Details

• Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)
• MABizComm-22
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

In the application process describe why exactly you chose NCCU and Taiwan as a partner uni and check whether the courses match with your studies. I described in detail why i was interested in taiwan and the region and why the uni fits to my studies. Preparing for your semester abroad should include: 1. Vaccinations 2. Visa 3. Accomodation 4. Courses 5. Travel Insurance 6. Registration at your embassy that youre in Taiwan (for emergency evacuation) 7. Flights (book a flexible ticket if youre not sure how long you'll stay or dont book a flight back yet, most of us stayed over christmas)

2. Accommodation

I found my appartment via Myroomabroad. NCCU gave us multiple links which were honestly not really helpful as they were often for unfurnished appartments or actual realtor websites. Myroomabroad was the most helpful as they speak english, and you can also contact them directly and they will help you with finding fitting listings etc. Some people also managed to book a room through the mandarin website 591, but as to my experience, the housing on myroomabroad was mostly better. As a master student i chose to be in the city centre, and i would highly recommend this as NCCU is a little bit outside, close to Taipei Zoo. The people in the dorms (where i applied to as a backup, but didnt get a spot, many didnt) definitely had a different experience outside, which of course can also be nice if you like to have dorm community and be really close to campus. But all in all the dorms did not seem to be as nice to live in. A tip would be to check the connection to NCCU beforehand, i lived near Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, which in my view was a really really nice location with 2 metro lines and a direct bus to NCCU. Generally i would recommend to live in the districts Daan, Zhongzheng or Xinyi.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus is huge and rather outside the city, which in my case was not that bad as i only had 3 courses on 2 days. The teaching style really depends on the courses, i had one which was just listening to the lecture while the other 2 were much more interactive and similar to my studies at WU. The three courses I attended were: Digital Disruption, News Media, and Citizens Global Communication and Culture Circular Business Models The professors are mostly really nice and understanding towards exchange students and I would say my courses were mostly easier or the same level as WU. And fyi, the NCCU has now shortened their semester to end before Christmas, so i was done with all my courses before christmas, but decided to stay until january and then travel in january around asia.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport works really well in Taipei and Taiwan. High Speed trains all around the country are super comfortable and work amazing and are not expensive. The only annoying thing are the buses, as they tend to come randomly from time to time. I would recommend to download the local bus apps, for accurate times. Safety is also top tier, i never felt unsafe once in Taiwan. You get used to having smaller earthquakes, just download local apps and be aware what to do for safety, when an earthquake happens. Taipei has lots of activities to offer, you can join whatsapp groups and get informed about events in the city. Fun fact: Taiwan has an amazing coffee culture and Taipei has so many cute and unique cafes. For sports: gyms are rather expensive, but there are the local sports centers, where you can pay per entrance. Some of them are really nice and have a full gym as well as a pool and lots of other sport facilities.

6. Testimonial

Taipei and Taiwan was the most special place i have ever been to in south east asia, and I highly highly recommend it. The mix of nature and city life and the taiwanese people & culture has made me fall deeply in love with this country and I will miss it dearly :(