Person 98 Basic Information 1. Name Sabina Börjesson 2. Exchange university National Taiwan University 3. City Taipei 4. Country Taiwan 5. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 6. Academic year 2011/12 7. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 8. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Law and Business administration 9. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 4 years Studies 10. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? The relationship between teachers and students. Examinations. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Studierna på NTU var väldigt annorlunda mot vad jag själv är van vid från Uppsala Universitet. På NTU är kraven på närvaro väldigt höga och man läser många kurser parallellt. Detta bidrar till att tempot känns väldigt högt. Däremot var de flesta kurser jag läste inte särskilt svåra innehållsmässigt. Jag reagerade på att studierna till stor del gick ut på att lära sig saker utantill istället för att som i Uppsala lära sig att vara kritisk. Jag tycker därför att studierna på NTU håller en något lägre klass än i Uppsala. Däremot fanns det utrymme att även uppleva landet och umgås med vänner under utbytesterminen. Kurserna inom ramen för företagsekonomi C var schemalagda en gång i veckan, tre timmar per kurs. Undervisningen var främst i föreläsningsform, men med inslag av redovisning, muntlig argumentation och skrivuppgifter. I tre av de fyra kurserna jag läste arbetade vi även i basgrupper. Lärarna var i samtliga fall professorer och dialogen mellan student och professor var inte lika kamratlig som jag upplever den i Uppsala. Examinationen skedde genom tentor och skrivuppgifter. Kursen i kinesiska var annorlunda på två sätt. För det första hade jag undervisning sex timmar i veckan och för det andra var läraren inte en professor. Kinesiskan undervisades i mindre grupper och vi fick vara mycket aktiva på lektionerna. Examinationen skedde genom läxor, två tentor och deltagande på lektionerna. Jag upplevde som lätt att få högt betyg på kursen, men jag var också väldigt intresserad av att lära mig och la mycket tid på kinesiskan. Den sammanlagda kvaliteten på undervisningen är enligt mig något sämre än Uppsala, men kvaliteten berodde väldigt mycket på vilka kurser man valde. Något som är mycket positivt är att man på NTU får gå på hur många kurser man vill de första två veckorna för att därefter bestämma sig för vilka kurser man vill läsa. Det kallas att shoppa kurser.
Orientation and reception 11. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: How you were welcomed as an exchange student. Orientation, information, activities. Om man som utbytesstudent kommer till Taiwan på några i förväg meddelade datum anordnar NTU hämtning vid den stora flygplatsen. Jag utnyttjade detta och tyckte att det var jätteskönt. Jag hade tre datum att välja mellan och missade inget som NTU hade planerat genom att ta en av dessa dagar som ankomstdatum. När jag kom till min bostad möttes jag av min fadder som hjälpte mig med allt jag behövde första dagen. Hon och jag höll sedan fortsatt kontakt. De första dagarna anordnades det en del aktiviteter i form av campusvandring, utställning av föreningar och en välkomstföreläsning. Dessutom fanns det en Facebook-sida som alla utbytesstudenter kunde gå med i. Här kunde vi skriva frågor innan, under och efter utbytet men också kommunicera med varandra. Accommodation 12. Write one or more paragraphs describing your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? Jag bodde på samman ställe som de flesta utbytesstudenterna bodde, i studentrum på campus. Det kostar cirka 1800 kronor i månaden, beroende på vilket typ av rum man har. Egentligen är det fel att säga på campus eftersom själva universitetsområdet låg två kvarter bort, men det sägs vara på campus. Tack vare att så många utbytesstudenter bodde på samma ställe hittade jag lätt vänner att umgås med. Boendet i sig var inget speciellt, ett rum med privat dusch och toa. Jag hade inte tillgång till kök, men hade ett kylskåp. Kök behövs inte eftersom det är väldigt billigt att äta mat ute, det gjorde jag nästa jämt. En stor nackdel är att det blev väldigt kallt i december och januari och jag behövde köpa ett värmeelement för att kunna vistas i mitt rum. Jag skulle dock rekommendera alla att ta boende på campus, rum är garanterat för alla utbytesstudenter som vill ha det. Your finances 13. Write one or more paragraphs describing the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? Levnadskostnaderna är lägre än i Sverige, men jag ville resa mycket och därför räckte inte studiemedlen. Jag levde absolut så som jag själv ville istället för att tänka på pengarna. Mina resor var verkligen värda att lägga pengar på eftersom det är ett bra sätt att lära känna landet och kulturen. Free time 14. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Det anordnades en hel del aktiviteter av NTU och dess föreningar, men jag deltog inte i så många. Jag och mina vänner hittade istället på egna resor och saker att göra. Eftersom jag hade mycket fritid kunde jag resa mycket och se stora delar av ön. Men man behöver inte resa så långt, det finns massor att göra i och runt Taipei. Ett tips är att köpa en resehandbok, men att också prata med de inhemska studenterna om deras tips på resmål.
