The Best Way to Have Your Summer Getaways
words & photos by Tina Chang, Melody Fu,
Eve Cheng & Connie Shao
words & photos by Tina Chang, Melody Fu,
Eve Cheng & Connie Shao
One superiority of being an university student is having a 3-month-long summer holiday in which you can lie on your bed all day, eating chips and watching TV series one after another. However, if that’s all you do during your summer holiday, it is incredibly wasteful! Our advice is to go out to travel. Enjoying picturesque views, eating exotic food and making international friends will not only broaden your horizons but also give you inspiration for your life and future. This article has identified you several choices for great summer getaways, from help exchange to summer school. You’d better pick up your pencil and start planning your coming summer holiday now!
Service Learning in the Philippines—Tina Chang
There were in total twelve days I spent in the Philippines, doing service learning with my classmates of the English Department. It was not a long story, but indeed an unforgettable memory of my university life.
Before departure, I put efforts into being sufficiently prepared, hoping to give students in the Philippines a good impression of Taiwan and our department. I designed in-class activities, prepared teaching materials, and even practiced a Taiwanese indigenous dance to perform. I also learned some basic Filipino and taboos in Filipino culture.
During my stay in the Philippines, I had an incredibly amazing time: teaching students, making friends with them, learning from each person I met and feeling love and beloved. At the end of the project, I did not want to disappoint my students I chose not to tell them this was actually our first and last time coming there.
Besides our teaching sections, we also went to museums, traditional markets, hotels, churches, and a fisherman’s village, experiencing the local customs and practices. Although poor, people there worked hard, staying positive and having firm faith in God. They all had smiles on their faces when we met them, and their cheer made me examine myself, a person always grousing about the small things in life.
Great as it was, overseas volunteer work still sets barriers. It costs much, both money and time, yet you can never gauge the achievement. Additionally, it also tests your adaptability in a totally strange environment. Frankly, it is not suitable for everyone.
Nevertheless, I always believe that “the only journey is the one within.” Only when I step out of my comfort zone, am I able to discover some unrealized dimensions of myself and feel refreshed.
Help Exchange in Japan— Melody Fu
While everyone raves about working holidays, I have found an alternative that allows me to spend less money while experiencing the local culture and making international friends. Help exchange let helpers use their crafts in exchange for accommodation. The job options range from international work to hostel help, from English teaching to website design.
I have completed four help exchanges so far, including teaching English, building a wooden house, housekeeping, and assisting school teachers. The biggest advantage about help exchange is that the working hours are normally a few hours a day with one or two days off per week. Moreover, I can stay from a few days to more than a year as long as the host agrees, which allows me to easily insert the plan into my vacation schedules.
Furthermore, living with either hosts or other helpers is beneficial for deeper cultural understanding and discovering one’s self, as I firmly believe that conversations with different people inspire to educate.
Also, the fact that I was able to experience multiple types of work made these exchanges intoxicating adventures to me. I have stayed in rural areas as well as cities. One thing in common and one thing for sure is that wherever I stay, I feel alive every day when I try to adapt myself to the surroundings and the culture. I have realized my potentials for jobs regarding different fields through exchanges. More thoughts and opportunities pop up as I have befriended more people.
However, finding a host and job that suits me is never easy. Most jobs need specific skills. In addition, hosts do not reply to applications that often. Also, I need to prepare money for some extra expenses.
In the end, combining traveling with help exchange can be more stimulating with the advantage of a part of the accommodation and board expenses being covered in my opinion.
Backpacker in South East Asia— Eve Cheng
I had a two month trip to Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Thailand last summer. That was my first time going backpacking alone. Except for two weeks working as a helper at hostels in Colombo and Bangkok, I traveled around for the rest of the time.
Staying in a country for a long time allowed me to understand more about the country. I like trying cuisine in local kitchen restaurants. I like to walk around and observe locals’ daily lives. To me, traveling is an easier way to understand the world, while backpacking is a cheaper way of traveling.
