Every NSLI-Y experience is different, so every NSLI-Y commute will look different, even within the same country. Five NSLI-Y students share how they get to school.
From Annika Ikeda Shields, a 2024 Russian summer alum who studied in Kazakhstan: I took the bus every day to school using my bus card, which charged 100 tenge (like 20 cents) every time I took the bus.
From Jude St John, a 2024 Chinese summer alum who studied in Taiwan: My friend Georgia and I lived (with different host families) in the same building during the program, and we often commuted together. First, we walked to the TRA (台鐵) station near our house, then transferred at Taipei Main Station to take the red MRT (捷運) line all the way to its terminal station. Finally, we took the local bus in Tamsui (紅28 公車) to reach Tamkang University (淡江大學)! Our commute started out at about 1.5 hours each way, but we found some shortcuts and ultimately commuted 1 hour 15 minutes each way, which still gave us time to get some homework done on the way. This picture is from our first day of classes when my host mom introduced us to the route.
From Noah Fixler, a 2024 Korean summer alum who studied in South Korea: Every day, I would walk to school with a couple of friends I made in the program. We would cross the beautiful river pictured above and always stop by the local 7/11 to get some aloe. The walk was around 20 minutes from my host apartment.
From Yiwei Fan, a 2024 Turkish summer alum who studied in Turkey: Here in Ankara, I take the metro to school every day. The train you see in this photo belongs to Ankara's oldest metro line, the Ankaray line. The Ankaray line is 28 years old and runs through the Ankara city center to carry its 96,000 daily commuters to school, work, and home. In the morning, I walk from my dorm to the Dikimevi station and ride the Ankaray to the Kızılay station 5 minutes (walking distance) away from my school. On my walk to school, I usually get an Açma (a flaky, soft bagel) from the pastry store on the way for breakfast.
From Mason Raymond, a 2024 Korean summer alum who studied in South Korea: I get to school on the subway in Seoul, which takes about an hour and a half. I thought I would dread it, but honestly I wish America had such a robust public transport system! I’ve had some trial and error, but I think I’ve finally mastered a foolproof technique on how to get a seat.