel. After some great food we all walked through the rain and Xiqian subway station to get to our bus and head over to FuZhong for our last day of exchange.                                    Once we got there, we were immediately greeted with a class that combined biology with English literature. Each of the students were split up into groups of four, and they presented on the different environments and habitats found within Taiwan. We learned how Taiwan has environments across almost every category—from tundra to sand dunes—and became familiarized with some of the wildlife in southern Taiwan (where we haven’t traveled to). But, the twist for this activity was that we w...

  大家好! This is Caralee and Ryan clocking into our first full day in Taipei!      We started the morning with our earliest wake up call at 6:00 AM followed by a delicious breakfast in the hotel lobby consisting of boiled eggs, bananas, and a cinnamon roll breakfast sandwich. We then piled into the bus for a 40 minute drive to FuZhong, but traffic made the bus ride even longer. We were all full of anticipation because after nearly 6 months of club meetings and multiple Padlet videos exchanged, we were finally meeting our FuZhong exchange students. As soon as we pulled into the school parking lot, we could see a large group of students, smiling, waving, and warm with welcome. Stepping off of the bus, while some students immediately found their student and rushed in to give hugs, I (Caralee) was a little more hesitant as I didn’t immediately find my partner student. But as soon as I recognized my two exchange students, I was immediately filled with excitement to finally ...

大家好！You guessed it. It’s your favorite, Momo and Russell.  We have officially crossed the halfway mark! Seven days into the trip, and it's safe to say that we are all ready to cancel our flights back home and stay here permanently in Taiwan. Today was packed, yet again, with exciting cultural activities, starting with a slightly difficult wakeup call at 6:30 (We slept for another 30 minutes) 😩 . We woke up in the Toucheng leisure farm, had a traditional breakfast while conversing with some of the locals honing our Chinese skills, and then all piled onto the bus to head to the Yilan Cultural Center. I (Momo) must be honest and say that while I loved the Toucheng farm with all my heart, I was kind of glad to leave behind the gargantuan spiders that looked as though they were made in a military lab.  After a 40 minute bus ride by some beautiful scenery of the ocean and getting to know someone better that we didn’t talk to much on the trip, we arrived at the cultural center,...

  Day 6 - Travel, Travel, and More Travel 你们好! Jordan and Keira reporting for duty Today, we woke up early and prepared for a long bus ride to Yilan. Everyone was very tired from the activities we had done the previous day and slowly got on the bus, unsure of what awaited them but still excited. Most people ended up sleeping after a few minutes on the ride, but some of the students who wanted to contact their parents were given the opportunity to sit in the front of the bus and make a short phone call. To pass some of the time, we talked about our highlights of the trip and played bonding games like Wavelength. We took a rest stop where students used the bathroom and stocked up on snacks for the rest of the ride. It was pouring rain, and all of us sprinted back and forth from the store to the bus because many of us had forgotten our umbrellas. Afterwards, Zhong Lao Shi arranged our seating by drawing names. Each person drew whom they would sit with for the next hour of the ride, an...

  你们好！Cavon and Anara reporting for duty “Bring. Bring. Bring.”  Our classic “Taiwan wake-up call” had arrived. It was time to rise and shine 😎. I (Cavon) got out of what I currently consider to be the comfiest bed of the trip and prepared myself for what would be one of the best days yet. We headed down, and all met up for a breakfast filled with Taichung classics. Pork buns, Taiwanese poached eggs, and the delicious kumquat lemonade were just a few items we enjoyed before heading to the legendary Lin estate garden in the center of the city.  Upon arrival, we were greeted with a beautiful mansion filled with looming arches, carriage rooms, and beautiful plants There, we learned about the tiered structure of ancient Chinese mansions and fascinating traditions and beliefs. Did you know that a three legged frog brings you enormous fortune? Or that bats bring good luck? We didn’t. But Wu老师 taught us. The Lin estate was fascinating, but what made the garden most memorab...

Day 4 - Fazhi Goodbye 大家好！This is William and Jordan reporting for Day 4 of our Taiwan trip! To start our day off, we woke up to a beautiful breakfast prepared by A Mi Lun’s chefs! Our breakfast consisted of bread with assortments of different spreads, along with Taiwanese cabbage, pork, rice, and many other staples. After we finished our breakfast, we split up into 3 vans and headed to the Zhuoshui River near our hotel. The van ride down to the river was super fun as we went off-road through the river and over rocks. As we arrived at the river, many of us decided to get in for a quick dip. We safely waded in the beautiful river while overlooking the mountains. Many students also decided to make rock  fixtures . We also visited a part of the river that was directly beneath a massive aqueduct that connected the two sides of the mountain.   After our fun adventure to the Zhuoshui River, we had an archery contest. Jack did the best out of all of us with a score of 36/50! As our a...