Exchange report 483698 & 423742 National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan Spring 2017
1. Preparing for the exchange After we received the confirmation from Aalto University that we ll spend the next spring in Taiwan, it took us until December to before the host university NCCU contacted us. The interaction between exchange students and the host university was made very easy. To confirm our enrollment for the 2017 spring semester, all we needed to do was to fill out an online form which asked just for our basic information, a copy of our passport and a copy of Aalto s approval letter of our exchange studies. The online form also included an option to apply for the student housing that was organized by the university. Out of the two options, we both chose ihouse an international building primarily designed for the exchange students. In hindsight, this turned out to be an extremely good choice. Compared to the other alternative that was shared campus dorm housing, the ihouse was still closer to the campus and, most importantly, it made making friends very effortless. The campus housing was, however, cheaper and arguably better for making local friends. Obtaining a Taiwan visa is not mandatory for studying but it makes the whole process a lot easier. In fact, I have not heard of any Finnish student who hasn t applied for a visa for the duration of their exchange studies. Fortunately, obtaining a 180-day multiple entry visitor visa is very fast and relatively cheap. The whole process took us around 2-3 working days in Helsinki and required only two colour passport photos, a copy of the passport, approval letter from the university and 86 euros. After landing in Taiwan, we were greeted at the airport by our student buddies who were assigned to us in December and who had already helped us with preparations via Facebook. They guided us to our apartment and helped us to choose a cheap cell phone operator, metro card etc. They also helped us throughout the semester but after the orientation week very few people actually needed any more assistance. In addition to student buddies, the personnel in the NCCU s Office of International Studies were some of the most helpful people I have ever met. 2. Exchange Studies The first classes of the spring semester begun on February 20 th but the preceding week was a mandatory orientation week for all exchange students. Officially, each course has two examination periods during a semester: mid-term period (in April 17 th -21 st ) and finals period (in June 16 th -22 nd ). However, it should be noted that all professors do not follow this schedule and can have more than two exams during one semester. Fortunately, the professors are very flexible with rearranging exam dates or due dates on assignments if a person cannot be present on the given day and, naturally, the last exams will be during the finals week or earlier.
The courses in general are somewhat different to the ones in Aalto University. Most classes will mostly be lectures with very little interaction between the professor and the students. On top of the exams, most courses will have one or two larger assignments or presentations. Generally, these are quite easy and rarely require a lot of preparation. However, the workload of the courses can vary a lot. Most the courses offered are in Mandarin Chinese but there are still a good variety of courses in English. Available courses vary from all the way from finance to film studies and both undergraduate and graduate level courses are often available despite of your current level of graduation if you are willing to speak to the professor. An exchange student can technically enroll to any course as long as it will be accepted as a part of their studies by their respective home university. In effect, this means that most exchange students end up enrolling on courses with mostly other exchange students. However, you can start the semester by enrolling into more courses that are needed and drop them after the first few weeks during the school s add-drop period. The course selection begins online on January 16 th and has three phases making it in many student s opinion relatively ineffective and confusing. The second phase begins on February 6 th and the final add-drop period on February 24 th. However, you can also enroll manually to courses by getting a professor s signature. Fortunately due to the system, even the most popular courses are easy to enroll to. Although, sometimes this might require talking to the professor before the first class. I advice strongly to read what courses will be accepted into one s studies provided by Aalto University s International Student Services and sending the study plan to Finland well in advance. Courses Mandarin Course Part-time Basic Mandarin, 088E01011, 3 Cr I had never studied Mandarin Chinese before but after the total beginner course I could easily survive in any every day situation with locals. The teacher did not speak English very fluently but surprisingly it did not affect the learning process at all. The course consisted of two exams (midterm and a final) and a smaller, lot less serious weekly test. The workload of the course was not the smallest but reasonable in order to learn a language from a scratch in 5 months. We only had 3 hours of lessons every week topped with some homework and preparations for the next week s test. Overall, a very fun and useful course that, in my opinion, should be taken by every exchange student. Digital Media and E-Marketing, 306526001, 3 Cr The actual course had very little to do with either digital media or e-marketing. Basically just a 5 month long motivational speech by the professor. The workload of the course was
