我很幸運能就讀提供四年中文課程的美國高中，從十五歲時就開始學習中文，並在2018年獲得聖路易斯華盛頓大學中華語言文化學士學位。在高中、大學期間我還有機會去南京、北京、上海等地方進一步地學習中文、接觸到中國文化。但在我大四的時候發現，雖然我的高中老師是台灣人、雖然我學中文學了這麼久，我卻對台灣這個地方瞭解不多，因此決定了要申請國立政治大學的台灣文學研究所以及教育部的台灣獎學金。
現在是我碩一和碩二之間的暑假。我已經完成了第一年台灣留學，有了許多獨特的體驗和難忘的記憶。就學術方面而言，政大的課程嚴謹並具有智力挑戰性。我們第一學年有兩個學期的史料學培訓，也就是分二戰以前的日治時期和二戰以後的中華民國時期的報紙和文藝雜誌研究。在此期間，蔣渭水、賴和、楊逵等對我來說比較不熟悉的名字開始充滿我的筆記本，並且我還有機會多瞭解一些以前在大學時聽過的人，像胡適和聶華苓。由於政大台文的國際化視野，我甚至還有機會研究以前從未學過的日本文學和韓國文學。我很期待九月份回台繼續學習。
台灣是學習台灣歷史、文學和文化最好的地方；全島都是我的課堂。我不僅在政大校園內可以讀到《台灣民報》的歷史，而且還可以去台南的國立台灣文學館多瞭解一下。我不僅在《台北文物》裡面可以看到大稻埕的舊事，甚至可以搭捷運到那裡親眼看到史料談到的地方。在歷史教科書讀到「眷村」兩個字，不如自己到高雄左營區的眷村文化園區，親眼看到軍人家庭住過的地方。另外，台灣的學術資料也很豐富；如果政大圖書館沒有我需要的資料，我可以搭公車到中央研究院的閱讀室找到。我以後回到美國繼續從事東亞研究時，肯定會想念這些資料。
這一年生活在台北過得很開心、很舒服。除了氣候環境過於悶熱以外，其他方面都沒有問題。政大周圍的木柵空氣清爽，每天早上可以喝咖啡看看雲霧飄渺中的綠山，下午若不下雨在景美溪畔跑步運動。如果想要逛逛，可以搭公車到公館或信義，跟朋友吃吃飯、喝喝酒。我這段時間在台灣也是疫情期間當然有點可惜，但好在故宮博物院、太魯閣國家公園等著名旅遊景點現在沒什麼人去，似乎可以獨自參觀。我只希望國境可以儘快開放，讓我的親朋好友跟我一起享受我的台灣生活。
2021 Taiwan Scholarship Recipient Noah Weber sharing his experience of Study in Taiwan
I was very fortunate to have gone to an American high school with a four-year Chinese language curriculum. I began studying Chinese at age fifteen and received my BA in Chinese Language and Culture from Washington University in St. Louis in 2018. During high school and college, I visited places such as Nanjing, Beijing and Shanghai to further my Chinese studies and experience a taste of Chinese culture. But as I ended college, I realized that although my high school teacher had come from Taiwan, and though I had studied Chinese for many years, I still didn’t know much about Taiwan. That is why I chose to apply for the Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature at National Chengchi University and the Ministry of Education Taiwan Scholarship.
This is currently the summer between my first and second year. Having finished one year of my study in Taiwan, I have had many unique experiences and unforgettable memories. As far as academics are concerned, NCCU’s curriculum is rigorous and challenging. Our first year includes two semesters of archival research training, split between one semester on the period of Japanese colonization before World War Two, and one on the Republic of China period after the war. During this time, names that had previously been unfamiliar to me like Chiang Wei-shui, Loa Ho and Yang K’uei started filling up my notebooks. Additionally, I had the chance to learn more about figures I had heard of as an undergrad, such as Hu Shih and Hualing Nieh Engle. Owing to our program’s international perspective, I also was able to research aspects of Japanese and Korean literature, which was not something I had previously encountered. I look forward to continuing my studies in September.
Taiwan is the best place to study Taiwan history, literature, and culture—the whole island is my classroom. I don’t just read about the Taiwan Minpao newspaper on NCCU’s campus, I can also visit the Taiwan Literature Museum in Tainan to learn more. I not only read stories about the historic Tōa-tiū-tiâⁿ district of Taipei, I can also hop on the metro and see the place myself. Reading the word juancun in a history textbook is one thing, visiting an old housing compound for military families in Kaohsiung is another entirely. What’s more, Taiwan has rich academic resources. If the item I need is unavailable in NCCU’s library, I can take a bus to the Academia Sinica campus to find what I need. When I return to the United States to continue my East Asian Studies work, these are definitely resources that I will miss having at my fingertips.
My year in Taipei has been happy and comfortable. Besides the excess heat and humidity, most everything else has been great. The Muzha neighborhood around NCCU has crisp and clean air—I love taking my coffee each morning overlooking the misty green mountains and jogging by the Jingmei River on afternoons when it doesn’t rain. If I want to go shopping or walking around, it’s easy to take a bus to the Gongguan or Xinyi neighborhoods and grab a bite to eat or a drink with friends. Of course, that my time in Taipei has coincided with the pandemic is a shame, but on the bright side there is hardly any foot traffic at major tourist attractions such as the Gugong Palace Museum or Taroko Gorge National Park—I practically had the places to myself when I visited! I just hope the borders can open up soon so my friends and family can come experience my life in Taiwan with me.
