CSW Taiwan Blog
In the "Off-Campus to Taiwan" course students travel to Taiwan to strengthen their Mandarin Chinese speaking, writing, and comprehension through an immersive program. They will also learn about the history, geography, culture, life, arts, and people of Taiwan. Students will attend classes and stay in homestays while in Taiwan and keep personal journals, contribute to a group blog, and complete a research project.
Keep up with students daily!
List of 20 news stories.
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Day 25 - April 22: Our Final Day in Taiwan!
Today was our last day at Wu-Ling High School. We spent most of the day at Yingge Old Street, where there were many ceramic shops. We shopped and had lunch in Yingge. When we returned to Wu-Ling, we had a closing ceremony and said goodbye to the school. Tomorrow we embark on a long day of travel to Boston. -
Day 24 - April 21: Visiting an Irrigation Pond
A great day as one of our last! Gonna be sad to leave☹️ -
Day 23 - April 20: Aquarium, Mall, & Korean for Dinner!
Today was Sunday, and our last weekend in Taiwan. I had a lot of fun at the aquarium with my host family and ate some cute penguin shaped bread. The seals were my favorite animal to see. After the aquarium, we did some mall shopping and i got some gifts. At the mall, we had Korean food for dinner and called it a night! -
Day 22 - April 19: History Museum + Amusement Park
On the weekend, we went to the natutal history museum in New Taipei City. We then went to a amusement park and had fun on the rides. And we went to a nice restaurant for dinner! -
Day 21 - April 18: A Day on Campus
We started the day off by having PE class at Wu-Ling High School. We played both soccer and basketball with some of the Wu-Ling students. After that, we joined a class and dyed fans and a retired Taiwanese diplomat gave us a speech. Then we learned how to make spring rolls for lunch and went to a local mall. To end the day some friends and I went to get some dinner together. -
Day 20 - April 17: Visiting a Traditional Market & Island
We started off with a field trip to a street market with some of our classmates from Wu Ling. We saw a lot of exciting foods and tried a lot of new ones. In the afternoon we took a boat ride to an island in the middle of a reservoir near Taoyuan. We walked around the island with our classmates and enjoyed the beautiful scenery there. 🌺🌸 -
Day 19 - April 16: Our First Full Day at Our New High School, Wu-Ling!
Today was our first full day at WuLing Senior High School! Our day was split into two parts: immersion program with students at WuLing, and then a couple field trips. We started the day off with a little bit of an introduction into taiwanese pop culture and global issues. we then made mochi and marshmallows and enjoyed them at tea time with some other snacks and drinks!
We watched a musical performance prepared by the special music gifted class that they offer at WuLing. Afterwards, we switched classes and had an immersion program with a different class. we got an introduction to the school, and tried multiple traditional activities. after lunch, we went to hutoushan park as well as a temple. after school, i had hot pot for diner with my host family to end the day.
- Fang-yuan ‘26 -
Day 17 - April 14: A Monday Off of School!
On Monday we continued to explore Taipei because our host siblings didn’t have school since we went to school on Saturday to celebrate the school's anniversary. After exploring, CSW students and chaperones met up for dinner and talked about the trip so far. It was a great day finding new things to do in Taipei!
-Willow '26 -
Day 16 - April 13: Baseball Sunday
On Sunday, we explored more of Taiwan with our host families. In the morning I watched baseball, did laundry, and worked on homework. In the afternoon we went to lunch at a shopping mall and had a buffet style lunch. In the evening we headed to a baseball game and watched the Fubon Guardians play.
-Tall ‘25 -
Day 15 - April 12: Celebrating HSNU's Anniversary
Today we attended the school anniversary! We were able to try food prepared by students and see each classes dance performances! After that I left the group with my host sibling for dinner and took the train to Tao Yuan for his band’s performance!
-Devon ‘25 -
Day 14 - April 11: A Hot Day Ended With a School Concert!
We began today with a joint class with HSNU students where we discussed the differences between our schools, and then two more classes with my host sister. It was sunny and super hot, about 85 degrees fahrenheit. I had some dumplings for lunch and played some badminton inside.
Later, we had a class and then I had PE club after school. We had some sushi for dinner and went to go see the school concert, which was impressive, and was run by students. We saw many types of dance, singing, rapping, instruments, magic etc. It was very cool!