As it is so cheap, it forced me to learn many skills, and to learn more about myself. Eventually, it changed me, but in a good way. I began to embrace the uncertainty and became more independent. Moreover, I met awesome people from all over the world. Their stories made me believe that life is full of opportunities.
On the other hand, the cons of backpacking are limited luggage space, safety concerns, and lack of companionship. Having a backpack is convenient when moving from place to place, but a huge and heavy bag might cause inconvenience. Also, some people may consider solo backpacking dangerous but always staying alert helps you stay safe while traveling.
Solo trips can be boring sometimes but they give you the chance to meet new friends. I might forget what amazing views I saw but I will always remember the people I met. Backpacking does more good than harm. You should try it!
Connie Shao Summer School in the USA
Last summer, I attended a five-week summer session at University of California, Riverside. I took two courses, Music in Films and Introduction to Business. The reason why I wanted to take summer courses in the first place was because I wanted to experience what it is like to study with Americans, and the experience turned out to be more rewarding than I expected.
For Introduction to Business, I worked on a product extension project with three of my classmates. The experience was quite challenging for me because as much as I feel comfortable speaking English, I was not completely sure whether my English is good enough to be in a group presentation or to contribute to a project that was outside my expertise. However, my teammates encouraged me throughout the entire project and lent help whenever I had any questions. After our oral presentation, we even sat for a while to chat about our lives.
As for my Music in Films class, I tended to spend time observing my classmates. A lot of my observations were similar to classroom atmospheres in Taiwan. There were people who enrolled for the credits and did not really pay much attention and there were also people who were interested in film music and would love to know more about the history of music in movies. I loved the class and I spent a lot of time preparing for the quizzes and assignments. I wrote my term paper on the scores of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My training in the English Department allowed me to provide insight to my analysis and my experience writing a synthesis essay helped me to organize the theories learnt in class to apply to my essay.
I had a great time in the States. I spent some time travelling when I was not in school. I want to go back and I even wish I could finish my college education there. However, the most important thing I learned is that I should never forget where I come from. Even though I seemed to fit in very well and have no trouble communicating with locals, this is an opportunity to broaden my horizons rather than think lowly of where I come from. Nevertheless, I would still recommend people to take the opportunity to study abroad. It is one direct way you can experience what it is like to step out of your comfort zone and get a better understanding of what you already know and what you did not know.
Service Learning in the Philippines—Tina Chang
There were in total twelve days I spent in the Philippines, doing service learning with my classmates of the English Department. It was not a long story, but indeed an unforgettable memory of my university life.
Before departure, I put efforts into being sufficiently prepared, hoping to give students in the Philippines a good impression of Taiwan and our department. I designed in-class activities, prepared teaching materials, and even practiced a Taiwanese indigenous dance to perform. I also learned some basic Filipino and taboos in Filipino culture.
During my stay in the Philippines, I had an incredibly amazing time: teaching students, making friends with them, learning from each person I met and feeling love and beloved. At the end of the project, I did not want to disappoint my students I chose not to tell them this was actually our first and last time coming there.
Besides our teaching sections, we also went to museums, traditional markets, hotels, churches, and a fisherman’s village, experiencing the local customs and practices. Although poor, people there worked hard, staying positive and having firm faith in God. They all had smiles on their faces when we met them, and their cheer made me examine myself, a person always grousing about the small things in life.
Great as it was, overseas volunteer work still sets barriers. It costs much, both money and time, yet you can never gauge the achievement. Additionally, it also tests your adaptability in a totally strange environment. Frankly, it is not suitable for everyone.
Nevertheless, I always believe that “the only journey is the one within.” Only when I step out of my comfort zone, am I able to discover some unrealized dimensions of myself and feel refreshed.
Help Exchange in Japan— Melody Fu
While everyone raves about working holidays, I have found an alternative that allows me to spend less money while experiencing the local culture and making international friends. Help exchange let helpers use their crafts in exchange for accommodation. The job options range from international work to hostel help, from English teaching to website design.
