1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad 2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey 3. Residence abroad

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1 A. General report 1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) from the 6 th of September until the 24 th of January. 2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey I did not really have a lot of contact with my home faculty, except for the learning agreement and the Marco Polo form which we had to hand in. For the Marco Polo form you already have to write down the courses you want to follow. But no worries, you can just write some courses down, it is really easy to change your selection by the time you get in Kaohsiung. Before I took my flight to Taiwan, I also prepared myself with some basic information about the country such as the climate and culture. Furthermore, I flew from Amsterdam to Taipei so I had looked up how to get from Taipei to Kaohsiung (it is possible to go there by high speed rail or normal bus). Another tip, it might be convenient to make copies of all your cards and passport, in case you lose something. My flight was from Amsterdam to Taipei with a transfer of 2 hours in Dubai. We had already booked our hostel (the Meeting Place) before we went on the airplane, so we could just show the location to the taxi driver the moment we arrived in Taipei. 3. Residence abroad A visa for Taiwan costs around 80 euros, but it is not necessary to get a visa as an European! Once arrived in Taiwan you will get a stamp for 90 days. So if you have plans to travel out of the country, I would advise not to get the visa. To get in NSYSU you have to do a health check to prove that you do not have diseases such as HIV or TBC. It is possible to do this health check on forehand in the Netherlands, but it is also possible to do it in Taiwan. At the university they arrange a whole day where you have to do all the blood tests etcetera. If you ve already done it back home, don t forget to bring the papers!! Qua vaccinations, for Taiwan only the Hepatitis B vaccine is needed. I arrived the 7 th of September at Taoyuan Airport. With a group of friends we stayed for a week in Taipei for some sightseeing. If you are about to stay in hostel instead of a hotel, it is convenient to book a hostel online. In Taiwan it is namely not allowed to promote for hostels, so down the street you will probably don t find one. After staying a week in Taipei, we took the bus to Kaohsiung. The train takes about 1,5 hours and is around 30 euros, a bus takes around 5-6 hours and is around 15 euros. A good tip for the highspeed rail train: if you book your trainticket online you can get a studentdiscount and only have to pay around 20 euros. Because we went by bus, we got dropped somewhere random in the city. But it is very easy to get a taxi to the campus, and no worries Tawanese people are the nicest people on earth so they are just driving on meter and would never try to rip you off.

2 At the campus I stayed in the international dorms, and I would recommend it to everyone. Almost every exchange student of NSYSU (around 200 in total!) is staying here, so it is really easy to get in contact with people and make friends. You have to share your room with 1 other person of the same sex. The boys and girls are living on different floors, but everyone is staying in the same building so it is really easy to walk from one floor to another. Around 20 people are staying on one floor, and together you are sharing two living rooms, two bathrooms (with multiple showers and toilets) and two kitchens. The living rooms are very spacious and nice to hang out in. The kitchens are provided with a fridge, microwave and waterexpenser. And on top of all, the dorm has a rooftop! Ideal for rooftopparty s or to do some sunbathing if you do not want to go to the beach. The international dorm costs around NTD, that is around 530 euros for the whole semester. Reception and introduction NSYSU has a nice introduction of 1 day wherein all the information is provided you need concerning the courses, accommodation, regulations etcetera. The first week you can follow every course you are interested in, to see if you like it. After this week, you have to hand in the list with courses you want to take. Don t forget to send the learning agreement on time to the RUG, so you know whether the courses will be approved or not. A few weeks later (when you are already following your classes) NSYSU gives you even another opportunity to withdraw courses if you want to, to really make sure you have chosen the right courses. After this second withdraw period the courses are definitive. Furthermore, the university have set up a buddy program, wherein they assign a Taiwanese student to you who can help you out during the semester. Student life The student life in Koahsiung is amazing! First of all, the student life on the campus has been the best experience. Living together with 200 students in 1 building is so much fun. There were always people hanging out in the livingrooms, at the table tennis area downstairs or at the rooftop upstairs. The campus itself has many sport facilities and nice eating places. And the best of all: a beach located next to the campus! But besides the amazing life at the campus, the city itself has a lot to offer as well. One tip: hire a scooter! The campus is outside the main centrum of Kaohsiung, but with a scooter it is really easy to get around. The city offers many places to go to for leisure time (which you will have a lot) such as nightmarkets, nice and cheap restaurants, karaoke places, bowlingcentra, game malls, cinema s etcetera. Furthermore the nightlife is really nice as well. There are a few big clubs, but you can also find some nice cozy bars. On Wednesday it is lady s night at certain places where girls can drink for free. If you want to go outside Kaohsiung, there are many places to visit. Kenting is a really nice place in the high season, Green Island is a beautiful island, Taroko is worth visiting, a scooter trip along the eastcoast is a must and do not forget about the island Xiao Liu Qiu where you can swim with turtles. I planned my courses from Tuesday till Thursday, and would definitely

