So for those of you that don't know, I am currently a visiting student at National Taiwan University (often abbreviated as NTU) or 國立臺灣大學 in Chinese (referred to as 台大 for short).
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| The logo featuring an azalea (the school flower), a palm tree, and the Fu Bell |
You can get to campus via the MRT on line 3, the 松山新店 (Songshan-Xindian) line and the stop you'll want to be looking out for is 公館 (Gongguan).
First Impressions?
I guess it wouldn't really be accurate to call these my first impressions, since my class was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to visit when we came to Taiwan last spring. So I guess these are my first impressions as an actual student here.
Coming from a small college campus 台大 was, to me, huge. Vast in fact, and being directionally challenged, I admit that I got lost quite a few times. Even with a map. And I live off-campus, so I got lost a few times going to and coming from campus too (it's actually a pretty simple, straightforward walk).
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| This photo, of the main entrance with the Taiwanese flag fluttering proudly atop, was actually from my first visit here |
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| Another picture from last spring of the campus's main entrance |
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| See the golden-tan section at the bottom left? That's where my dorm is. |
The campus is so vast in fact that many students get around campus on bikes. There are even bike repair shops on campus should you need it! To be honest, it can get pretty scary when you're just trying to get to class and there's a whole swarm of bikes all around you. I myself cannot ride a bike, but I am perfectly happy to walk 10 or 15 minutes to get to class.
The campus is actually a nice place for taking a walk and there are lots of small eateries and Family Marts (a convenience store) all over campus and the surrounding area is filled with lots of cool places too. It's lovely this time of year what with all the flowers blooming and all. Actually the garden campus is rather reminiscent of Connecticut College's arboretum campus with all the plants and labelled trees (mostly palm trees and in Chinese of course, but what a great way to learn botanical terms in Chinese no?).
There could stand to be a few more signs and maps around campus and clearer indications of which building you're in, but other than that, it really is a nice campus. And it is kind of nice to be in a large university setting sometimes. Also because we're a research institute there are greenhouses and gardens and farms and labs on campus (we also have the largest academic library in Taiwan!) which is pretty cool. I'm in the College of Life Science and an (aspiring) botanist so these were the things that called out to me--I'm sure there are tons of resources for the other fields too.
The campus is actually a nice place for taking a walk and there are lots of small eateries and Family Marts (a convenience store) all over campus and the surrounding area is filled with lots of cool places too. It's lovely this time of year what with all the flowers blooming and all. Actually the garden campus is rather reminiscent of Connecticut College's arboretum campus with all the plants and labelled trees (mostly palm trees and in Chinese of course, but what a great way to learn botanical terms in Chinese no?).
There could stand to be a few more signs and maps around campus and clearer indications of which building you're in, but other than that, it really is a nice campus. And it is kind of nice to be in a large university setting sometimes. Also because we're a research institute there are greenhouses and gardens and farms and labs on campus (we also have the largest academic library in Taiwan!) which is pretty cool. I'm in the College of Life Science and an (aspiring) botanist so these were the things that called out to me--I'm sure there are tons of resources for the other fields too.
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| Our orientation care package: a campus map folder, brochures for NTU, the 2014-2015 exchange/visiting student handbook, a card with campus safety's numbers, a button from counselling services, a "Study at National Taiwan University" room décor T-shirt, and a little pouch containing a spoon, a pair of chopsticks, and a chopstick rest |
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| We were also provided with a dinner box containing half a sandwich, some chicken thing, a pastry, and a little piece of cake; NTU really knows how to do orientation! |
Why NTU?
Initially, I was looking to apply to China Medical University (CMU) or 中國醫藥大學 in Taichung (not to be confused with China Medical University in mainland China whose Chinese name is 中國醫科大學), because of my interest in taking classes on Traditional Chinese medicine, but really that would not have been plausible if I also wanted to take Chinese courses and botany-related courses (and Taiwan-related courses).
