Semester abroad National Taipei University of Technology – Bachelor Interfacedesign

The decision

The opportunity to take on completely new perspectives and understand how the world is perceived from other cultures has always appealed to me. As designers in particular, we should always be interested in how other people see and perceive things in order to create the best possible product at the end of the day. In view of this, the decision to go to Taiwan, of all places, was quickly made. I was also interested in the culture, liberal and forward-looking politics, technological progress and cuisine.

The preparations

Before the application process was even opened, I read through all the articles on the FHP website about Taiwan and did a lot of research on the country. I was all the more pleased when I was able to apply and was finally accepted. In addition to discussions with former students who had been to Taiwan, we also had a workshop with Mei-Chen Spiegelberg, who comes from Taiwan and is currently doing her doctorate on the subject of "Interactions in intercultural training" at TU Dresden. The workshop gave us a deeper insight into the culture and everyday life of the Taiwanese and prepared us for how to cope with everyday (university) life in Taiwan. We also had the opportunity to speak to three NTUT professors a few months before our trip and to attend a course when they visited us in Potsdam.

The accommodation

NUTU offers all incoming exchange students the opportunity to apply for a place in the dormitory. I got a place in the off-campus dormitory in New Taipei City, which is a little further out but can be easily reached in about 20 minutes by MRT without having to change trains. I shared the room with three other exchange students from Europe. Alternatively, you can also look for your own flat or shared flat, but this is much more expensive and comparable to prices in Berlin.

Studying at the university

At the beginning of the semester, there was an introductory event at which the teaching staff introduced themselves and the courses they were offering throughout the semester. The local students also went out of their way to make all international students feel welcome. However, I had already chosen most of the courses before the presentation. From the start of the semester, there is a certain period in which you have to confirm your courses again or leave the course if you don't like it. I completed both Bachelor's and Master's courses and was able to get involved and work well in the Master's courses, even though I'm still studying for a Bachelor's degree. The bachelor's courses are somewhat less complex than the master's courses in terms of the amount of work and the teaching style is more reminiscent of school days. On the other hand, we often went on excursions in these courses, for example to the HAKA Expo, the museum or the Taiwan Design Expo, and these trips were always very exciting and enriching. The English-language design courses are often also attended by exchange students who are not studying design, so you also get to know people from other degree programmes. The Master's courses were more demanding and varied in terms of content. For example, Prof. Nan-Ching Tai taught us how to design a chair in a 3D programme and then build it as a miniature version using a laser cutter and wooden panels. He also showed us step by step how to build an app with Swift UI. In between all the instructions on how to build or programme something, there were always interesting presentations in which Prof. Tai presented his research work.

Everyday life and free time

As my five courses only took place from Monday to Wednesday, I had more than enough free time. At the beginning, I used my days off a lot to explore Taipei. I walked around the city a lot and was able to discover many exciting places. I was often out and about with other students and we went on excursions, went out to eat or went to the night markets, which are very popular with the Taiwanese, to round off the day. I always used the weekends to go on short trips within Taiwan, for example to the sea for a swim or hiking in the mountains, but also southwards to explore other cities such as Kaoshiung.

Conclusion and tips

Looking back, I can definitely say that my time in Taiwan was one of the best in my life. I am already looking forward to coming back to Taiwan when I have the opportunity. I can only recommend the semester abroad at NTUT to everyone. To get the most out of your stay, you should definitely be very open-minded and spend less time socialising with other German or European students, but instead take the opportunity to get to know the local students. As a result, I got to know other cultures much better and was able to share my culture and understand and see it in a new way.