By Tex Tourais, Dean of Digital Learning & Upper School English Faculty
Trip Chaperones: Tourais, Upper School Chinese Teacher Lily Childs, and Middle School Chinese & French Teacher Zuowei Chang
Over Winter Term, some Upper School students traveled to Taiwan, an opportunity provided by our Global Learning program. From January 4 through 15, they explored the vibrant island, rich in culture, history, and natural beauty. This trip provided a unique chance to immerse oneself in Taiwanese traditions, Mandarin language, taste authentic cuisine, visit breathtaking landmarks, and engage with local communities. Students even spent two nights with families from a school in Changua for a true cultural immersion experience. Read the travelogue below, written by chaperone Tex Tourais, for a breakdown of what students got to do and see each day of the Taiwan 2026 Winter Term Trip!
After seven delightful hours exploring the vagaries of SFO—the garden cafe at the end of Concourse G, the Frenchman snoozing on the window ledge in the tunnel between C & D, the yoga room by gate E6–we are seated and prepped for flight.
January 6, 2026:
Today started off with the clack and skitter of Chinese yoyos, also known as a diabolo in English and either 扯铃” (chě líng) or “空竹” (kōngzhú) in Chinese, across the patio outside the Just Sleep Hotel. Our two instructors opened with the basics: teaching the kids to roll and then lift the yoyo off the ground. From there, we advanced to throws, complex string arrangements like “The Spider,” and finally movements involving multiple yoyoists, which is a word I did not know existed. As nearly all of the students were novices, there was quite a ruckus at the beginning, but our Rams are learned young scholars and know that “the beginning of things… is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing” and so remained undaunted. By the sweat of their brow and sheer force of will, they eventually worked their way up from “public nuisance” to “incompetent” and finally “vaguely competent.” You will find the evidence of their diligence and tenacity in the gallery attached.
After working up an appetite, it was off to Din Tai Fung for xiaolongbao, vegetable fried rice, taro buns, braised beef noodle soup, spicy shrimp and pork wontons, cold dressed wood ear mushrooms, spicy pickled cucumber, and many other culinary delights. Speaking of! Our afternoon consisted of a jaunt over to the Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry for a lesson in pineapple cake baking. The students scraped and whisked and spatula-ed the butter, sugar, and flour together before shaping the dough, wrapping it around a square of pineapple paste, and stamping their creation with their personal seal. These cakes were baked, as is the tradition, and then wrapped and packaged. Our work complete, we headed to the Daan district for some light shopping before heading to dinner… where there was more work! Taiwanese BBQ was the order of the day. Each table had little grills in the center where students roasted items selected from a conveyor belt. Soon, the air was filled with the smell of meat, vegetables, mushrooms, and more marshmallows than one dared to dream of. Their day done, our heroes headed home for some well-deserved rest.
January 7, 2026:
After breakfast at the hotel, we got on the bus and girded our loins for a few hours of gridlock. Strangely, we experienced smooth sailing most of the way and arrived at TSMC 40 minutes early. The result? An impromptu karaoke party featuring Miley Cyrus, Toby Keith, and Sean Mendes. Our first stop of the day was the Education Facility at TSMC. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, we learned, was founded in 1987 by Dr. Morris Chang. One major innovation was the dedicated semiconductor foundry business model. A source of national pride, TSMC is capable of producing an imaging chip so small I hid one in the period at the end of this sentence. It is probably also responsible for the custom silicon chip driving whatever you’re reading this on—one certainly facilitated the writing. Any complaints, therefore, regarding the quality of this journal should be remitted to mchang@tsmc.org.
After a brief tour of the museum, the students took a Virtual Reality tour of a city of the future and experienced a day-in-the-life of one of its denizens. Olivia and Angelina scoped out chip manufacturing plants around the world and decided that the one in Nanjing is “tough”—though your humble narrator believes they’re sleeping on the design of Phoenix, AZ. Finally, Nolan was particularly taken by the shadow art you’ll find in the attached gallery which loosely translates to, “Within each challenge lies a bright future.” If I mangled the lyricism of the quote, feel free to provide a better translation in the comments!
From there, and in the grand tradition of tourists eating their way across a country, we learned how to make Bubble Tea at Chun Shui Tang teahouse, the place of its birth. The students chose to have the instructor teach in Mandarin, filling their chaperones’ hearts with pride. That also meant it was time to test out the translation capabilities of my AirPods. I was impressed as they did allow me to follow along and make my tea. They also translated one line from the instructor as, “I am your concubine,” which added a little zest to the proceedings. In place of romantic confessions, the students learned that Lin Hsiu Hui added tapioca balls (fen yuan) to iced milk tea in 1988 after being inspired by Bai Ju Yi’s “Pipa Xing” (Pipa Song), which compares the sound of the pipa to pearls failing on a jade plate. They also learned the true meaning of “vigorous” when the instructor demonstrated how to shake the tea. Our final stop of the day was the Feng Chia Night Market for street food, shopping, and an unexpected jackpot from Cooper!
