NCTU Exchange Report 2013

01

/29

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黃 志偉 jeremiah wong

from the

& tis’ my

wee kim wee school of communication and information exchange repository dated 2013

This book is dedicated to the God who created me, who loved me so much to die for me, who brought me through to Wee Kim Wee and to Taiwan and back.

Then, this book is also dedicated to every person whose name is mentioned here.

Lastly, the journey would not have been possible had it not for 2 loving parents who freely gave their hard-earned money (and then some more) for their son to see the world.

And also to myself. May I look back at this book everytime I feel like I’ve forgotten something, and realize how blessed I am to be alive, and to have experienced it all.

for myself.

and for you.

志偉 在台 灣的 日子 where did i go in taiwan?

01

武吉 巴督 Bukit Batok

新加坡

/31

singapore

01

中山 捷運站 Zhongshan Station

台灣

/31

桃

taiwan

taoyuan

新

園

台

taipei

北

hsinchu

竹 苗

miaoli

台

栗

宜

ilan

蘭

taichung

彰

中

changhua

化

縣市 地圖 county map

我們 瘋狂 了十 四天 our first fourteen days together

中山 捷運站

新竹 新光路

饒河 夜市

Zhongshan Station

Xinguang Road

Raohe. Night Market

/31

/01

台南 安平古堡

高雄市 大東藝術中心

旗津燈塔

Fort Zeelandia

Dadong Arts Center Kaohsiung

Cijin Lighthouse

/07

/08

/09

/02

台北 新生命小組教會

新竹 國立交通大學

高雄 高鐵左營站

蓮池潭

New Life Church, Taipei

National Chiaotung University

Zuoying HSR Station

Lotus Pond

義大遊樂世界

新竹 愛買大賣場

新竹市 東門

台北 富濠飯店旅店

Eda Theme Park

AMart Hypermart

Hsinchu City Northern Gate

Fuhao Hotel Taipei

/03

/10

/04

/11

/05

/12

/06

/13

黃 瀞儀

黃 育瑋

李 怡瑾

Jing-yi HUANG

Yu-wei HUANG

Celine LEE

I knew Jingyi before I came to Taiwan, and she was the first person I met on the first day I arrived in Taipei. She’s a little shy in person but a very fun person to talk to, and also her opinions on how Din Tai Fung is a restaurant for tourists and her opinions of her mainland counterparts also is refreshingly real and funny to behold.

I first met Yuwei in Kaohsiung.

That was my second time in Kaohsiung, and I really liked that place a lot. He brought me around the city area and we went to the Eda Theme Park together as well. Was a great time screaming like girls on the water roller coaster and strolling along the sidewalk of the schools and parks at night in the beautiful city of Kaohsiung.

Celine is the co-owner of Bike Kaohsiung, a hostel near Ju-dan Station. Yinkuan found the place, and I’ve returned to it time and time again, even recommending it to my exchange friend, Honda-san. Celine knows Dr Liew KK from WKW; she’s worked before in NUS for a year as a researcher and thus I always look forward to her insights on Taiwan and Singapore. She has a heart for the disadvantaged, for the politics of her land. Amazing lady.

羅 豪偉

黃 柏皓

Paul LUO

Bo-hao HUANG

Paul is the kind and outgoing owner of Bike Kaohsiung. I’ve heard of how he and his wife Celine met while they were in Sun Yat Sen University then, and also about his plans for expanding the Bike Kaohsiung brand to other cities and such. He even went to stay in hostels around the world to get a feel of how hostel living ought to be like. Here is a guy with really big dreams and aspirations, and I hope he succeeds.

When I received the email from NCTU that I will be getting a buddy for my exchange I was really excited. Although the next inevitable question will be whether the person can click with eccentric me.

But I’m glad those worries were unfounded at the end of the day.

Po-hao is by nature an introvert, and has deep thoughts that NCTU couldn’t fully realize. He shared those things with me and I could understand. Looking forward to hosting him next year after he returns from Denmark next year.

柏皓的 家人 Bo-hao’s Family I’m thankful that during Mother’s Day in Taiwan I could also feel the warmth of a mother’s love.

That weekend I went back with Bohao to his grandparents’ and his place in Changhua. It was another eye-opening experience to share an everyday conversation, a dinner, a small talk with the mother, father and sister who’s studying business in Taipei. And tasted breakfast in true Taiwanese fashion. An experience I won’t forget.