Your exchange on a whole 15. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. Jag är jättenöjd med mitt utbyte och skulle verkligen rekommendera den som vill uppleva något annorlunda och spännande att åka till Taiwan. Approval 16. Do you approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes
Person 188 Basic Information 1. Name Kenneth von Zeipel 2. Exchange university National Taiwan University 3. City Taipei 4. Country Taiwan 5. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 6. Academic year 2011/12 7. Level of studies at the exchange university Mixed undergrad/postgrad 8. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Master program for languages, Iranian languages 9. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 8 Studies 10. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: The dierences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? The relationship between teachers and students. Examinations. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. National Taiwan University (NTU) is (with some exceptions) one big campus in the city center of Taipei, and students of almost all faculties are sharing the same campus. NTU doesnt have nations like Uppsala, instead it has a crazy amount of student clubs for dierent puropses, everything from cocktail or golf clubs to religious associations. Choosing courses is also very dierent from Uppsala. Just a few weeks before the semester begins, the course selection comes online and through a course selection system you choose the courses that you are interested in and the system will give you a nal result two weeks before the courses start. However, you can still easily drop courses that you have chosen and attend courses that you have not chosen, if there is space enough and if the teacher allows you to. There doesnt seem to be any limitation for exchange students to choose courses therefore you might want to check with the teacher that your experience is actually enough for taking the courses in the end, or it will be very hard for you. It soon becomes obvious that the hierarchy is much stronger in Taiwanese universities than in Swedish universities. In a class mixed Taiwanese and exchange students, you will notice how those asking questions, answering questions from the teacher or interrupting the teacher are in most cases the international students unless the class is very small with a close relation to the teacher. Most classes also have teaching assistants who are generally PhD students and take care of responsibilities like homework or some labs. Examinations in the courses that I have taken were homeworks, speeches and nal projects, although I know other courses have generally at least one midterm exam and one nal exam. The academic level is quite ok and discussing with the professor generally interesting. However, discussing dierent possible answers in homeworks (corrected by TAs) is not advisable. My experience is that you should just give the answer that is expected in homeworks, discussing dierent possibilities for answers in homeworks (based on dierent theories or dierent ways to view things) has generally just led to minus points from the TAs who dont seem to
be willing to see any other answer than the one they had in mind when coming up with the questions. There are computer rooms, both general and specic for the dierent departments. I guess most exchange students bring their own laptop, though. There is wi in campus but not everywhere and not always with a good signal. There is printing and scanning possibility on campus, however, it will generally be cheaper to bring what you want to print on a memory stick and go to one of the many copy shops on and just outside of campus. Orientation and reception 11. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: How you were welcomed as an exchange student. Orientation, information, activities. NTU has a very good program for welcoming exchange students with campus orientations, providing a volunteer buddy and sending out e-mails with important information. There are several student clubs aimed to organize activities for international students or for exchange between international and local students, like NTUISIS, NTUFSA or TalentBook. I would recommend any student to at least give these clubs a chance and join an excursion to some interesting place in Taiwan. The International Oce (OIA) also oers a Facebook group for exchange students where dierent matters or problems are discussed (and often just invitations to go out clubbing together :D). I really cannot complain about feeling welcomed by the NTU, however sometimes you get the feeling that you are treated as a guest but not taken too seriously as a student, but thats just a feeling. Accommodation 12. Write one or more paragraphs describing your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satised? Do you have any tips for future students? The rst semester I stayed in the Prince House, which has a very good standard comparable to newly built accommodation in Sweden. A big dierence is however the front desk and the many rules, like not having guests after 23:00. There are also cameras everywhere except your room, so if anyone breaks the rules and get caught (acquaintance of mine got caught having their girlfriends sleep over), the front desk will have enough proof to give you a warning or even throw you out. The many rules was one important reason that I moved out after one semester and shared a room o-campus with another student. If you want to feel free, you can try your luck to nd something o-campus. If you like more the social world no matter of rules, on-campus is very convenient. Your finances 13. Write one or more paragraphs describing the cost of living. Did you nd CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? The rent for a private room with wc/shower in Prince House is 1700 sek which is cheaper than most student rooms in Sweden. A room o-campus will most probably be more expensive if you want to live close to NTU. The living costs depends on how much you want to travel and go to fancy restaurants etc., but I could easily get by on 20.000 TWD ( 4600 SEK) per month incl. rent. Eating is very convenient around campus with many food stands or cheap restaurants aimed at students.
Free time 14. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on oer? As mentioned before, there are several student clubs arranging activities and eld trips for international students and generally to a nice price. I cannot complain about what was on oer. In addition to this, it is very convenient to go exploring Taiwan and the Taiwan area yourself or with local or international friends. Traveling is cheap and accommodation can be cheap, too. Taiwan is trying to be a tourist destination, and there is generally at least one tourism oce in every major city. In Taipei also many MRT stations will oer information in English for visitors. Your exchange on a whole 15. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. If you see your semester or year in Taiwan as a meeting with East Asia and Taiwanese culture and lifestyle, you will not regret it. Those are the things that will not be credits in your diploma, but things that will open up your mind and give your more understanding about other cultures and actually also quite much about your own. Approval 16. Do you approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University's website? Yes When you are done press Submit. You will then be asked to conrm that you want to submit your answers. Press OK. Thank you for replying to this survey - your input is greatly appreciated.