The TECC in Chennai has the pleasure of sharing a letter from a student of SRM Institute of Science and Technology about his experience in Taiwan:
My Experience In Taiwan
Taiwan -a beautiful island country situated in the Far East Asia. I had never imagined that I'll get a chance to visit this beautiful country. It all started when I was in my first year of B.tech, when I was studying Mandarin Chinese with the Taiwan Education Center at SRM University. I was very much impressed by the Taiwanese culture and the mandarin language that I made up my mind to visit this country at any cost. I used to search for internships, exchange programs and other summer/winter programs in different sites so that i could go there. One day I received a message from my Zhongwen Laoshi (Chinese Teacher) about the TEEP program which was to be held in the National Kaohsiung Normal University. I was very excited and I still remember that I was the first one to fill out the application form from my University. Luckily I got selected and from that day I was just counting days to go to Taiwan.
12th December, 2017-the day when I arrived at Kaohsiung, I was super excited and my heart was full of mixed feelings - excitement, joy, nervousness and curiosity. I met my colleagues at the airport as even their flight had landed at the same time. We took a taxi and went to the National Kaohsiung Normal University-Heping campus. The volunteers helped us with our luggage and explained us about the entire program. We then went to the Yanchao Campus where we were based. We were very lucky as the public transport was free for the next two months, so every day after class we used to take the bus or the MRT and explore the city. Every day we used to go to different night markets, shopping, tourist attractions, meet different people and used to try talking to the locals in Chinese. This also helped me improve my Chinese language. One thing I noticed there was that the people there were very kind, friendly and helpful. I'd like to share a few incidents that touched my heart - this was the first weekend in Taiwan, me and my friends decided to be a little adventurous and we went to Tainan just for a day trip. It was a beautiful city. We rented a bicycle there and explored the entire city. While returning we were totally lost and also we couldn't use our phones to get the directions or get the bus number to reach Tainan station as it got completely discharged and also we didn't have enough money to book a taxi. I saw a family and went to them for asking the directions to the station. They were so kind and that they told us to hop in their car and they dropped us to the station. They also told us which train to board and waited till we boarded the train. I was very much touched by their kind gesture. Almost every person we met there were so friendly and nice. Once while travelling in the MRT my phone battery was completely dead a lady sitting next to me voluntarily offered her power bank to me. When her stop came I returned her power bank but she said in Chinese,"ni keyi liuzhe, ni keneng hui milu"(you can keep it, you may get lost) but i insisted her to take it back. After these incidents a question rose in my mind," how can people be so generous to strangers?" I was very impressed by their nature and was a learning experience for me.
Before going to Taiwan I had listed out a few places and activities I wanted to visit and try there. Every weekend on Fridays we used to go for clubbing and on Sunday-Monday we used to go to different cities to travel and explore. I visited so many cities there -Tainan, Kenting, Jiufen, Ruifang, Hualien, New Taipei City, Pingtung and Taipei. Taiwan has so much to offer for travelers and tourists. The beaches in Kenting were so beautiful and the water was crystal clear. I also tried snorkeling there. Hualien, Juifang, Ruifang and New Taipei City these cities were so clean and one of the most beautiful places I had ever been to. I tried paragliding at New Taipei City. It was a great and a memorable experience. I was lucky enough to celebrate my New Year in Taipei and enjoy the firecrackers at Taipei 101.
These two months were the best two months of my life where I got to explore new cities, meet new people, learn new things and have a better insight of the Taiwanese culture. I never felt home-sick, for me Taiwan had become my second home and the people there my new family. If I get a chance I'll surely visit this beautiful country again. Wo Ai Taiwan he Taiwan de ren (I Love Taiwan and the people there).