林 玄用

陳 一涵

鄭 志仁

Xuan-yong LIN

Yi-han CHEN

Pastor CHENG

How I met Xuanyong is even more amazing. Two years ago, on my first trip to Taiwan (when I still thought that I was going to NCCU). On the second last day I wanted to visit that university.

I got lost trying to find the bus.

After 1 hour at the bus stop, I approached a stranger behind also waiting at the bus stop. And viola, a new friend was made there and then. He was so nice to not only bring me to NCCU, but walk me through it. Then I knew he was from Chiaotung. I never knew I would eventually go there too.

I remember Yihan for her story of how difficult it was working and facing the workload in the restaurant. On a weekly basis in cell I heard how it was like for a typical Taiwanese teenager to be leaving her home in Pingtung and coming up to Hsinchu to study in Chunghwa Uni (an average ‘neighbourhood’ university by Taiwanese standards). And about getting slots for hostel housing and finding an apartment outside.

Ps Cheng is the Senior Pastor of Sinyi church in Hsinchu. There was once in cell (and of all cell, that was the one Wenyao came for!). A doctor by training, he shared the story of how he came to Taiwan (He’s from HK) and settled down and took over the reins in this church. He also shared about his wishes for the church, how he wanted the church to be small enough so he could remember the names of everyone.

I can’t remember everything already, but it is still really inspiring and encouraging to know someone who loves the knew in HK to come over and start from scratch.

鄭 筑尹 Chu-ying CHENG I don’t really have a name that I would call her, but I am always LINEing her, the most memorable incident being the water heater that wasn’t working and the aircon that kept leaking, Yeah. But she’s married and by now her child should have been born already.

She’s really a nice landlady who offered a free stay at my apartment until the contract started. Finding a house in Taiwan isn’t the easiest thing for a Singaporean to do, I’m glad things turned out well.

龔 叔叔 Uncle KUNG In Singapore I never really got to interact with neighbours downstairs, but in Taiwan, I was able to see how a more leisure Jeremiah looked like. And at times I would stop by to chat with this kind uncle downstairs. He has such an insight into Taiwan politics and is already ready to offer a different opinion on issues hot in the hearts of the Taiwanese, For example, he said why it was important to not defuse the nuclear plants in Taiwan due to economic reasons and practicality issues. Talking to him made me understand Singapore a whole lot more as well.

映嘉的 家人 Rodrigue’s Family I met Yingchia’s mummy and brother the first time I saw Yingchia at Bigcity in Hsinchu. That same afternoon he brought me to see his family (although I was a little shy to do so since it’s really overwhelming to see so many new people at the same time). But I went anyway and they were nice people. The mummy also taught me how to spot discounts in AMart!

對我 來說 重要 的人 who did i meet in taiwan?

許 文耀

文耀的 家人

潘• 彼德

Wen-yao HSU

Wen-yao’s Family

Peter PHAM

Wenyao is a very special person to me. In many ways he represents the passion of Taiwan, the emotional and the logical side of things. Spending time with him really made me much stronger in my language as I often had to debate abstract concepts of religion and culture according to the yardsticks set by him, and in Chinese too. But I can safely say that he is so special a person that I cannot find another person that’s quite like him anywhere else.

Wenyao has an elder sister that really looks like Rainie Yang (but is not), a dad who’s a civil servant working in the shipping industry and a mother with whom he always enjoys picking a good argument with. I’ve had a few meals with them at their place, his mum is really the typical Taiwanese mummy I see on TV, very nice, very motherly, always stuffing food, cakes and fruits to me.

Grateful to share time with them.

Peter is also an exchange student.

He is from the States and is of Vietnamese descent. He’s really interested in Chinese culture, media and music and during the times we hung out together he was a very witty person who quite a bit about the US and stuff. Really quite a blessing to be able to know this person.

陽 台恩 Prof. Tai-en YANG Prof Yang is my teacher for the digital TV production module I took at NCTU. Even though his lessons aren’t the most engaging, he was a very nice and generous teacher that treated everyone in class to a meal after going to Huashih studios in Taipei.

