Our stay in Taiwan is almost over, it’s time for us to give you an overview of it, from a very subjective point-of-view.
We arrived here 5 months ago, after having spent 1 month travelling from Thailand to Singapore, including Malaysia. I strongly recommend you, if you have the opportunity to go to Asia through the ESLI exchange program, to take advantage of the free time between the end of 3rd year classes and the beginning of NCTU spring semester, to check what’s around. It is really worth it!
The first thing that I noticed when I arrived in Taiwan, is the fact that Taiwanese people are really welcoming and helpful. Even if someone does not speak any single word of English, he will do his best to help you if you need it. Another thing about Taiwan : tourism is not very developed. As a consequence, there is not that much of western people, so be prepared to take (a lot) of pictures with them, or to be photographed more or less discretely.
There are around 300 foreign students at the NCTU, forming a strong community. Indians, Mongolians, Swedish, Ukrainians, Netherlanders, Central Americans, South Africans, and so on. Most of the time, you will feel close to others foreigners, even if you don’t know them. It is easy to go for a small talk when hanging out in a bar. Foreigners are easy going outside of the campus as well.
During the semester, we have been travelling around Taiwan. There are a lot of things that you don’t want to miss, such as:
- Watching the sunrise on the peak of Alishan National Park during the cherry blossoms,
- Admiring Taipei landscape during the sunset from the 91st floor of Taipei 101,
- Riding a scooter through the impressive Taroko Gorges,
- Walking along the Kaohsiung Love River with your potential Taiwanese girlfriend/boyfriend,
- Going to Kenting during the Spring Break for a 3-days-in-a-row-party on the beach,
- Enjoying Taipei nighlife,
- And many others…
Even though I am glad to get back in France, this semester abroad was a great experience from a personal point of view. And it has a lot of interest from a professional point of view as well.
Edouard
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