So why NTU? Actually since I didn't know much about schools in Taiwan, I decided to ask my Chinese professor at Connecticut College who recommended 台大 to me (this was before our class trip to Taiwan). In doing research on the school, I found that it seemed like a good choice--a variety of courses taught in English, plenty of botany-related courses I could take (courtesy of the horticulture department), a handful of classes on Traditional Chinese medicine (sadly none were being offered in English this semester), lots of research resources (greenhouses, farms, largest academic library), a lovely campus (all the plants!), and a strong Chinese language program. It also helped that when I emailed the Office of International Affairs for more information, they were very prompt and helpful in their reply (the other program in Taiwan I emailed never got back to me) (I also contacted the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who were super helpful but since I'm studying Mandarin, I figured it'd be more fitting to go to Taiwan).
When I found out that my Chinese class would be going to Taiwan I was beyond excited and when my professor (who recommended NTU to me) told me that we would have a chance to visit 台大, I was even more excited. I think it was around midterm period when we came so the campus wasn't super busy, but that first campus visit further enforced my notion that this was the place for me.
So why NTU? Actually since I didn't know much about schools in Taiwan, I decided to ask my Chinese professor at Connecticut College who recommended 台大 to me (this was before our class trip to Taiwan). In doing research on the school, I found that it seemed like a good choice--a variety of courses taught in English, plenty of botany-related courses I could take (courtesy of the horticulture department), a handful of classes on Traditional Chinese medicine (sadly none were being offered in English this semester), lots of research resources (greenhouses, farms, largest academic library), a lovely campus (all the plants!), and a strong Chinese language program. It also helped that when I emailed the Office of International Affairs for more information, they were very prompt and helpful in their reply (the other program in Taiwan I emailed never got back to me) (I also contacted the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who were super helpful but since I'm studying Mandarin, I figured it'd be more fitting to go to Taiwan).
When I found out that my Chinese class would be going to Taiwan I was beyond excited and when my professor (who recommended NTU to me) told me that we would have a chance to visit 台大, I was even more excited. I think it was around midterm period when we came so the campus wasn't super busy, but that first campus visit further enforced my notion that this was the place for me.
Taiwan vs. Korea
Quite a few times I was asked where I liked studying better. Taiwan or South Korea? And I myself couldn't help but compare as well. Since I've only been here for about two-and-a-half weeks, it's a little difficult to compare but also it's hard to say that one is better than the other because both had their awesome qualities and not-as-awesome qualities.
In terms of communication, because my Chinese is a lot better than my Korean, it was a lot easier for me to get by in Taiwan, to talk to people, to ask for directions, to communicate. However, at a restaurant or anyplace that required reading, Korea was a lot easier because learning to read Korean is easier while learning to read Chinese requires learning a lot of characters. Granted, you may not always know what you've just read, but if you can pick out key words (닭 (dak) is chicken, 겨란 (gyeoran) is egg, 소고기 (sogogi) is beef, for example) or Konglish words (치즈 (chijeu) is cheese, 주스 (juseu) is juice, sometimes they'll even use 치킨 (chikin) for chicken) you can usually get a generally idea of what you're ordering.
In terms of fashion, I would have to say Korea is definitely a lot more appearance-conscious. That's not to say that Taiwan isn't but from what I've seen, Taiwan is definitely more casual about their dress. Girls and guys in Korea will dress very nicely, sometimes formally even, for class, donning dresses, skirts, heels, make-up for the girls (I once saw a girl wearing heels in the snow), and dress shirt and pants, blazers, sometimes suitcases too for the guys (though the girls definitely dress up more than the guys). In Taiwan however, students are definitely more casual in their clothes, with comfy shirts, sneakers, and jeans. These are just general observations; I am in no way saying that all Korean students dress up or that all Taiwanese students dress lax, I'm just saying that a lot do.
In terms of public transportation (and by that I mostly mean the subway), both Korea and Taiwan's public transportation systems are very efficient and clean (the MTA could learn a thing or two) and there are little screens in the subway stations letting you know when the next train is coming. In Korea, a jingle even played each time the train was about to arrive.
Just some basic observations; maybe I'll do a more in-depth post about my experiences in Korea versus in Taiwan, but for now I'll just leave you all with this.
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