extremely low although attendance on the lessons was mandatory. The syllabus included one group presentation on a selected country s culture and history and one individual essay. In my opinion, very easy credits but not worth the time. Mostly chosen by exchange students that don t know better and local people who need very easy credits or good grades. New Media Technology Civilization, 306752001, 3 Cr See Digital Media and E-Marketing. This class was exactly the same as the one above and they are both arranged during the same day. So if you want to listen to some truly motivational speeches for six hours straight on Tuesdays, be sure to choose these classes. Professor Tang also arranged a party in a local nightclub after the semester where he would hit on the girl students. Health Economics, 205909001, 3 Cr A very good and professional course about the pricing of health care and insurances. The professor was maybe the best out of all the professors I encountered during my exchange. This was mostly due to his vast knowledge on the subject and excitement to teach us about it. The workload was appropriate considering the course was for both undergraduate and graduate students. It included 3 hours of weekly lectures and some optional math practices. The course had two exams, 7 smaller assignments and one presentation. I personally felt that I learned a lot during the course and almost always found the topics interesting. The topics of the course were not especially difficult but provided an interesting way of using already existing methods of economics in a different setting. Also, it should not be left unmentioned that the dinner after the final exam with the professor was exceptionally good. South Korea s Foreign Economic Relations, A800005, 3 Cr Surprisingly interesting course but unfortunately the lectures were very difficult follow mostly due to the professor s incoherent ramblings and lack of an organized schedule. This resulted in almost everyone skipping the lectures at the end of the semester. The workload of the course was quite large compared to other NCCU s courses. The syllabus included two 15-30 minute presentations, a mid-term and a very sizeable final report. However, I felt that I learned a lot of things I probably never would have if it weren t for the course in question. Consumer Behavior, A400007, 2 Cr This class consisted of class discussions on consumer behavior theory and weekly cases where we would analyze global brands marketing campaigns. There were also three bigger group projects during the course, two where we analysed and summarised a scientific paper and a customer observation study done in a selected store. All in all, quite an interesting and laidback course with a low-moderate workload. The professor wasn t too strict about absences either. Chinese Philosophers, A100002, 2 Cr
One of the more special courses I took during the exchange. You could ask that what does this course have to do with business studies. Well, it taught me a new perspective on moral way of organization of people and things. If you ve never studied philosophy thoroughly before, it also gives you a solid knowledge on basics of philosophy and builds a foundation for future studies. The workload for this course was moderate; every week we needed to read a paper on philosophy and raise two questions based on that. We also had 30 minute presentations at the end of the semester on a philosophical topic of our own interest. Workshop on Sustainability Issues, A200010, 3 Cr Probably the most controversial course of the semester. The topic of sustainability is super interesting and based on the syllabus some really challenging topics were to be discussed. However, the professor was a rather silly one as he didn t really bother discussing the topics listed in the syllabus but his own personal matters instead. His English was sometimes also a little limited which made it even harder to keep an interest towards this course. The workload was very small even though it was a three credit course. We were supposed to have two field trips to some intriguing destinations on the island but both were eventually cancelled. However, it s a good class if you re interested in traveling during the semester as being present isn t a requirement. Contending Theories of International Politics, 203838001, 2 Cr An interesting seminar style course on international politics and strategies of different governments. During the course, we covered the most important political theories and used them to discuss the recent political events around the world. It s a good course for applying game theory and strategic thinking into practice even though the course is not provided by a business school. Workload for the course was moderate with one short presentation, a mid-term exam and a final paper. 3. Free time and other information Accommodation During your exchange you can choose your accommodation from the university s dorms, International House or off-campus. I ended up applying for a single room in I-house and liked it as it was located right next to the campus and allowed me to get to know other exchange students well during the exchange as the house is mainly for international students. If you re not that interested in partying, I-house might not be the best option as people are drinking quite often in the commons and going out. The price for the room was roughly NT$55.000 for the semester which translates to 1625 euros. Living near campus is handy also because you have the possibility to do several different sports there during the evenings; swimming, track running, hiking, baseball etc. However, if you re more interested in exploring the city and living in the middle of everything outside the exchange student community, then I d suggest