3 advice to try to arrange your courses as best as possible so you will have a lot of time to go on weekendtrips! Besides travelling around in Taiwan, it is also really easy to visit other countries. Philippines, Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia it is all possible! Language Traditional Chinese is the official language in Taiwan. Outside the campus you can hardly find someone who speaks English. So it is really convenient if you have the Chinese address of places you want to go to or pictures of things for which you are looking for. But even though most Taiwanese are not able to speak English, they are more than willing to help you in any way. Taiwanese are the nicest people I have ever met, always kind and helpful and they would never do you any harm, steal or try to rip you of. I took the course Mandarin for beginners to try to learn the language. The language Mandarin is really hard to speak, but it is so much fun if you are able to have a short conversation with someone. The course itself is really funny and easy to pass, so I would definitely take it!! 4. Grant - Amount The grant is 1150,- Before going to Taiwan you will receive around 850 euros, and after completing this document the rest of the grant. With this money you are able to buy your retour ticket, and even have some more left. The living expenses in Taiwan are way less than in The Netherlands. Since you can t cook in the dorms, you have to eat outside the dorms. Dinner in restaurants is really cheap and cost around 2-3 euros. But shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletarticles are in comparison pretty expensive. Overall the livingcosts are way cheaper, but if you are planning to go on many trips (which I definitely recommend!) keep in mind that spending around euros a month is quite average. 5. Study in General At first, the course selection procedures are quite chaotic. Even though the university explains everything about the course selection at the introduction day, it is still really unclear what exactly needs to be done and how it works with the different enroll moments. At the first enroll moment, you can pick your courses. If you are not accepted in a course you want to take, you can try to enroll the second enroll period again. But, you can also go to the teacher and ask if you could join the course. Most of the teachers are more than willing to let you in, so just ask!! This period is a little bit hectic, but in the end everyone I know was accepted in the courses they wanted to be in. The study in general is quite easy, the studyload is way lower than at our home university. A big difference compared to normal lectures at the RUG is that teachers here are really into discussions. But if you just participate a bit in class and do your best, you can easily pass a course. My courses can be found in the specific report.

