Four students got the chance to gain an authentic insight into various aspects of the Taiwanese culture and the Chinese language. After their stay they wrote a report describing their experience during the week at the most recent partner university of the Thurgau University of Teacher Education.

A memorable journey
With great anticipation we got on our plane to Taiwan directly after Christmas. We, Lisa Hanhart, Larissa Beck, Laura Otto und Karin Meier, were the lucky ones who got the chance to visit our partner university NTUE (National Taipei University of Education) and to participate in the Culture and Language programme. At the same time, we were a bit apprehensive wondering what to expect on the other side of the world. What was it going to be like, the landscape, the food and the people?
After a very hearty welcome it became obvious straightaway that our time in Taiwan was going to be unforgettable. We became very friendly with eight other guest students from all over Europe. In addition, we met many very kind and open-minded local students who accompanied us during the extremely well organized excursions and day trips. On these occasions, we had a great laugh together, ate a lot and mostly got to know the country. We visited exciting museums and beautiful small towns such as Jioufen and the cat village Rueifang which has become known for its many free- roaming cats. We also enjoyed the breath-taking view from Taipei 101 which is the seventh highest tower in the world and visited the sensory overloaded night markets with delicious food. However, the greatest high light was the firework display welcoming the year 2018.

Getting to know the culture
In addition we learned a whole lot about Chinese culture. We were able to try out traditional Chinese paper cutting and writing Chinese letters. We also visited Chinese classes where we got to know a few words of Chinese.
The organiser of the stay, Mrs. Chiayung Sung, had put together a beautiful programme and looked after us very well. At this stage, we would like express our thanks, or as you would say in Chinese Xièxiè, to all the people who made our trip and the experience possible and who contributed to it. Of course we furthermore hope to welcome some guest students from Taiwan at the Thurgau University of Teacher Education in the near future. We also hope that the students at the Thurgau University of Teacher Education will take advantage of the chance to spend a similar unforgettable time in Taipei via a mobility term at the NTUE.
In conclusion, all our initial ideas were more than positively answered.

Text by: Lisa Hanhart (student VS), Larissa Beck (student PS), Laura Otto (student PS) und Karin Meier (student Sekl)