January 8, 2026:
Dawn broke with the delightful discovery of macaroons at the breakfast buffet! I mean, the heated toilet seats and shower TVs were one thing, but breakfast dessert? You don’t lie, La Vida Hotel: this is The Life! Yet, that was just the start of a truly jam-packed day.
Into the bus, we piled and commenced our ascent to 500 meters above sea level where resides the Goang Xing Paper Mill. A brief walk down tree-lined streets and past a calligraphy shop with origami in the windows took us to the Mill itself. After a brief tour of a paper museum, our docent walked us through the paper-making process before giving everyone a chance to make their own. Wooden screens were plunged into vats of pulp, frames were shaken, vises were vised to remove moisture, and our sheets were eventually laid out on a drying table and lightly brushed. Once dry, the student selected designs to pound into their paper and finished with embossed images of their choosing. Next on the agenda was a fan-making class. Things went smoothly until the final stage, which was to depict cherry blossom trees by blowing black ink branches across the fan before flicking red ink for the blossoms. One student, who will remain nameless, got a little confused and ended up splattering one of his tablemates with ink instead. I have to say: the “human canvas” responded with an impressive display of calm, cool maturity. Cheers to him. And cheers to the students brave enough to pet the bees at the apiary across the street from the mill.
Some might think the events of the last post would be enough for one day but not us! We sneer at those “some” and shake our heads at the weakness of their will. On our short trip down to Sun Moon Lake, our tour guide informed us that Taiwan’s largest lake was said to have been created when the Sun and Moon fell from the sky to create the crater that serves as its basin. Beyond that, swimming in the lake is discouraged as a mermaid—who is less Ariel and more Creature from the Black Lagoon—is believed to live at the bottom. The indigenous people purportedly made a deal with the mermaid to only ferry across the lake during the day. Those who violate this pact are cursed in ancient and nameless ways (Foreshadowing!). Once at the lake, we rented bikes and rode to the observation deck at the other end before returning to our origin and dashing off to the ferry. The sun was in full decent, so some members of our party remained in town to sightsee while the rest decided to press their luck and risk the curse. We started our voyage at Shuishe Pier, glided past Lalu Island, landed at Xuanguang Temple, headed over to Ito Thao Pier, and returned to Shuishe just as the sun was sinking below the tree line and the Curse of the Mermaid was bubbling up from the depths. The door of our vessel was thrown open! A mad dash ensued! Luckily, everyone made it off in time, except for one poor child I made stay on the boat because she turned in an essay one day late last year. Actions have consequences, that’s what this poor, cursed child learned today before making her way back to the bus on webbed feet.
January 9, 2026:
After a lovely breakfast with breathtaking views, we crossed the street to Wenwu Temple. Built in the 1980s, the temple is awe-inspiring in scope and artistry. Now, it’s onto the bus for three and a half hours as we head to CCVS (Chung Cheng Vocational School) and our host families. Students will be performing short group presentations on MICDS, STL, and their daily lives. Pray for them!
Big day today! It was time for the students to meet their hosts and take the stage. Our visit to CCVS (Chung-Cheng Vocational School) started with lunch; then, students were sent into the classrooms in teams of four to deliver presentations about MICDS, STL, and their daily lives. Anxiety was high, but no deaths ensued. After their presentations, classroom activities ranged from impromptu dance performances to karaoke to basketball demonstrations. The welcome party followed wherein hosts were challenged to give a short speech about Kaoshiung before our students were challenged to translate. Emmaus lucked out with the shortest speech by far: “I like omelettes.” The students with multiple paragraphs were not amused. The ceremony was finished by a Kahoot! about Kaoshiung won by Nicholas!
CCVS has been a most gracious host, loading our kids up with all manner of snacks and treats. They’re all off with their host families now, so this will be it from me for a little while. See you on the other side of our students’ most anticipated event!
January 10, 2026:
Today was spent with the host families, so we created a Favorite Photo Contest. The kids were asked to submit one photo from the day; later, we’ll have them vote to see who snapped the toughest shot. Entries in the album! (Just for context, one photo is of a house cat that won’t stop claiming a student’s backpack for a bed, and another photo is of a “lizard thing” a student saw.). I’ll update as more photos roll in; some students are under the impression the MICDS late policy applies to this contest.