林 君丞 Chun-cheng LIN Chuncheng wants to set up a restaurant in the future. I met him at the TV mod in NCTU. He shared with me how masters students in Taiwan can ‘earn’ their allowance and how the universities pay them differently. He wishes to study business in Taiwan University,

坤• 思文 Sven KHUN Sven is one of my two housemates.

He was very shy for an angmoh, or so I thought. He largely left the talking to Markus and generously took the smaller room between the two rooms available for them. We didn’t talk much, until one night when the both of them came back from drinking and a half-drunk Sven started talking about how he wished I would talk more to them and bring them out more often and stuff like that. We laughed and things were much better from that point onwards.

崔 瑞康

李 俊谷

翁 映嘉

Rui-kang CHUEI

Joshua LEE

Rodrigue WENG

I got to know Ruikang better through my involvement at the Easter Service at Chupei Stadium.

I won’t forget the rainy and windy night I rode pillion on his bike and his helmet flew off on the bridge!

He is quite a soft spoken person and he is also my senior at NCTU and will also be pursuing his masters there as well.

I call him 谷哥 because that’s part of his name. He’s one of the older brothers in the Sinyi church and because the church is only so big, many of the members there also look up to him as well, I suppose.

I’m not sure how I met him but we ate together and I even got to bring Wenyao to his place for dinner! He works at the Hsinchu Technopark, but he wants to get out of Taiwan to get a new perspective on life. He is also exploring Singapore as well. The last I know, he is in the States.

Yingchia is a random friend in every sense of the word. One day I received a random friend request, and it turned out to be all part of God’s plan for me. He lives in Hsinchu and is part of the church and cell group that I would eventually join for the 5 months in Hsinchu. His importance is in being the bridge into his community, and that bridge is, as I would later realise, priceless and so ordained

維爾莫• 馬克思 Markus WIEMUTH Markus is a particularly funny guy. Even though he is German, his English is really fluent and that really helped to make admin stuff better (I was the small landlord, telling them things like recycling and how much to pay me). He brought his brother and brother’s girlfriend over also and we had a good time at Lion’s Head Mountain, nearing the end of my exchange. And also for all the good German words he taught me like Schade / scheide (vagina), Auf jeden, Dumpfbacke (used when describing him) and of course Dummer idiot. Couldn’t have asked for a better pair of housemates.

本田 達也

林 昱伸

Tatsuya HONDA

Josh LIN

Honda-san is an exchange student and he comes from Hokkaido if I am not wrong. It was really an experience having him meet Yuwei, and I was practically translating three languages (Jap, Eng and Chinese) to the both of them.

But I am glad that Honda-san enjoyed his time at Kaohsiung too, although it made Yuwei a tad nervous because Honda-san can only use Japanese.

Josh is works as a teacher in Kuangfu Junior High and is really interested in Singaporean culture and the Singlish language! He even taught Singlish in his own English class. He is a very good listening ear to all my issues and troubles; those times when I would just rant everything out to him.

江 姿潔

賴 韻如

何 老師

Ruby CHIANG

Momo LAI

Tracy HO

Ruby is my project mate in the TV practicum. Even though my involvement in the project wasn’t a lot, I got to know her better after the weekly lessons, when we will take a leisure stroll around the NCTU campus and just talk about life; her life, my life, how Taiwanese students see the outside world, going outside to work and stuff. Really learnt so much from simple conversations.

Her concert was amazing. As a cell we attended her concert at NHCUE music hall, and there she belted out effortlessly a dozen hits of classical pieces. I didn’t understand much, but I know enough to tell she knows her stuff.

Most of them call her 何老師.

She sometimes pops by our cell gatherings and she will already be ready to offer her view and insights, And like all learned people, her words are always so edifying to the ears and the heart. The cell clearly values her presence and her personal fight with cancer deems her a living testimony of faith in her Provider.

吳 易澤 黃 欣怡 Xin-yi Huang Even though I didn’t get too much of an opportunity to speak much to her, I know her passion is very strong in music (she’s Yunru’s coursemate) and she recently deliberated over moving to Hualien or Taipei for her next academic and career move. Another valued and treasured cell member.

Yi-che WU Yiche, known for his signature response to prayer requests. Every week when it comes to his turn to say, he will aways begin with 創 作順利, so much so it’s begun to take on a life of its own already.

He was a sargeant in the army because he went to do his masters in NHCUE.