4 6 & 7. Summary impression and other relevant info you want to share with our future exchange students Do not hesitate to study in Taiwan at NSYSU! This half year abroad has been the most amazing time of my life. First of all the university is really nice and well organized. Leila, head of the exchange department, is really friendly and has been a great help with arranging everything. But don t forget to fix your forms on time, because they are pretty strict with it. Furthermore, the university has many sport facilities, so it is convenient to buy a sportpass to be able to enter the gym. Tip: it is also possible to hire a volleyball or basketball at the gym so you can play with other students at the fields any time you want! The life at the dorms is amazing. Staying with 200 exchange students in one building, hanging out together every day in the livingrooms, at the pingpongarea or at the rooftop is so much fun. So I would definitely recommend staying in the international dorms. Next, the location of the university is really nice. It is behind the hill, just outside the city center and right next to the beach!! When it is getting relatively colder in December (20 degrees) many monkeys are coming down from the hill and are walking around at the dorms. It is really funny to see them running around, but watch out with plastic bags and don t forget to shut down your window. Another thing that I would definitely recommend: hire a scooter! Because the university is located behind the hill, the city center is a bit further away. But with a scooter it is really easy to get there! We hired our scooter at Louis scooter rental and were all really content with him. If you are in the middle of nowhere and your scooter breaks down, you can easily give him a call and he will pick you up and bring a new scooter. Really good service. Besides the amazing university life, Taiwan itself has a lot to offer as well. The island is beautiful, and not touristic at all! And the Taiwanese people are the most friendly people I have ever met. They will always try to help, would never do you any harm and would never try to rip you of. Lastly, try to save some money to go on trips outside Taiwan as well! Philippines, HK, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc. are not far away. One last tip, it is possible to leave a few weeks earlier! Many students wanted to celebrate Christmas with their family back home or elsewhere, and asked the teachers at the beginning of the semester if it was possible to do the assignments already and leave earlier. Even though Taiwanese do not celebrate it themselves, the teachers are really understandable about this topic. Many students were able to leave to visit their family (and I was able to travel for three weeks in Vietnam). So if you want to make a trip at the end of the semester it is worth giving a shot! Specific report Beginner Mandarin Course

5 The class consisted of a 2 hour lesson, twice a week. The Chinese book is published by the Chinese Language Center of the National Sun Yat-sen University, which you could easily buy at the Language Center for approximately 15euros. The book has many pictures and is written in Chinese. In the first weeks we learned the basic words in Chinese and practiced the tones and pronunciations. Every week we got homework which consisted of speaking or writing. The teacher introduced new games every week to make it easier to remember all the words and pronunciations. We learned how to speak basic Mandarin. At the end of the course I was able to introduce myself and speak about arrival dates, basic shopping and money usage. During the semester we had several quizzes (around 5), two midterms and one final exam. In class we did many roleplays and we played many games to get familiar with the words. Furthermore, we had to recognize the characters and got homework every other week wherein we had to draw characters. Learning this language is not really related to my study in Groningen. But in Taiwan there are very few people how can speak English, so it is really convenient to speak some Mandarin to be able to communicate with the Taiwanese. Moreover, they really appreciate it if you try to speak Mandarin. 4 hours of class per week and at home I studied for approximately 2 hours a week. 5 ECTS and the grade 9. Organizational politics The lectures were once a week, on Tuesday from h. We did not use a book, but the professor provided us with articles. Every lecture the teacher talked for 2 hours about topics in politics such as family businesses, CSR etc. The last hour groups had to present an article which they picked out from the list in the first week. The professor was really up for discussions, so many interesting discussions were held every week.

6 The course consisted of different subjects which were discussed, all of these had something to do with organizational politics. This course contains one midterm exam and one final exam. Furthermore we had to give one presentation about an article picked out by the teacher. You could present an extra article to get an extra point at your final exam. The course organizational politics is not really related to Business Administration. Though, it does bring up some business topics within the theme of politics. It is interesting to bring these two together and have discussions about it. 3 hours of class per week and about 2 hours of self-study each week. 6 ECTS and the grade 8. Business in Asia Pacific The lectures were once a week, on Thursday from h. You could buy a copied version of the book from the TA. Furthermore, the TA uploaded articles every week on Facebook. The lectures consisted of the teacher speaking for the full three hours. The courses looked quite like history classes, because the teacher teached us about the history of every country in the Asia Pacific. Furthermore, the economic and political situation in the country were discussed. Sometimes we had to team up and answer questions she already had prepared in the powerpoint. Besides a final exam in January, you also had to write your own research of at least 6000 words. We learned about the history, political and economic situation of approximately 10 countries in the Asia Pacific. Moreover, we learned how these countries were and are related to one another. In order to pass this course you have to participate in the open book final exam and write a business research related to a country in Asia Pacific. Furthermore, you could participate in a discussion to upgrade your final grade.

