In just under two weeks, I'll be on my way to Taiwan and
Japan. I will admit that it didn't really feel real until a few days ago,
though I did start planning months in advance. I've wanted to go to Japan since
I was little and I've been fascinated with Taiwan ever since the trip was
announced.
I am not an expert, but I know a fair amount
about Japan. I have taken a year of Japanese language as well as a semester
long Japanese history course. I have some friends originally from Japan and other
friends currently studying abroad or working there. I read manga and novels on
Japanese history, watch Japanese TV drama shows and have a few culture books so
I knew what I was signing up for.
Taiwan was
another matter at first, I knew where it was and what it's history was in
relation to Japan. I also knew a CMU exchange student from there who told me a
fair bit about the small town she grew up in, but not about the country as a
whole. So after I signed up for the trip
I started watching documentaries such as Taiwan- The E-Island, Pages
of Free Minds, The Story of
Taiwan's Industry Clusters, and Lighting
the Way: Taiwan's Eco-Friendly Future to better prepare myself in the
business aspects. I also, at the recommendation of my NTNU "buddy", started
watching a couple subtitled Taiwanese dramas. As with television everywhere,
they are a bit over exaggerated plot-wise but do provide a little bit of a
glimpse at daily life.
Travel preparations have always come easily to me because I tend to go on trips often. For big trips
I make my packing list a month ahead and then add and subtract things as needed
to ensure that nothing gets left, so that part is covered. I have gotten all the
standards completed as well (let you
credit card company know you're going overseas, fill prescriptions, gather
entertaining stuff for the flight and so on). My main preparations for this trip are to
refresh my Japanese through looking back over my books and watching/ listening
to a lot of Japanese language programming (TV dramas, anime, music, radio) as
well as starting the process of learning survival Mandarin.
I'm really
looking forward to the trip especially to Itsukushima and the Edo-Tokyo Museum,
two topics that came up again and again in my history class. I'm also excited
about every single company visit since they all promise to be extremely fascinating.
I'm a bit concerned about the language barrier I'll be facing in Taiwan and
about trying to order food there when I have no idea what anything is. I'm also a bit nervous about the sheer length
of the flight. I've overcome these difficulties in the past though so I'm pretty
sure I can do it again.
