Last week we could read Emy’s story about her time in China with the Netherlands Asia Honours Summer School (NAHSS), but she is not the only ATLAS student that got admitted in this prestigious program. Today we will hear from Kamiel about his experiences at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan.
As part of the summer school, Kamiel is doing a project for Unilever Benelux on the concept of the Open Talent Economy. In addition, he is taking four courses: I-Ching & Taiwanese Indigenous Cultures, Knowledge based Economy & Multiculturalism, Cross-Strait Enterprise Development and History of Taiwan.
“The first thing I noticed is how open the Taiwanese are. They are very welcoming to foreigners, because immigration is deeply rooted in their history. There are little western tourists in Taiwan. However, the nightlife and the food in Taipei are very good! In my free time, I sometimes grab a beer with the other students and since last week I joined basketball with some locals. It is easy to communicate with locals, because most of them speak good English, only some older people struggle with it.”
“Upon arrival, we were assigned a buddy. They are very good at showing us the best spots in the city and teach us everything we need to know about student life in Taiwan. For example, a lot of students play sports like tennis and basketball. In addition, every Thursday we have an excursion with the summer school program; we visit a cultural site and hang out with our (mostly Asian) classmates. On the weekends, I often go traveling with the other Dutch students. We have had two trips so far; one to the East of the Island where we rented scooters, and last week we went to the west side where we visited three cities. Taiwan is about the same size as the Netherlands, so it is easy to see a lot of the island.”
“Of course, I also have to study and spend time at the university. So far, I noticed slightly more hierarchy between students and teachers here. For example, teachers have a name tag and teaching assistants perform all practical tasks such as cleaning the board. However, the hierarchy is less than I expected. It is still possible to ask critical questions and some teachers even ask us for feedback. As part of the program, we also do company visits. These are not very formal and we mainly discuss the differences between doing business in the Netherlands and Taiwan. These visits are a very valuable addition to the program.”
After the program, Kamiel returns to the Netherlands but has no time to relax. Within a week, he will fly to Sweden for his semester abroad at Umeå University.
University College Twente offers a unique bachelor’s programme, Technology, Liberal, Arts and Sciences, to top students. Visit the University College Twente website for more information about the college and Technology, Liberal, Arts and Sciences website for more information about the bachelor program. Or visit us during the open day, a student-for-a-day or an insight-day.