-Ivanna ‘26 -
Day 13 - April 10: Museum Visits!
Today we had school then went to the Taipei National Museum and Natural History Museum. We learned about the discovery of Taiwan and the first biologists who researched Taiwan. We also saw fossils of dinosaurs. We went to Ximeng Street which had a lot of shops and food. Wd had skewers for dinner and went home.
-Cleo -
Day 12 - April 9: Exploring Taipei
Garrett ‘25 taking over with my host brother Shawn!! We had a fun day at school followed by a long day of exploring Taipei. We went to local historical landmarks, night markets, shopping centers, and lots of places to eat!! -
Day 11 - April 8: A full day of school & Visiting Taipei 101
Today we had our first full day at HSNU - The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University. We met with the principal and went to a couple classes taught in mandarin. After our classes we went on a field trip. Then my host brother took me and some friends to Taipei 101. After that we went an all you can eat sushi place where we ate over 100 pieces of sushi.
Gabe ’26 -
Day 10 - April 7: Our First Day of School and Host Families!
Today was our first day at HSNU high school! we started off our day with an introduction of the school: their mission statement, how the school runs, as well as many of their highly successful clubs. we then got a guided tour of the school and got a sense of community and student expression (as seen from the choice of artwork made by students for their senior student cafe). our host siblings then came and got us for lunch, where we got to spend time with students from HSNU.
In the afternoon, we attended an orchestra rehearsal and got to enjoy beautiful music played by the students. at the end of the day, we split off with our host siblings and went our separate ways for home stays. I went out for dinner with my host family and their friends; we got pho and mango ice as dessert!
- Fang-yuan ‘26 -
Day 9 - April 6 - Bike Riding Fun!
Beautiful day of biking through the fields!!! The last day together as a group! But also last day with our lovely tour guide😔 -
Day 8 - April 5: A Rest Day!
On Saturday we had a chill rest day! We ventured around the city and ate McDonalds. We had time to work on homework and find more interesting things around town before dinner which was beef and a buffet. We were able to find some other Americans (one was from Texas like me!). It was a restful but fun day!
-Willow '26 -
Day 7 - April 4, 2025: Visiting an Aboriginal Village & A Beautiful Beach
On Friday we left Hualien and headed to Matai’ an Wetland, an aboriginal village. We learned aboriginal dances, weaving, and fishing. And we made mochi and stone hot pot. We had lunch there and then headed to a sugar factory, which is called Hua lien tang chang, and ate sugar popsicles. After, we went to a bridge near the sea and shopped. Finally we headed to dinner and went to a night market in Taitung. -
Day 6 - April 3, 2025: Beach + WWII Military Base Tour
On Thursday we started the day at a beach where we stacked rocks for good luck. Next, we went on a tour of a world war 2 military base. After that we got lunch and headed to a hike to a waterfall. To end the day we went to a Japanese temple. -
Day 5 - April 2, 2025: Harvesting and Making Tea
On day 5, and we began by packing up from our hotel in Yilan and started heading farther south. We visited a local tea farm and harvested and cooked our own tea leaves. After that, we walked around a park and got ice cream. Then, we had lunch which was soup noodles and pork rice. We also visited a town on the sea and saw a fish market and a temple, and went to the beach. Lastly, we got on the train to Hualien and after we arrived at the hotel went for some dinner at the night market afterwards.
Students Share their 2023 experiences
"It’s not at all what I expected in the best possible way. I learned and saw so much in such a short period of time and have created life-long friendships."
-Mabel ’23
"This experience is like nothing I could have ever imagined. I wouldn’t have been able to experience this if I hadn’t transferred to CSW as a 10th grader."
-Luka ’24
"One of the best parts of this experience was getting to live with other teenagers and learning our similarities and differences."
-Hannah ’24
"It was an amazing experience talking to and going to school with students from another country."
-Maya ’24
"I loved meeting and living with host families and gaining insight into their everyday lives."
-Beatrice ’24
"It was a great experience to get to know and adapt to different cultures. The food was amazing!"
-Deniz ’23
"This experience was “tian tian de” (sweet). I met so many welcoming people and created wonderful memories."
-Jina ‘23
Check out some photos from the 2025 program!
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.