My four months in NTU：密西西比女孩眼中的臺大風景

報導：中英文字/ Rachel Byars Tran雷麗芳

編修：整理/ 林若婷

現今臺大校園中的交換學生比例已逐漸邁入十分之一，真正文化交流的機會也更加頻繁豐富。初次認識Rachel，是在外文系一門探討人文學科學生，如何在數位世代發揮自身長處的討論式課程上。在美國便雙修中文的她，對於文學深刻的看法和擁抱第二語言的熱誠，令人印象深刻。因此邀請她為本報撰文，分享在校園半學年來的想法。

   I arrived in Taiwan nearly four months ago, equipped with nothing more than a handful of broken Chinese and a very real fear of getting lost and dying somewhere in the city.  At the time, my knowledge of both Taipei and NTU was very underdeveloped, limited to the awareness of bubble tea stands and pineapple cakes, but in the weeks that have passed since, I have become more and more familiar with both a country and a school that I have found myself quickly falling in love with.

The first few weeks in Taiwan passed in a blur.  I spent hours wandering campus, after first spending hours wandering Taipei looking for the campus, and by the end of February I had sores on my feet the size of coins.  I was fortunate enough that in the first few weeks, and indeed throughout my entire stay in Taipei, I was and have been able to meet some truly incredible, truly compassionate people who are always, it seems, more than willing to help me get to the post office, the MRT stop, my dorm, etc. without me somehow ending up at Taoyuan instead.  Pages could go into how generous and welcoming the people of Taipei and my fellow foreigners have been, but I don’t have the time or the column space to make that happen.  Suffice to say, the good people of Taiwan have left such an impression on me that I find it hard to believe that crime ever happens in this country.

When signing up for classes, I had no idea what I was doing.  The course selection system for NTU works quite a bit differently than the one I am accustomed to using in the US, so, when I finally started my semester at NTU, my classes were a bit of a shot in the dark.  But I have been overjoyed to find that at NTU I have found a welcoming, loving community of invested teachers and stimulating peers.  In every class that I have taken, I have been presented with the opportunity to meet students from all walks of life, and to engage with them in a way that would have never been possible had I not come to NTU.  The experience has been, in a word, eye opening, and I would not trade it for the world.

While in Taiwan, I have stood atop volcanoes, swum beneath waterfalls, climbed on green reefs, and scaled mountains.  I have met people from Taiwan, China, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Korea, Japan, Brazil, and so many other countries.  I have eaten bitter melon, shaved ice mountains, and stinky tofu.  I have, to the best of my ability, experienced Taiwan and Taipei and NTU in all their fullness, and I am so grateful to have had the experiences that I’ve had.  Everything I have learned here will follow me back to the US, and even when I am old and gray, I am certain that I will still be telling these stories.  It’s been a pleasure, Taiwan.  Until we meet again—

Rachel Byars Tran

我在台灣的時間已將近四個月了。當我到台灣時，我帶的東西不超過一些差的中文知識還有在台北市裡面迷路的害怕。當時，我對台灣和台大的認識僅限於珍珠奶茶店的所在。不過在過去的幾週裡，我跟台灣和台大越來越熟悉，甚至於算是戀愛的了。

最初幾週模糊的過去，我花了幾個小時在校內走，到二月結束時，我腳上已有跟硬幣大小一樣的疼痛。幸虧在當初幾週裡，和我在台灣這個旅行的時間裡，認識了好多又棒又酷的人。他們好像永遠都願意幫我找郵局、公館站、宿舍之類的地方，要不然我大概會迷路到桃園機場。我真可以用幾頁說明在台灣好幫助我的人，可是我沒有夠的文章空間。總的說，台灣人給我的印象好到想不到罪行能在這個國家發生。

來台灣以前，選課的時候我發現台大跟美國大學的有一點差，因此我在台大開始上課的時候，算是無的放矢。可是在這方面，我又遇到了幸運。在我所上的課裡我都找到真會歡迎我的風氣，還有好多喜歡教的老師們和很刺激的同學們。除非我來台大否則沒有這麼多跟台灣和外國學生談話的機會。總而言之，這次訪台，大開眼界。

在台灣我站在了火山上、游泳在瀑布下、坐在綠色石槽上還有爬了山上。我認識的新朋友是從台灣、中國、德國、新加坡、澳洲、韓國、日本、巴西還有許多其他的外國來的。我在台灣的一段時間都一直嘗試本土的經歷，而且我十分感激。我在台灣所學的知識會陪我回國，甚至於即使我很老時，我還會記得這個國家和這些故事，到我們再能見面為止—