Around the date I flew to Taipei, the worldwide corona virus stress started. This made my departure a bit more tensive. Taiwan is sometimes seen as a part of China and the travel advice from the Netherlands to China became quite strict. In addition, Taiwan itself also introduced preventive travel restrictions. The start of the semester is postponed with two weeks and at the moment, it is almost impossible to transfer in China or Hongkong when flying to Taiwan. Luckily, my flight was direct from Schiphol to Taipei, Taiwan was excluded from the adjusted travel advice to China and I had a very smooth trip.

Because of the delayed semester, my exchange adventure started with two weeks off and got used to that idea quite soon. I’ve met so many new people and in the meantime discovered the country and the life on and around the campus. The NTU campus is quite wide, beautiful and located central in the city. Unfortunately, at this moment, I cannot write anything about studying at NTU. However, I have learned a lot about Taiwan. Taiwan is not that big. The size is comparable with the size of the Netherlands. However, there are so many different kind of places to discover. The Island has cities, mountains, beaches and waterfalls. Even the climate is not the same at all places on the island. Cooking at home is not really a thing over here, but many small restaurants and several night markets provide the opportunity to eat cheap and good at the same time.

During the first week, there was an organized welcome week with several parties and activities for all international students in Taipei, so also from other universities than NTU. This was the perfect opportunity to meet a lot of people in a short period of time. In the second week I traveled to the south of the Island together with other exchange students who I met in Taipei. I’ve not traveled outside Taiwan yet, but this is definitely possible and I already booked my ticket to Tokyo. So far, the exchange semester feels like one big dream holiday. However, I am also glad that the NTU introduction starts this week and that the lectures start next week. I am still so glad that I chose NTU and I hope to experience so many more adventures during the next months in and outside Taiwan.