7 The course is highly related to my study program back home. We learned about business as well, but the big difference is that this course is completely focused on Asia. It is really interesting to learn about the differences between Europe and the Asia Pacific. 3 hours of class per week and about 6 hours of self-study each week. Especially doing research and writing the business report (of at least 6000 words) costs a lot of time. You really have to pay attention in class and participate, otherwise this course is pretty hard. 6 ECTS and the grade 8. Service Marketing The lectures were once a week, on Tuesday from h. You did not have to use a book, the teacher provided us with articles which we had to use. In the three hour lectures the teacher spoke for two hours about different models and theories. In the last hour we had to present an article (which the teacher had picked out) concerning service. Because of the fact that the teacher was always late, we only had class for 2,5 hours instead of 3. The teacher learned us how to use different models and theories within service marketing. Furthermore, the teacher made us analyze the process of service in different companies. are among others a presentation about an article concerning service in the first weeks. Furthermore, you had to present twice more about the process of service in a service company. In the end you had to make a poster with your findings. The course is highly related to my study program back home. At the RUG I followed the course marketing, which was focused on marketing in combination with products. This course is particularly focusing on marketing in the service area. It is interesting how these two areas are similar and differ from each other. 3 hours of class per week and about 1 hours of self-study each week. If you participate in class it is easy to pass the course. 6 ECTS and the grade 9.

8 International Human Resource Management The lectures were once a week, on Thursday from h. You did not have to use a book, the teacher provided us with articles which we had to use. In the three hours lecture the teacher spoke for the first two hours about different aspects of internationalization in human resource management. In the second hour of the lecture you had to discuss different problems concerning the topic with your group. One of the group members had to present the ideas. The teacher learned us which problems could occur in the workplace because of internationalization and how to deal with them. Besides a weekly presentation of approximately 3 minutes about the solutions for problems discussed in class, you also had to do a presentation of one hour about an article with a theory or model which you had to apply to a business. Furthermore, you had to do a final presentation of half an hour about an international business of choice and the way they managed their human resources. The relevance of this course to my study program at the Rug is high. In this course the international aspect of human resource was discussed. It is interesting that there are many differences in approach when you are dealing with an international organization. It is extending the course human resource management, so if you are interested in that area this is definitely a course you should take! 3 hours of class per week and about 1 hours of self-study each week. If you present at least one time at the group discussions and are also presenting a small part of the other presentations it is not hard to pass this course. 6 ECTS and the grade 9. Development economics The lectures were once a week, on Wednesday from h. The teacher handed out a paper every week with the topic of that week.

9 I took this course because of the fact that you only get 5 ECTs instead of 6 ECTs for the course Chinese. So I had to take an extra course to get 30 ECTs at the end of the semester. This course only took two hours a week, but is an intensive course. You had to develop your own country and introduce two policies each week to further develop the country. One topic of a policy is already given by the teacher, the other you have to make up yourself. The concept is really interesting, because you could decide yourself whatever is happening in your country and implement any policy you want. In the end you will get graded to the extend you have developed your country. In class the teacher hardly participates, she is only listening or interrupting if she has a different idea. Every week the teachers points out a new chairmen who have to lead the class discussion for the full two hours. You will learn how to develop your country, and which policies will lead to which outcome. Furthermore the class discussions will make you think of dis- and advantages of different ways of handling and various policies. Every week you have to hand in two policies of at least one A4 paper. Furthermore, there is an intermediate report and a final report. You have to present the final report in a final presentation supported by models and theories. This course is not really related to my program in Groningen, but gives you a broader view on how the government of each country should make decisions and how these affect the country itself and the people living in it. 2 hours of class per week and about 4 hours of self-study each week. You have to prepare yourself for class every week, because you have to participate in the discussion and you have to write two policies each week. Even though you only get 4 ECTs, this course is really intensive. 4 ECTS and the grade 8.