In Taiwan, everything currently is a little different from how it used to be before the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus. I clearly notice that there is a fear of the virus in a large part of the population. More than half of the people on the streets wear masks and in some public places such as supermarkets, tourist attractions, and the university, your temperature is checked and alcohol is sprayed on your hands to disinfect them before you can enter. As a student, I also notice that the start of the semester has been postponed for two weeks and that information e-mails are sent frequently by people from the university about the coronavirus and how to deal with this.At the university campus, your temperature is measured at all entrances and disinfection spray is sprayed on your hands. After this, you receive a sticker that you must stick on your clothing to show that you have been checked and found to be ‘healthy’.

On the photo above you can see how employees of the university scan the body temperature of every person that enter the campus of the university with a heat-sensitive camera. If your temperature is above 37.5 degrees you cannot go in, or you must be examined at the health center of the university. So far I have not seen anybody that is determined unhealthy by one of these checks.

Furthermore, you must wear a mouth cap in the canteen, partitions and “No speaking zone”-signs have been placed on dining tables and employees walk around with signs stating that you are not allowed to talk in the canteen so that you do not accidentally spread the coronavirus during the lunch break. This is a remarkable sight, but as a student, I am not bothered by it since it is not really enforced.

I mainly seek information about the virus via NOS.nl and Taiwan News to stay informed of the latest developments. Despite the fact that you are constantly alerted of the coronavirus in Taiwan by means of signs and posters, daily life continues. Most of the international students that I have seen so far, do not wear masks and do not feel restricted in any way to do what they normally would do. So although students are made very aware of the virus by official agencies, they can still continue to do the daily things for which they came here. This includes shopping, visiting night markets, going out and more.

Taipei itself is a large and dazzling city with more than 2 million inhabitants located between several mountains. This ensures that you can get in mountainous nature quite quickly. This is ideal for making hikes or for running. Furthermore, the city has everything you expect from a large city in terms of shops and nightlife. Shopping in the supermarket is a lot more expensive than in the Netherlands and eating on the street is relatively affordable, which has as an effect that almost everyone eats at the many street tents that are scattered around the city on night markets. Many Taiwanese speak poor English, so communicating is sometimes a challenge, but with hands, feet and Google Translate you can get quite far. Taiwan is a safe country and Taiwanese are very helpful. This ensures that you quickly feel at home as a Dutch student in Taipei.

I live in a room in an apartment with five other international students. I am currently living together with Jordy van Os, who is also studying at TU/e and Dutch, German, South Korean and Japanese students. This semester, more students from TU/e are studying in Taipei, including Joanne Meeuwis and Pepijn Jansen.

Our apartment is on the third floor above a busy shopping street, about fifteen minutes walking from the university. It is usually around 20 to 25 degrees Celsius here, almost as it is during the average Dutch summer. Therefore, it is certainly not a punishment to walk or cycle to the university.