甘 尉慈 Wei-chi Gan We all believe at that this point of writing, Weichi is Yiche’s girlfriend. Kind of like an open secret, but because Taiwanese people are much less confrontational than Singaporeans, everyone knows but nobody wishes to actually ask. I believe she is also doing a similar course to Yiche, which explains how they met.

顏 晟宇

方 俊元

Bi-chu Chuang

Allen YAN

Jun-yuan FANG

Bichu came to know Jesus barely few months ago. But she is deeply passionate and earnest in knowing more about God and Christ, always reading some book and mentioning how God has helped her in her everyday life.

I got to know Allen rather indirectly through Yuwei and also realised that incidentally he was also in NCTU and in the same program I was enrolled in (DCT), just that I didn’t take the mod so that wasn’t much chance to see him. But I eventually still stepped into the Hakka College and it was really a nice place. He intends to do his exchange in Singapore and I really do hope that he will be able to get into the 4 places that NTU has allotted for inbound students from NCTU.

Knowing Junyuan was one of the most ‘organic’ experiences I had in NCTU, meaning that this knowing wasn’t dictated or necessitated by an arrangement. It occurred just randomly and that spontaneity led us to do a group project together involving presenting in Chinese.

And like a true Taiwanese with a great tongue, he spoke (or bulled) about AMei effortlessly throughout the presentation.

莊 璧朱

常 愉 Yu CHANG She was once very, very quiet, even though she just sat next to me for weeks in my business management class. Changyu and I became closer as time passed and afterwards I even got to go and attend her church service and cell, which is quite different from what I used to know of churches before.

施 婷宇 Jennifer SHIH Shes’s one of Changyu’s cell mates (they all stay in a dormitory just outside the Kuangfu campus), and is also a classmate for my management class, though in another lecture group.

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FEB

| • GEM Exp Application

• 1st Batch of GEM Applicants (January Intake)

• Final Exams • School Ends

• Extend VISA

• Welcome Email from NCTU

APR

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您要 等待

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Ap ply

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SA I rV Fo

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SEP

OCT

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• Receive Acceptance Package (Letter) • NTU Prefrom NCTU departure Session

DEC

• 2nd Batch of GEM Exp Applicants (August Intake)

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JAN 2013

• Notified of Buddy Program

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• NCTU Add/Drop • School Starts

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a waiting game

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FEB

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MAY

• Wee Kim Wee Exchange Briefing • Submit NCTU Application Package

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-- E xch ang ea tN CT U

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JAN 2012

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自我 陶醉 introduction Going to Taiwan was quite the experience for myself. Looking back, I’ve met people and seen things that challenged my own perception of what Taiwan is to me. But before you go, do ask yourself: what do you want to see? Because what you see will really determine what kind of Taiwan you will experience for yourself. For me, I took a route that brought me to the alleys and backyards of Taiwan society. I sat pillion on a motorcycle almost once every other day, ate braised pork with my friends’ parents at their kitchen table and spoke to a costal guard who was serving his last

few days in his NS. I sought to see the Taiwanese society for what it was worth, and that decision (along with some sacrifices made), gave the best experience I could ask for. The idea is this: don’t let my exchange experience define yours. Or let the experience of your seniors define yours. Your exchange will be so precious, it’s probably the only one you will have in your tertiary education. It’s too precious and short a time to not follow your heart.

找地 方住 accomodation I stayed in Xinguang Road, Hsinchu City East District No. 85. And I loved it. I can’t speak for the hostels, but it should be liveable, although you’ll get what you pay for. I paid SGD250 a month for a master bed room with attached bathroom (like a hotel), and shared the house with 2 housemates (they took smaller rooms and paid lesser). And I thoroughly enjoyed the stay there; my landlady was a very pretty and kind lady who helped me settle in as well.

I recommend that you should stay outside if...

The hostels, on the other hand, are awesome for forming great friendships with other fellow exchange students. Unfortunately, deep interaction with locals via hostel living is sadly not too possible because most local Taiwanese students already have their own roommates and by nature they prefer their own nationality of choice.

You should stay in hostel if...