you find a local apartment, there are several Facebook groups for their rental, e.g. Taipei Taiwan Apartment Rentals. Campus The campus area is really peaceful and beautiful, almost like a tropical Otaniemi. It is located roughly 30 minutes away from the downtown and it s reachable by the MRT or bus. As mentioned above, it is possible to do different sports at the campus area.the area has a main street which is filled with different kinds of cheap (but good) restaurants to choose from. It is possible to get along as a vegan or vegetarian as the Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine consists mainly of vegetables and different soy products. Transportation Taiwan and Taipei especially has an excellent transportation system. They ve got buses, bicycles and a comprehensive subway system (MRT). A bus or MRT ride costs you usually 0,5-1 and renting a bike for less than 30 minutes is only 0,15 and they can be found near almost every MRT station and other relevant locations. First you should buy an EasyCard, which you can buy and reload at all 7-11 s -- the card works similarly as the one we have in Finland. Taxis are also really cheap in Taipei, a 30 minute ride from downtown after bar was 6 for 4 people. Weather Taiwan s climate is completely different compared to the one we have in Finland. It s humid and often quite unpredictable; you can experience both 10c and 25c during the winter months, so you should bring some warm clothes with you in Taiwan. The weather predictions for Taiwan aren t usually correct either which makes it sometimes difficult to plan trips and other activities on the island. It also rains a lot in Taiwan, especially later in the Spring but you can buy a raincoat or an umbrella when you arrive (I never bought one, haha).
Traveling, food and people Surfing in Waiao beach in March. Traveling inside Taiwan is really easy as they have a railway or bus connection to most of the important places. During our stay in Taiwan we rent a car and did a roadtrip through the East Coast, took a train to Kaohsiung through the West Coast, went surfing and visited some of the highest mountains of the island, but even though we were really active during the semester, we couldn t still cover all of the most important activities. So there is a lot to see on the island. All of these activities were easy to do and you could easily find information about them online. Traveling to other countries from Taiwan is not the cheapest as it doesn t have an internationally important airport but still it s relatively cheap. Flights to the Philippines were 50-200 and same when traveling to Vietnam. Stinky tofu at a local restaurant.
The food in Taiwan is delicious and versatile and you can find loads of different kinds of it in night markets, restaurants and food festivals. As Taipei is an international city, you also have a large offering of foods from different cultures in addition to the Taiwanese ones. You shouldn t be spending your time on cooking your own food in Taiwan as eating out is affordable; a fair meal should cost you around 2 euros. This also allows you to have a great culinary experience during your stay in the country. Taiwanese ladies negotiating at a tea shop in Jiufen. The Taiwanese people one of the nicest you ll ever meet at least from my experience. Especially the older generation hardly speaks English but still they are eager to give you a hand in your adventures and problems. What I also found nice about the people is that they are truly respectful towards other people against the stereotypical image that I had before going there. They give you your own space even in the most crowded places and aren t loud nor improper (unlike the Chinese usually).
4. Final comments I highly recommend Taiwan and Asia in general as a destination for exchange studies. It s such a different culture compared to the Western one, you learn new perspectives and make friends at the other side of the globe. Even though the course offering in NCCU varies a lot, the staff and other students are so great and make your exchange experience memorable. It was interesting to go to a place where none of my friends had been before as Taiwan isn t a really popular destination for travellers yet, so you get to discover something totally new! Before coming to Taiwan, try to learn the basics of Chinese as it will help you adjust to the culture more quickly and while in Taiwan, remember to say yes to every activity possible. Personally I would ve liked to get to know more local people but I still got a lot of friends from the exchange students. Going to Taiwan and Asia opened my eyes to a lot of things and most certainly broke my Finnish bubble. Taiwanese landscape.