I have completed four help exchanges so far, including teaching English, building a wooden house, housekeeping, and assisting school teachers. The biggest advantage about help exchange is that the working hours are normally a few hours a day with one or two days off per week. Moreover, I can stay from a few days to more than a year as long as the host agrees, which allows me to easily insert the plan into my vacation schedules.
Furthermore, living with either hosts or other helpers is beneficial for deeper cultural understanding and discovering one’s self, as I firmly believe that conversations with different people inspire to educate.
Also, the fact that I was able to experience multiple types of work made these exchanges intoxicating adventures to me. I have stayed in rural areas as well as cities. One thing in common and one thing for sure is that wherever I stay, I feel alive every day when I try to adapt myself to the surroundings and the culture. I have realized my potentials for jobs regarding different fields through exchanges. More thoughts and opportunities pop up as I have befriended more people.
However, finding a host and job that suits me is never easy. Most jobs need specific skills. In addition, hosts do not reply to applications that often. Also, I need to prepare money for some extra expenses.
In the end, combining traveling with help exchange can be more stimulating with the advantage of a part of the accommodation and board expenses being covered in my opinion.
Backpacker in South East Asia— Eve Cheng
I had a two month trip to Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Thailand last summer. That was my first time going backpacking alone. Except for two weeks working as a helper at hostels in Colombo and Bangkok, I traveled around for the rest of the time.
Staying in a country for a long time allowed me to understand more about the country. I like trying cuisine in local kitchen restaurants. I like to walk around and observe locals’ daily lives. To me, traveling is an easier way to understand the world, while backpacking is a cheaper way of traveling.
As it is so cheap, it forced me to learn many skills, and to learn more about myself. Eventually, it changed me, but in a good way. I began to embrace the uncertainty and became more independent. Moreover, I met awesome people from all over the world. Their stories made me believe that life is full of opportunities.
On the other hand, the cons of backpacking are limited luggage space, safety concerns, and lack of companionship. Having a backpack is convenient when moving from place to place, but a huge and heavy bag might cause inconvenience. Also, some people may consider solo backpacking dangerous but always staying alert helps you stay safe while traveling.
Solo trips can be boring sometimes but they give you the chance to meet new friends. I might forget what amazing views I saw but I will always remember the people I met. Backpacking does more good than harm. You should try it!
Connie Shao Summer School in the USA
Last summer, I attended a five-week summer session at University of California, Riverside. I took two courses, Music in Films and Introduction to Business. The reason why I wanted to take summer courses in the first place was because I wanted to experience what it is like to study with Americans, and the experience turned out to be more rewarding than I expected.
For Introduction to Business, I worked on a product extension project with three of my classmates. The experience was quite challenging for me because as much as I feel comfortable speaking English, I was not completely sure whether my English is good enough to be in a group presentation or to contribute to a project that was outside my expertise. However, my teammates encouraged me throughout the entire project and lent help whenever I had any questions. After our oral presentation, we even sat for a while to chat about our lives.
As for my Music in Films class, I tended to spend time observing my classmates. A lot of my observations were similar to classroom atmospheres in Taiwan. There were people who enrolled for the credits and did not really pay much attention and there were also people who were interested in film music and would love to know more about the history of music in movies. I loved the class and I spent a lot of time preparing for the quizzes and assignments. I wrote my term paper on the scores of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My training in the English Department allowed me to provide insight to my analysis and my experience writing a synthesis essay helped me to organize the theories learnt in class to apply to my essay.
I had a great time in the States. I spent some time travelling when I was not in school. I want to go back and I even wish I could finish my college education there. However, the most important thing I learned is that I should never forget where I come from. Even though I seemed to fit in very well and have no trouble communicating with locals, this is an opportunity to broaden my horizons rather than think lowly of where I come from. Nevertheless, I would still recommend people to take the opportunity to study abroad. It is one direct way you can experience what it is like to step out of your comfort zone and get a better understanding of what you already know and what you did not know.