• If you are taking modules mainly in Kuangfu or Hakka Campus (because you hostels are located at Boai Campus) • You want be close to the locals and the community • You need a comfortable personal space to be by yourself

• You’re a guy, and you want to make a lot of exchange friends (most of whom do stay in hostels; many of my female friends stay outside) • Don’t want to find apartments in Taiwan (which isn’t easy at all) • You want to have $1000 more to spend on trips, shopping and all

學習 環境

關於 新竹

助你 一把

study environment

about hsinchu

living ettiquette

Taiwanese universities are generally less rigorous in their requirement for students. Even more for exchange students. And especially students from Singapore. There’s no need to mug there, just enjoy the process of learning. You deserve a good break from all that. Here’s what I took and matched:-

Hsinchu is known for a few things. It’s extremely windy. It is not as convenient as Taipei, but it is pretty convenient to get to many parts of Western Taiwan. It has meat balls called 貢丸. Hebe from S.H.E was from here.

NCTU MODULE Management Digital TV Production Visual Perception Japanese Level 3 Internet and Society

MATCH AS Business Gerpe UE UE UE STS Gerpe

Total Take-home AU: 15AU Most modules have multiple exams (2 mid terms and 1 final term) and endless quizzes. But the good news is that they are mostly easy (if they are in English, that is). Do check with the professor the medium of the exams.

And if you can tolerate Chinese as the language of instruction, the exception being English medium courses. I took Management in NCTU, where while the professor spoke Mandarin in class, the slides, textbooks, quizzes and exams were all in English. I also took a course where it (unfortunately) involved complex biology terms in Chinese and the exams were also in Chinese. And I still passed. It’s really very manageable.

Weather: Upon arriving in Hsinchu in early February, it will be a chilly 12-16°C. Expect very strong winds. Expect such weather through out March and April. In May the weather turns warmer until it becomes warm. In June it gets slightly uncomfortably warm, but hey that means you’re coming back to Singapore!

Hsinchu City 新竹市 is not to be confused with Hsinchu County 新竹縣. It can be hard for a Singaporean to understand this concept because Singapore is really so small. Hsinchu City is inside Hsinchu County, like the Sentosa is in Singapore.

1. Taiwanese people are really polite and soft spoken. Learn to say thank you “謝謝” when alighting from all buses, sorry 不好意思 and excuse me 借過一下 are also very essential to not sticking out like a sore thumb in Taiwanese society.

2. Door bells sound nothing like ‘rinnnng rinnnggg’ in Taiwan. They sound like a screech of a bird being barbecued. Look out for them.

3. If you stay at an apartment, make friends with the security guards. They can help you from opening the main gate to collecting orders for you when you’re not home.

4. If you cannot speak Mandarin, do learn some simple phrases. Most Taiwanese on the streets are not comfortable in another language. But most are extremely friendly and more than willing to go the extra mile to help you.

Important Places in Hsinchu Hsinchu City

Hsinchu TRA Station

NCTU Kuangfu and Boai Campus

Kuangfu Road Chupei (in Hsinchu County)

Hsinchu HSR Station

NCTU Hakka College

關於 交通 transportation

1782 > HSR > UBus

TRA > Plane / Ferry

Tips & Tricks

TRA, HSR, Coaches

Coaches, HSR, TRA

Kuokuang 1782

Pink Shuttle Bus, Bus 1. 2, Expo Bus

Pink Shuttle Bus, Bus 1. 2

NCTU School Bus

within NCTU Campuses

to NCTU Campus

within Hsinchu City) to Chupei to Taipei to Taoyuan Airport to other parts of Taiwan Mainland to Matsu, Kinmen, Penghu, Green Island

1. If you travel by HSR, note the early bird discounts! Enjoy up to 40% off regular HSR tickets if you book early. More information at ___.

2. If that’s not enough, present your NCTU Student ID at any HSR Ticket booths and book a Student Ticket at 50% off selected train timings 3. All TRA train stations including Hsinchu and north of Hsinchu (all the way to Keelung) can use Easycard. Just tap in / out if you’re traveling between these stations! No need to purchase tickets.

4. Buses in Hsinchu require you to tap in and out like in Singapore. But buses in other parts of Taiwan may differ. Some require you to tap once only for a fixed price.

5. Use the smart kiosks (e.g. iBon at 7-Eleven) to book and collect your tickets for TRA and HSR tickets. Admin charge of 10NTD applies.

6. All TRA and HSR trains have timetables. Use them to plan your trips so that you don’t waste time waiting for the next train (some intervals can be as long as an hour).

新 加 坡 to

台 灣