George is from Los Angeles, CA and participated in the Taiwan Summer 2018 program.
我在台灣的生活
至於我在台灣的生活，怎麼開始形容它我還不知道。不是因為我忘記了太多事情，反而是什麼都沒忘記；在美麗島我天天寫日記。而不是因為我不喜歡談一談跟中華名國有關的政治的問題，反而是我對這個民主的社會很感興趣。但是我覺得是因為那個非常特別的熱帶島對我有一個本來我沒想到那麼重要的影響。
我叫郭喬治；儘管我生於俄亥俄州克里夫蘭，但是我現在住在加州洛杉磯。這個暑假，我感恩的不得了由於我獲得了美國高中生華語獎學金計畫。為了把漢語學好我有機會去了一個亞洲氣勢恢宏的島－台灣留學。去美麗島之前，雖然我在高中上了兩年的中文課，可是什麼普通話都說得很不流利。但是不僅因為我在台灣的家人每天幫助我讓我的漢語的口音進步了，幫助我了解台灣最耳熟能詳的名勝古蹟 （例如澎湖島，墾丁，花蓮，什麼的），也幫助我記住了每一個非洲的國家的中文名字，而且因為連根我是從美國來的朋友們也什麼英語都沒說，所以後來我能用華語說比較多的話題。
我學習中文真沒有一個秘密；我最重要的辦法就是從來不說英語。儘管第一個，第二個禮拜我說了一點日語，第三個禮拜之後連一點日語也不說。（我剛才想起來去台南的時候我說了一點法語，但是只是一分鐘）。所以大部分的時候，我只用漢語讓其他的人知道我想說的意思。有的時候我也說了一點台語，但是這個是從閩南來的語言對我學中文有幫助。一個人只有只說漢語，才能日積月累地進步他的中文的水平。有的時候不是容易；可是我還找了辦法交一些新的朋友。
在高雄的時候，我不僅學了客家人和原住民的博大精深的文化，而且能更懂美國。儘管我從來沒去過德州，猶他州，特拉華州，還是伊利諾伊州，一個我以前以為是一個無聊的州，但是認識是從各種各樣的地點來的美國人，其中有一個住在德國的美國人，讓我很想去看一看我的舉世無雙的國家。
看南投縣的日月潭，還是看阿里山的風景如畫，還是看旗津的詩情畫意的海邊，還是在佛光山吃世界上最好吃的素食之一，都讓我愛上台灣的豐富多彩的文化和悠久的歷史。跟我不認識的坐捷運的高雄人談一談在瑞豐夜市賣的襯衫上面有奇怪的英語，還是津津有味地喝我在台灣奶奶種的甘蔗汁，當然我的經驗是忘不了的。但是比較重要的事情就是我現在有一個不一樣的世界的看法。如果你喜歡學其他的語言和文化，美國高中生語言獎學金計畫真的是一個很值得做的機會。
My Life on Taiwan (Translated from the Chinese by the Author)
As for my life on Taiwan, I still don’t know how to start explaining it. It’s not because I forgot too much; in fact, I haven’t forgotten anything (I journaled daily on that Beautiful Isle). It’s also not because I don’t like to discuss political questions related to the Republic of China; in fact, I am very interested in its democratic society. Yet I think it’s because that extremely special tropical island has such an influence on me whose importance I had originally not expected.
My name is George Grube; I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but I now live in Los Angeles, California. This summer, I was exceedingly thankful because I received the NSLl-Y scholarship for Chinese. In order to intensely study this Language of the Hans, I had the chance to go to one Magnificent and Breathtaking Asian Island—Taiwan—to study abroad. Although I had taken two years of high school Chinese, I spoke any and all Mandarin positively un-fluently before going to that Beautiful Isle. Yet not only because my Taiwanese family every day helped me to improve my Chinese accent; helped me to understand Taiwan’s Most Celebrated and Distinguished Historical Sites (e.g. the Pescadores Islands, Kending, Hualien Province, etc.); and helped me to memorize the Chinese name of every African country, but also because even with my American friends I never spoke English, in the end I was therefore able to use this Chinese Tongue to speak on a few more topics.
My study of Chinese really has no secret; my most important method just is never speaking English. Even though during the first and second weeks I spoke a little Japanese, I didn’t say any Japanese after the third. (The fact that I spoke French when we went to Tainan just came to mind, but that was only for a minute.) So, for most of the time, I only used Chinese to let other people know the meaning of what I wanted to say. Sometimes, I also spoke a little of the Taiwanese Dialect of Han Chinese, but this tongue from the Minan Province helped my learning of the Whole Chinese Language. A person must work through solely speaking this Language of the Hans; then, finally, Day by Day, Month by Month one is able to improve their Chinese level. Sometimes it was not easy; but I still found ways by which to make some new friends.
When I was in Kaohsiung, I not only studied the Rich and Deep Cultures of the Hakka and of the Formosan Aborigines; I was also able to better understand America. Although I have never been to Texas, Utah, Delaware, or Illinois—this one previously being a state I incorrectly assumed to be boring—meeting Americans from a menagerie of locations, among which being somebody who lived in Germany, made me want to go out and see my own Matchless and Incomparable Country.
Seeing the Sun Moon Lake of Nantou County, or watching the Picturesque Scenery of Mount Ali, or regarding Qijin island’s seaside that has an even Poetic Beauty, or eating some of the best vegetarian food in the world at Foguangshan Monastery—all of this made me fall in love with Taiwan’s Sumptuous and Varied Culture as well as her Magnificent and Long History. Speaking with taking the Taiwanese Tube (Subway) Kaohsiungers—whom I had never before met—about the shirts sold with weird English on the front at the Ruifeng Night Market Bazaar, or most Eagerly Slurping the sugar cane juice my own, paternal Taiwanese grandmother grew, my experiences were of course unforgettable. But what’s more important is that I now have a different worldview. If you like studying other languages and cultures, NSLI-Y in any language is truly a worthwhile opportunity.