Words of Innocence and Experience

I have been in Tsing Hua for four years, and this semester is the beginning of my fifth year (and hopefully the last one) here. The longer I stay in Tsing Hua, the fonder I grow of the campus. Although I love Tsing Hua dearly now, my first impressions of it four years ago were not all pleasant.

Tsing Hua has a large, spacious campus with trees, lakes, and hills. Not all college campuses have environments full of natural wonders, and perhaps the spacious campus is what Tsing Hua students should take pride in. However, it was time-consuming and tiring to travel from one place to another within Tsing Hua. Although school buses were available, it was difficult to arrange my daily routine according to the bus schedule, as I had too little patience to wait for the bus when it was not right before my eyes. Moreover, sometimes when it was packed with people, I had to walk. I walked so much that my feet were sore at night. The trees and lakes looked beautiful on sunny days, giving the campus a poetic air; unfortunately, they brought mud onto the roads on rainy days, making the walking experience even less enjoyable.

Compared with the cuisine in my hometown, Taichung, the food in Tsing Hua and in Hsinchu (the city where National Tsing Hua University is located) in general tasted terrible but cost a lot. The food stalls in Taichung usually offered free addition of rice/noodles and drinks, but this was not the case in Hsinchu. My jaw dropped at the price of sixty dollars for a bowl of noodles here. Worse still, not only I but also my classmates complained about the taste of the food; our consensus was that even the most ordinary restaurants in our hometowns were gourmet, a sharp contrast with the ones here.

Hailed as Hsinchu “City,” oddly, there was little to do downtown on weekends. To my astonishment, there were not many stores when I went downtown my bus. Born a city dweller, I was accustomed to seeing the city full of crowds, shopping centers, outdoor activities, and cultural affairs, but Hsinchu was virtually quiet and boring. Thus, I ended up returning home every Friday afternoon.

Now that I have been in Tsing Hua for a long period of time, I have come to appreciate the distinctive characteristics of the Tsing Hua campus. With the abundance of plants and animals here, the fresh air always keeps me in good spirits. Since some paths on Tsing Hua are steep, taking a walk is almost equivalent to hiking, so I do not need to spend extra time doing exercise. The foods served at cafeterias are still far from tasty, but I can recognize the school’s efforts to improve the food quality over the years. Finally, the scarcity of entertainment in Hsinchu has made me a diligent student. If I want to take part in activities, it is convenient to go to Taipei, which is merely one hour away from Hsinchu by bus. I know that I am going to miss this place at the time of my departure.