нэр: Andres
Улс: Nicaragua
E-mail：andrestur07@hotmail.com
My life experience in Taiwan
My name is Andres Noel Turcios Guido; I study business administration in Tamkang University in danshui. I have been living in Taiwan for 1 year and 10 months. I am part of the scholarship students of the MOFA (Ministry of foreign affair) program.
The experience that I have gained by living in Taiwan has changed my way of seeing life and the world surrounding me. When I came to Taiwan, it was my first time in the Asian region, it was kind of a big culture shock for me, because the way of living that I had in my country is very different from the one here that I have in Taiwan. Although the way of life is very different from the one I had, it was very easy to adapt, especially in the cultural and food aspect.
When I came to Taiwan, I had no ability to talk Chinese, and I had no sense of direction of what where the obligation that I had to do and how to do them. But that was not a problem, because we easily found reliable people to help the group of student coming to Taiwan. That is one of the reason that I really like Taiwan, the people are always willing to help you, especially if you are a foreigner, they see that you can be struggling with the language barrier, and they always try to find I way to help you. They are very open-minded.
During my first year in Taiwan, I spent most of my time studying Chinese in NTU (national Taiwan University) for 4 semesters, but when I wasn't studying Chinese, I spent most of my time traveling and looking at all the wonderful places that Taiwan has. I went to most of the part of Taiwan, like: Tainan, Taizhong, Kaoshong, Pingtong, kenting, hualien, keelung and Ilam. I really like traveling around Taiwan, because its very accessible to everybody, and its very easy and simply, you only have to be willing to spend some time, to uncover the beauties that Taiwan hides.
The only problem that I had when I came to Taiwan was the weather, although it has sometimes a similarity to the one in my country, the weather changes in Taiwan are very drastic, many foreigners tend to think the same. And the most important weather change happens during typhoon season. In which weather changes by the hour, and strong winds tends to hit Taipei, especially in the northern are like danshui.
During the first year, I tend to meet a lot of people from around the world, which for me it was pretty interesting because it opens your eyes to other types of culture and of what do other people think about you and you country. I meet most of these people during the language program I had the first year, which is was very interesting because they picked all the foreigners from the university, and got them together so they could have time to get to know each other.
Another important experience I had in Taiwan was during the TOP(Test proficiency of huayu) , because it showed me a little how the Taiwanese educational system works. Because it handles a big amount of students, organizes them in order to maximize time and cooperation.
At the moment when you finish studying your Chinese studies, you are asked to study your career, in a university of your choice, that is, if the university accepts you. This experience for me it was very helpful, because it help me become a more organized person and to try to be very serious in the consequences of my actions. I actually went to many universities in order to find the University of my Likes. And it was thank to a friend of mine, who is an actually student in my current university, to make my mind clear of which university I wanted. When I came to TKU (Tamkang University), I knew it was the university that I wanted. When I took the campus tour, I saw how the student life was so active, and lively. I liked the big variety of course selection they had in the university, And how all the staff in the university tries it best to help you out.
After I applied and starting taking my courses in TKU, I felt a big difference in my life, although the classes are very rigorous, they are very well prepared and structure in a way that it makes the student give the very best of him. Most of my classes are in Chinese, and they tend to get very hard from time to time. But the university staff is always willing to help you, as so all my classmates. So the student life tends to get very dynamic and fun, and although I am one of the few foreign students in this university, the university tries to keep a daily check and a very rigorous update of what is happening with their entire student.
Taiwan Education Center in Mongolia
Supervised by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: +886-(0)3-350-7001 ext.3705; Fax: +886-(0)3-359-3891; E-mail: ivy@mail.mcu.edu.tw
