7/14/17
When coming to Taiwan for this study abroad trip, I did not know what to expect from the class, what we would learn, and how strenuous the work load would be. On this day class began at 9:00, so we rolled out of bed around 7:30 to give us enough time to prepare for class and grab breakfast. After doing so, we strolled into class about ten minutes early and had plenty of time to chat and converse with the other student. Class then began as Dr. Jih arose and quieted the group. "I know that in every other class you have taken there has been many lectures, powerpoints, and other typical American classroom work, so we will be doing this class a little bit differently," he exclaimed. He then proceeded to tell us that this class will be very relaxed with much casual conversation. The overarching purpose of this trip was to explore the culture and a different country, and to have much time for self reflection and internal thought. I really like this idea, and it almost made me more motivated to listen in class in the first place. On the first day we spoke a lot on the topic of life perspective and the controllability of ourselves, things, and those around us. "As humans, we need to adapt to what we cannot control," Dr. Jih said in a soothing tone. He further explained that, "we should not worry about the things we cannot control." One of the main ideas he was getting at was that our outlook on life is much of what will determine how happy we truly are. After this eyeopening conversation, we moved more into the topic of systems. I was amazed with systems because Dr. Jih helped us foster the idea that practically everything is a system or is a part of one: each cell in our body, the system of cells that make up body parts, the body parts and organs that make us human, the group of humans that can make a group, all the students that create a school, all of the parts of a city that make the city whole and functional, all of the cities and industries that create a country, and all of the countries that make the system of the world we know today. Systems do no stop there though, for a whole other realm of systems revolves in technology and the digital age we live in. All companies are systems that combine humans, robots, computers, software/hardware, and AI into one. Dr. Jih did a phenomenal job of catching my attention and really getting me thinking about these ideas.
Class then ended shortly around 12, and we were set free for the day. We got some sort of authentic Asian food for lunch (I can barely tell the difference between ethnicities of food at this point because they are so similar, but I am working on it), and then set off to explore the local town. Sandy and Sunny were nice enough to group up with us and help show us how the system of their city worked. We first went to the store and got some easy cards with some cash on them. These were the cards that were used for almost everything in town. These uses included bikes, buses, trains, and even convenience stores. We rode all over town the rest of the night and explored all facets of the local area. We climbed trees, saw Sandy's home, went to the local park and skate park, saw the gym and pool, saw some karate, played games at the market
and even tested out a few of the local beers. I was a fantastic day to say the least. At the end of the night we barely made it back to the dorm in time for curfew, but when we did, Trent and I showered and passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
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