January 11, 2026:
Travel Day/Karaoke
January 12 , 2026:
Big series of updates today! Much of the morning of the 11th was spent with host families and at a going away party at Thai Town Restaurant (and surrounding department stores). Finally, however, it was time to say farewell. What ensued was rivers of tears and much gnashing of teeth, tearing of hair, and rending of garments. All joking aside, it was quite sweet. I hadn’t expected the kids to get so attached in two days, but as Emmaus told me, “We packed a lot of living into those two days.” As a result, we did see some ugly-crying at the train station, and I think I counted six separate group goodbyes.
After blasting our way North on the high-speed rail, we arrived back in Taipei City and settled into our new digs. The rest of the day was spent with dinner at the night market and a little karaoke.
The 11th was a little thin on photo-ops, but the 12th did not disappoint. The first stop of the day was Shifen Falls, which is referred to as the Niagara of Taiwan. Its size, however, is not the cause of its fame. The cultural significance comes from the practice of releasing lanterns from nearby Old Nostalgic Street. In the gallery, you’ll see pictures of the kids painting their wishes—some GPA-related, some not—on lanterns and releasing them into the sky. We actually packed all of that in before lunch, which was Shabu Shabu at a local restaurant.
After lunch, we ascended into the mountains to check in on Jiufen—a lovely town built into the side of a mountain and overlooking a bay. Temples, vistas, and shops were the order of the day. The day ended, for some, at Raohe night market; others remained in daunted and hit ANOTHER night market before turning in at 10 p.m.
January 13, 2026:
In Sanxing Township, there is the loveliest little scallion farm, and that is where our day started. With weather that can only be described as “perfect” and a setting replete with pastoral splendor, the kids embraced their inner farmers. Pulling, separating, and rinsing scallions paved the way for a lesson in scallion cake rolling. Afterwards, we walked to the riverbank and took in the view of rice patties and mountains as the smell of frying scallions wafted towards our backs. All that was left was the tasting: rave reviews abounded, reminding me of Naomi Shihab Nye’s advice regarding simple things: “We’re lucky to have food and feet, cats and beds. To stir biscuits in a big white bowl, then knead them with our hands and wait for them to rise, even when we can’t.”
If you thought we were doing it ourselves, you have seriously underestimated our self-doing stamina. Dee eye WHY?” you say? “Dee eye WHY NOT!!?!?” we exclaim! So on to the Taiwan Arts & Crafts Center we went, which is a DIY-themed amusement park. Nolan and Meg made macaroon-themed key chains; everyone made satchels for bath balms. Check the photo album to see your kids getting a workout by grinding their aromatics with their feet!
January 14, 2026:
The sun rose behind the Historical Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall as we made our way between the two concert halls to the main structure. I haven’t mentioned it before now for fear of jinxing things, but the weather this entire trip has been absolute perfection. We had a little drizzle at the Waterfall for about 15 minutes. Other than that, it’s been either clear skies, like today, or dramatic mountain cloud formations. TL; DR: The majestic white monument against the flat blue sky with the morning sun blazing behind it was a sight to behold!
As befits the last day of a trip, we be fittin’ a ton of stuff in: Bao-an Temple, Confucius Temple and the National Palace Museum, Treasure Chest of Chinese Culture. A brief aside on the Confucius Temple, which are the set of pictures after the wall with the blue & white disc in the center: You’ll note it doesn’t have statues. This is in an attempt to discourage the worshiping of any central figure. The focus here is on humility and personal, critical thinking. The koi pound in front of the wall (and koi dragon sculptures on the wall itself) are due to the perception of koi as baby dragons. Finally, the 108 studs on the door represent the 108 stars that make up the known universe.
It’s lunch now at Michelin-rated Tian Xie Shan Jue, and I’m here to tell you those Michelin chaps know their businesses. This was the best beef noodle soup I’ve ever had… and the pickled eggplant! I heard angels sing!
Final sight seen: Taipei 101!
Thank you for recapping the Taiwan trip so nicely, Mr. Tourais! As for the students’ and fellow chaperone perspectives, read on to see what they shared as their highlights from the trip!
“I was deeply touched when I witnessed how young people from different cultures easily connected and enjoyed spending time together,” shared Ms. Chang.
“The most surprising thing to me was how many trains there are! My host student and I travelled on many different trains, and she never got lost in the stations,” detailed Meg Coverdell ’28. “My top highlight from the trip was getting to go to the night markets in small groups as it allowed us to try new foods and walk around like locals.”
Emmaus Tzeng ’28 reflected, “I think my favorite part of the trip was staying with my host student. Being able to integrate ourselves not only within their culture but also within their lifestyle was such an amazing experience. Being able to just walk, bike, or even ride a ferry around the beautiful area around Kaohsiung, Taiwan, just teens being teens and eating great food, meeting new people, and learning so many new things are memories I’ll never forget.”
More quotes coming soon!