While many Diamond Bar High School students complain about starting their days at 8 a.m, some students start school by seeing a pitch-black sky outside their windows. 

Sophomore Kylie Lam starts her DBHS school day late at night in Hong Kong. She has remained in the country since July after her family decided to stay there following their annual trip. Lam starts school at 12 a.m. and finishes by 5 a.m., which allows her to catch up on sleep until 1 or 2 p.m. 

“Although staying up until 5 a.m. can be tiring at times, I manage to get a lot of sleep in during the day,” Lam said via Instagram. 

While distance learning allows her easy access to class material, Lam said a disadvantage is not having access to the Parent Portal website, as it is restricted in the country. 

During winter break, senior Shulamite Yang traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, where she has since resided.

“It was to get some new change of environment, especially as Taiwan handled COVID really well and it is relatively safe here compared to America,” Yang said. 

Yang has not experienced any problems taking tests or turning in her homework assignments, however, she has emailed her guidance counselor for potential opportunities to independently study. 

“There was not too much adjusting to be done once I arrived in Taipei … if anything, I now feel much more awake during my classes and it’s more convenient overall,” Yang said via Instagram. 

Yang considers herself a night owl, as her sleep schedule was erratic even when she was living in California. The drastic time zone change allowed her to have more free time to pick up some new old hobbies such as practicing new dance routines, playing the guitar and singing. 

Similar to Yang, junior Yushen Sun visited Taiwan during remote learning on Nov. 22 to spend his Thanksgiving and winter break there and returned on Jan. 4. 

During his visit, Sun said he had many problems with Internet connection as he used a portable Wi-Fi device that had a weaker signal and slower speed, causing him to disconnect frequently. 

“None of my teachers actually knew about me being in Taiwan, except for my French teacher Mr. Tietz, but none of the school times and routines changed,” Sun said.