Taiwan in a Nutshell Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I was enrolled in two University-run English-taught courses, four courses offered exclusively to exchange students and one Chinese Mandarin course offered by NCCU's Chinese Language Center. Overall, I felt that the courses, while informative, were not nearly as rigorous or intense as courses tend to be back home. In the end, however, I appreciated the fact that my professors understood that we were exchange students who were in Taiwan for a short amount of time and they were flexible whenever we missed class to travel. One should keep in mind that the professors in Taiwan tended to grade more strictly than professors in the U.S..

On-site administration of your program

Both the Office of International Cooperation and the Office of International Programs were located near the campus's entrance. Our contact in the OIC, Melody Chang, was very knowledgeable and quickly addressed our concerns.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in a single room at NCCU's International House. Our rent included bi-monthly housekeeping services. The building and rooms were generally clean; however, near the end of the semester, cockroaches and bugs found their way into residents' rooms, although I-House was still much cleaner than the university's dorms. The furniture was of okay quality and we were provided with sheets and a pillow. A downside of I-House was the many rules that were implemented throughout the semester. The best part of I-House was the convenience of living with other international students and having room phones to call one another.

I appreciated that there were a variety of places to eat between campus and I-House, but I found that us exchange students tended to stick to a select few of these restaurants. There were a handful of restaurants that served burgers, pasta, traditional Taiwanese/Chinese food, and Japanese. Overall, meals tended to cost between $3-7 USD. The quality of the food was standard. There were several bakeries nearby that served good bread and treats.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

NCCU and I-House were located in the middle of a residential district, so many of the restaurants, stores and areas that we visited were often frequented by locals as well.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The drugstores near campus supplied many of the over the counter medications (or similar brands) to those we find in the U.S.. The other exchange students who experienced injuries or sickness (stomach pains, broken fingers, infections) all said that a certain hospital had English-speaking doctors allotted especially for English speakers. The quality of their treatments appeared to be high.

Other than the need to be cautious of the many scooters, Taiwan tended to be a very safe place, no matter what part of the island we were in. We felt safe walking to 7-11 at 2 AM, there was ample lighting and quiet streets. In the city after clubbing, we would take clean and reliable taxis back to the I-House.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Depending on how many meals and the restaurants we attended, we spent anywhere from approximately $3-$7 USD per day on food. Using the student bus/MRT card, each ride cost less than $1 USD; we would reload our cards in increments of 100 NTD approximately 2-4 times a month, depending on how much we were using the bus or MRT. Night markets are also much cheaper shopping and food compared to sit down restaurants by campus.

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• Other

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• Friends I made from all over the world
• Traveling to the Philippines on mulitple occasions
• Opportunity to learn Mandarin

• More communication between exchange students and their buddies
• Clearer rules in the I-House and early establishment of these rules
• More interaction betweeen international and local students