Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills Chinese classes took a trip to Taiwan on May 17 through May 25. They were accompanied by Yi Ping Yao, a Chinese teacher at Valley, Dorely Leal-Drago, a Spanish teacher at Valley, and Stephanie Huang, a Pascack mom and chaperone. The group met their pen pals from a Taiwanese school, enjoyed various cultural foods, and explored the city.
“I [was] confident they [the students] would like the trip but I didn’t know…they [would overwhelmingly] love the trip,” Yao said.
One activity that stood out to the group was climbing the Elephant Mountain. At the top, they could see Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest buildings.
The students were able to try different varieties of Taiwanese foods during their trip.
Leal-Drago and Yao noted that they were able to try foods from places similar to 7-Eleven as well as from traditional night markets. Most of the food that they ate, specifically at breakfast, was family-style.
“[The students] were exposed to all kinds [of food],” Leal-Drago said.
While in Taiwan, the group mainly traveled by metro. They attempted to bike one day, but because of the rain, only a few students participated.
According to PV junior Agnes Koh, one of the highlights of the trip was spending time with her student pen pals from a Taiwanese school.
“Meeting the kids from the…sister school that we have [was my favorite part of the trip],” Koh said.
As noted by Leal-Drago, the students from both schools communicated with each other throughout the school year.
The group visited the sister school and spent time outside the school with their pen pals.
Some of the things that surprised the Pascack group were the cleanliness of Taiwan, how green the country was, and how kind everyone was.
“I asked them what impressed [them]…[and they said] the green,” Yao said. “The mountain is very easy [to] access. [A] hiking trail can be right next to your home.”
For Yao, the trip gave him “an opportunity to bond with the students outside the classroom.”
Yao, Leal-Drago, and Koh all agreed that the only downside of the trip was that it was so short, which led to busy days.
“Honestly, I feel like yes we got the most out of the trip, but I feel like we just had so much to do in a day, so it was kind of tiring,” Koh said. “At the end of the day, I’m still so glad we did all of it.”
All three believe that the trip was one of their favorite experiences.
“[The students told me that] this is the most memorable trip they have had or that they don’t want to [leave],” Yao said.
