By: Ashley Paredes ’25
From Dec. 2 to Dec. 13, Ursuline Academy of Dallas welcomed a delegation of students and three nuns from Stella Matutina, one of Ursuline’s all-girls school in Taichung, Taiwan.
After a 16-hour flight from Taiwan to San Francisco, a five-hour layover and a three-and-a-half-hour flight to Dallas, the delegation was welcomed with excited hugs, smiles and greeting signs by their Ursuline host sisters and families at DFW International Airport.
Delegates enjoyed their first day on Ursuline’s campus on Monday, Dec. 5, which also marked the beginning of the annual tradition of Global Week at UA. Touring the school with their host sisters, the delegates got a feel for what high school education is like in America, and particularly Ursuline, which shares its similarities and differences with Stella Matutina.
At Ursuline, classes begin at 8:40 a.m. and end at 3:40 p.m., while at Stella Matutina classes go from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Their longer school day is supplemented with a nap time, an idea which many Ursuline girls loved. Instead of four, 80 minute periods at Ursuline, Stella Matutina has eight periods a day, each 50 minutes long.
But for the Taiwanese students, school is not quite over when the bell rings at 5. Many go to “cram school,” a place where students can spend extra time learning subjects. Cram school can take place either after school or in three-hour segments on Saturdays.
Stella Matutina is comprised of grades seven through 12. Each grade in Stella Matutina’s equivalent of high school (grades 10-12), is about 282 students, and this particular delegation was comprised of 10th and 11th grade students.
One part of high school at Ursuline that surprised girls the most is that so many Ursuline students drive to school. In Taiwan, people must be 18 to drive a car.
“We have to be at the school bus by 6:40 a.m. every day,” the delegates said.
At Stella Matutina, high school students have two tracks of government planned subjects that they can take: social studies or science. Students choose their tracks based off of what they want to study in college—for example a social studies students would go into a business or law career, and science students would study engineering or medicine.
School terms in Taiwan go from September to January and February to June.
“Most students study more than two hours a day. Everything is in textbooks at school. The amount of homework we have depends on each teacher,” Doris Lin said.
Students at Stella Matutina enjoy being involved in many clubs, comparable to many at Ursuline, like Science club, Robotics club, Guitar club, Girl Scouts and Orchestra. While they do not have a brother school, many clubs exist across a variety of schools in Taiwan.
During their time at Ursuline, the delegates enjoyed sitting in on classes.
“We loved AP Comparative Government, Yoga and Arabic,” the girls said in agreement.
In addition to visiting classes, the delegates led a presentation about their life in Taiwan. They gave Ursuline girls a feel for their participation in cuisine, school and extracurriculars.
Accompanied with a “Day in the Life at Stella Matutina” video, Ursuline students marveled at Stella Matutina’s beautiful campus.
Additionally, the Taiwanese students performed for Ursuline during a global assembly in the theater. They sang and danced to traditional Taiwanese music, but also taught the audience some worldwide favorite Christmas songs like Wham’s “Last Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” in Mandarin.
Outside of the classroom, the students enthusiastically experienced excursions around Dallas, both with the Ursuline global department and their host sisters.
Delegates said they were enjoying their Dallas visit—a favorite amongst the delegates was Ice Skating at the Galleria. As they visited during the holiday season, they were able to skate around the world’s largest indoor tree. The girls also cherished riding roller coasters at Six Flags.
As for Dallas landmarks, students’ visiting itineraries included seeing the site of JFK’s assassination, Dallas City Hall and the Bush Presidential Library. For nature and science lovers, the girls also went to the aquarium, the Dallas Arboretum and the Perot Museum.
Immersing themselves in some old-fashioned Texas culture, the delegates additionally traveled to the Ft. Worth Stockyards, which included visiting the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
But nothing beats bonding with their host sisters.
“I really loved playing video games with my host sister, Gabriella,” Ina Hu said.
At home in Taiwan, the delegates like to spend their free time almost exactly the same ways as girls in Dallas do: by shopping and visiting the Taiwanese night market after cram school, of course.
One notable difference for the delegates between Taiwan and America has to be the food. Aspects of American cuisine, which the girls favored, were typical Texan: barbecue, mac and cheese, tacos and guacamole.
While they enjoyed trying American food, the delegates definitely missed their food at home. Taiwanese food favorites amongst the girls included “Hot Pot” and “Stinky Tofu.”
Even though delegates, said that they missed different parts of home in Taiwan, when it came down to leaving Dallas, many tear-filled goodbyes were exchanged. Hugs, selfies and waves were given once again, as the girls traveled back to DFW to begin their journey back home.
THE BEAR FACTS 