NEW EXPERIENCES IN TAIWAN
By Nguyen Bao Linh and Nguyen Thi Minh Trang
Taiwan is really the beautiful and civilized country where you shouldn’t ignore in your plan. In recent years, there are more Vietnamese students who would like to study abroad in Taiwan because of the homologous culture as well as the excellent academic environment. Therefore, being a student and having an opportunity to study and work at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) which is the famous university are the luckiness for me. The time I have spent here were great experiences and new impressions. So I would like to share my experiences about NTHU and Taiwan with you who are going to study in Taiwan.
In particularly, “Why Taiwan?” Reading books, watching news, analyzing and observing the people of Taiwan, I am really impressed by the way these individuals have proved themselves to be dedicated to their work, and with true efforts they have set Taiwan as a successful country. The quick industrialization and rapid growth of Taiwan during the later half of the 20th century has been called the "Taiwan Miracle". Taiwan is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. Thus such positivity has boosted my confidence further and I am highly satisfied with the decision I have taken. Moreover, NTHU is generally considered to be one of the best universities in Taiwan. In this year, according to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Rankings published by Quacquarelli Symonds Limited, NTHU was ranked 167th overall, a gradual increase compared with the of previous years. In the individual subject ranking databases, the Chemical Engineering is the field which I pursue considered it 39th over the world. Besides, the location of NTHU – Hsinchu City is referred to as high-tech city with many high-tech companies. This also opens a new knowledge horizon to reach most recent technologies. All these reasons put together make NTHU an ideal place for me to do my M.Sc. degree.
Now the question arises, “How to study here?” it’s not difficult to study here by finance supporting from your family. But I think you can do it by getting NTHU’s scholarship by myself that can show your independent skill as well as your academic level because it’s one of the best universities in Taiwan. However, how to get this scholarship that depend on yourself. I just tell you the worth of it. If you have a best background, you needn’t worry about it. Just following the guide book and remember the deadline. By the way, don’t confuse between admission application and scholarship application. These are two different parts which some students image that they are the same things including me.
Next, when I’m a student of NTHU, this really created the most active and academic environment where I can nourish my ambition and pursuit my wildest dreams. Many modern facilities are available that allow me to study comfortably. In which, online services work and are easy to understand. It’s useful system for students because most of activities are informed and achieved conveniently and easily. Thanks to this, you will not miss any activities you are interested. This includes registration, course selection, class information and useful extracurricular activities. Let’s talk about the courses and education itself now. First of all, don’t worry about selecting courses because we have many periods to do. Specially, two last periods are in the same time with semester beginning time. Therefore, you will feel free to attend in class during first week of the semester and then if it’s not suitable for you, you can drop it and choose a new one. In the special situations, you find that you will not get good result for any course, you can withdraw it at the last period of course selection in middle of semester. However I think that under the guidance of many distinguished professors who have various helpful courses, lectures, and the teaching skills from my department or another ones, you will be enlarged more your knowledge with positive results. Besides, most of courses are optional in my department. So I prefer learning everything related to my research because there are many research fields such as chemical, materials, biomedicine and etc. There are the offered English classes, but sometimes I cannot select which one I want because of conflict time table.
However, it’s only a small problem and I can select course at another departments instead of. In addition, Chinese courses are classes which you have to study due to scholarship regulations as well as conversations with Taiwanese. Maybe some students think that they are hard, boring and frustrating classes but I find that it’s the most interesting classes if you have a true selection. In my opinion, if it’s the first time you learn Chinese, you should select conversation classes which are easier and don’t take much time. In this classes, I not only learned Chinese for but also Taiwanese’s indomitable traditions and honored culture through interesting activities. For me, I’m excited about it because I get a certain familiarity between Vietnamese and Taiwanese.
Finally, I am also impressed with NTHU’s library. The main library of NTHU is one of the most modern libraries in Taiwan. It is equipped with the latest facilities that offer students a great place to study, discuss, and be inspired. The western book area contains so many useful books from reputation publishers. Therefore, I often go there to look for references and materials for my study. Moreover, if you are tired and want to relax after studying and work, you can go to the library to take a break or listen music or watch movies with your friends. It’s so amazing!
In addition, there is another service that I love most in NTHU-student accommodation. The student housing center takes the responsibility to run two student service centers and solve student’s problems regarding accommodation and housing issues. Patience and attentiveness are the most highlighted characteristics of the staffs here. Because of the huge number of students living in campus, they have to obtain and solve so many issues daily. Especially for foreign students like us, we cannot communicate by native language well, but they still keep their patience and help us solve our problem as soon as possible. NTHU healthy service has been mentioned as one of the most useful services in campus for us. Due to the regulation of Taiwan Government, every resident regardless of native or foreign people have to register for national health insurance. It will cover you with financial support when you go for surgery, operation or normal sickness. In case any health problems happened, NTHU health service can be a good choice with excellent service, cozy environment and friendly staffs.
About my life, I think that Tsing Hua is really like a park with mountain and pine trees. It is really big and beautiful. I feel very excited because I can learn in a nice place like this. Teachers and friends are so friendly and enthusiastic. They make me feel comfortable. So I don’t have any troubles in making friends with Taiwanese people. We feel free to discuss about everything in a friendly way despite of the culture differences. There are other foreign friends in Tsing Hua including India, Iran, France, America, Mongolia and etc. So besides studying, I also have a chance to talk and make friends with many people from other countries, and discover their cultures as well.
This is the first time I live in Taiwan and I am totally fall in love with this country. People here are very friendly and nice. I always receive the help when I need. One time I travelled to a beautiful waterfall in Hsinchu City-Neiwan. However, I didn’t know the way to get there, and then I asked a local lady. She not only showed me the way, but also went with me to the train station. Or another time, when I and my friends wanted to go to the beach to play. A friend in our laboratory knew about the trip by accident, he volunteered to drive us to the beach, even though he also invited us to join his Christmas party. Most locals (especially the younger generation) in Taiwan are comfortable with English. Whenever I need to ask, I can ask by English and they always help me. I am really surprised about how popular English is in Taiwan.
There is so much good food in Taiwan. Although I have lived here for 5 months, I haven’t try all kinds of food in Taiwan yet. The flavor here is quite similar with Vietnamese’s food. I also love kinds of hotpot. The weather in Taiwan in winter is so cold, enjoying the hotpot with friends at night is a fantastic experience. Besides, there is a thing I really like in Taiwan is the recycling culture. People always separate their trash into recyclables, non recyclables and kitchen waste and they have a thought of putting garbage into correct place as a matte of conscience. So it would be difficult to find garbage in the public areas.
Taiwan is safe as well, one of the safest country I have ever known. I can put my phone on the table and go out to buy some food. It still be there when I come back. I have only lived in Taiwan for 5 months and I still have many things to discover about this beautiful country. And wherever I go in the future, whenever anyone ask me about Taiwan, I will tell them stories about this beautiful and friendly country. And the time I lived in Taiwan is a part of the life time I would never forget.
