A Portuguese in Taiwan — My Great New Adventure
I wanted to do a Gap Year before choosing my Masters, so this opportunity came at just the right time, I could not let it slip through my fingers.
It was time to go. 6 months in Taiwan to learn Mandarin Chinese. Challenge accepted. I am mesmerized anywhere I look. It is all so alive.
Unsure about which path to follow after a Bachelor in Economics, learning Chinese presented itself as a great next step. “Why not?” my inner self said. I wanted to do a Gap Year before choosing my Masters, so this opportunity came at just the right time, I could not let it slip through my fingers.
After the best four months’ internship I could have ever asked for, it was time to go.
6 months in Taiwan to learn Mandarin Chinese. Challenge accepted.
So far, so good. I feel overwhelmed by their religiosity. I am mesmerized anywhere I look. It is all so alive, the Taiwanese are the kindest and the people I have met until now have already made this journey worthwhile. Despite being more than 11000 km away from home, Taipei is really starting to grow on me.
This has been the most intense month I have ever lived. Yes, it surpasses Nova SBE’s exam season. Not understanding a single word around you is frustrating. But it is what motivates me in class. It is what keeps me going at the end of the day, knowing that in a few months it will all make sense (hopefully!).
I’m currently enrolled at the Mandarin Training Center, where people such as Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan, learnt Chinese. The intensive course is indeed utterly exhaustive. After 3 mandatory hours of class per day, we must dedicate 4 extra hours to studying and practising Mandarin outside the classroom. Mine is composed of 9 people, from Japan to England, the USA and even Thailand. Our 64-years-old “lǎoshī” is retiring next year, so we’re all relying on her expertise to teach us in the best way possible. We feel just like her grandchildren: learning our first words and just now starting to speak.
These days, it seems there is always rain on the weather forecast. Nonetheless, if by any chance you find yourself in Taipei on a sunny day, make sure to go up Elephant Mountain and appreciate one of the best views over the city. Though the most important survival tip I can give is the following: head to Shilin Night Market and find your way to the stairs leading to the underground food court. Whenever you are ready to order (trust me, it is more difficult than one can imagine), just say “wǒ yào” and point at what you’re going for. They’ll think you can speak fluent Chinese and they’ll reply too enthusiastically. Enjoy it!
Madalena Gomes was recently granted the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship, which has proven to be her biggest challenge thus far. She is currently living in Taipei, Taiwan, and after learning Chinese for six months, Madalena plans on starting her Masters’ degree at Nova SBE.
During her three years as a BSc Economics student at Nova SBE, Madalena was a volunteer at a house for children at risk, she was also the President of GreenNova Student Club and a Fundraiser at Associação Gap Year Portugal. These accomplishments awarded her a place at the Board of Honor of 2016–2017. Drawn to places where she needed to keep an eye on exchange rates, her Erasmus was in Zagreb, Croatia. After graduating in Economics at Nova SBE, Madalena underwent a four-month internship at NOVO BANCO, in the Marketing Department. After graduating in Economics at Nova SBE, Madalena underwent a four-month internship at NOVO BANCO, in the Marketing Department.
