February 20, 2012 (
Monday )
The new semester of National
Chengchi University (NCCU) is started today! However, today is my day-off, my
buddy brought me to visit the Wenshen, where NCCU located at and we lived in. Wenshen is not a tourist
spot, but a residential area and a university area. There are many traditional
Taiwanese characters in Wenshen, for example, there are many traditional
Taiwanese snacks and meals such as luwei (meats, soy-products simmered in soy
sauce) and steamed spring roll. I think Taiwanese foods are flexibility and
spontaneity; there are variety types of different food in Taiwan and all of
them are very delicious!
February 21, 2012 (
Tuesday )
NCCU has assigned two
local students as buddies for each exchange student. Mavis and Vicky are my
buddies in Taiwan; however, since Vicky’s hometown is not in Taipei, she has
not back to Wanshen yet. Therefore, Mavis has brought me to many different
places in Taipei and introduced many interesting things to me. Mavis is a very
cute girl and she is studying her master degree in NCCU. She has visited many
different countries before; in the last semester, she was exchanged to Korea,
so she has told me a lot of Korean culture and news, which are very interesting
to me. Tonight, she brings me to eat a traditional Korean restaurant which near NCCU; it is so delicious!
February 22, 2012 (
Wednesday )
In Wenshen, there is no
any high or modern building, but there are a lot of flats with only three to
four floors, every block has it own colour and unique displays, which makes
this place more cute. I live in i-House, the international hall of NCCU, which
in located in the end of the residential area in Wenshen. It is a seven-floors
building with 95 suites. i-House is a modern building, which was opened on
17December, 2010 and dormitory designed mainly to meet
the needs of accommodation for international students. When I first stepped to
i-House, I thought it looks like a hotel! The staffs in help desk are very
helpful and the decoration is very modern. Moreover, the rooms in i-House are
very big and clean just like a hotel room. I think I will love this new “home”
in Taiwan.
February 23, 2012 (
Thursday )
Today I go to the Taipei
Zoo with my friends. It is zoological garden in Taiwan and a
leader in conservation, research and education, and recreation. It is also the
largest zoo in Asia. We never search any
information for the zoo before, we only planned 2-hour to travel the zoo and
then go to shopping in the downtown, and we did not put many expectations as
its entrance fee is only cost NT30 at all. When we arrived and get the map of
the zoo, however, we changed our plan. Taipei zoo is really big, I guess its
area is almost equal to Hong Kong Ocean Park. In Taipei Zoo, it is divided into
11 areas to show animals from various countries and 10 exhibition centers to
introduce different kinds of fauna and flora. Everything in the zoo is very
interesting for us. Finally, we spend whole day in the zoo with a lot of fun
and laugh.
February 24, 2012 (
Friday )
After one week of classes in NCCU, I think the
learning style of Taiwanese is really different with Hong Kong student. In
NCCU, the local students are very aggressive and active in the classes. They
are always willing to ask questions and discuss verity topics in the classes,
which make the learning atmosphere to be more animated. Under this
atmosphere, you will also become more willing to share your ideas with your
classmates without any shyness. Although sometime I cannot really catch their
points as they use many local examples, I really enjoy this learning experience
and I believe my horizon will be broaden after this exchange period!
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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February 13, 2012 ( Monday )
It’s the biggest shopping mall, Carousel Center in USA according to the taxi-driver and I had spent a lot of time and money in this mall. I buy clothing in Abercrombie & Fitch, Yankee head in sport shop and taste the Japanese food one of the crowded restaurant. To be honest, the Japanese food is not as good as it is in Hong Kong. It’s pretty nice to shop at the very first beginning because I really found something to buy but it drove me crazy as I went to this mall with 5 girls and shopping seems to be a never-ending event for them which means I wait quite a long time until they are satisfied……
February 14,2012 ( Tuesday )
Just after I came back to school from Syracuse, the International Student Organization, which is a rich organization in school that always have different every for free or at a very low price, organized a bowling game for exchange students. We’re so happy to play bowling not because we are good at bowling but because most of the people sucked in playing and it’s fun when the bowling ball go to the wrong direction!
February 15, 2012 ( Wednesday )
Due to insufficient money I have and the never-ever-changed menu in student canteen, I finally surrendered and start to learn how to cook. However, it’s still bored me when I have only one dish. That’s why I come up with an idea that cooking together so that all of us can have more choice and we can chat in the meantime which facilitate our friendship and understanding of people from different corner in the world. Particularly important to me is that they are really good at cooking and I can exchange delicious food using my not-bad-but-not-good food.
February 16, 2012 ( Thursday )
It’s fantastic that our school has a February break and the International Student Organization offer us a golden opportunity to Boston for 4 days for a very reasonable price. We’re in the midway to Boston and we have to stop our car in a boat so that it can be shipped to another coast. It’s pretty interesting that I never thought about shipped a car cross a lake through a boat. Besides the view of the lake very spectacular so that we can’t help but take a whole bunch of pictures of the lake.
February 17, 2012 ( Friday )
That’s a figure outside the student center of MIT. That night I walk alone from the hostelling international to MIT and then to Harvard and go back through the same road. Boston is really a charming city that you will fall in love with her easily. Especially when you see all those combination of historical and contemporary building. Something interesting happened that night is that I walk in to the student center of MIT and discover a Wraffle Party and I just walk in and pretend I was a MIT student and play around!
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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February 20, 2012 ( Monday )
I attend one of the courses and try to choose the suitable subject today. Mandarin is the medium in teaching in SYSU. I think I need to spend some time to familiar with it as the . The learning atmosphere and working style in class are different from Hong Kong's.
I spent six hours to come to SYSU on Saturday. My first impression id SYSU is the school is HUGE!! I walked about one hour to go to the Information Management Department’s building. Unluckily, there was not any staff in the office. I waited about half an hour and there was still no people came back. Therefore, I wondering do I need to the whole day here?? where should I stay tonight?? Then I went to search for help. I walked along the building and I found that there is not any people work on Saturday and Sunday!! However the offer letter stated that I should come to do the registration on 18th( Saturday ) or 19th ( Sunday )!!Luckily, I met the secretory of our department when I walked along the department. Therefore, I asked for her help and she told me that she came back because she needed to do some special things, if not she will not be here. I felt so LUCKY that I can solve the problem now !
I got 3 local roommates in SYSU. They are nice. In SYSU, we need to use to buy food, take shower or assess internet. As the office was not open today, I cannot get the card right now. So that, my roommates helped me to pay for the bills first.
February 21, 2012 ( Tuesday )
I went to buy a bike today. SYSU is such a big university. I need to spend lots of time in walking around school. Now, I can ride rather than walk. :). It can help me to save time.
Today I have received the subject list from my department in SYSU; it is totally different from the university website because the website has not update for a few years. I think that it is very strange. When I am in Hong Kong, I always rely on blackboard and check the course list from the university website. I even don't know where can I find the hard copy of my course list in CityU. But now, I need to rely on the hard copy and I cannot believe the information from SYSU website as it will not be updated ="=.
Now, I need to send email to my program leader in CityU and ask the course approval.
February 22, 2012 ( Wednesday )
I am happy today is that I received the approval of course list from program leader today. After that, I went to register the student IC card in SYSU. That means I can use my own student card to buy lunch, dinner and internet services.
I think the different between Hong Kong and Mainland students is that they come from different cities in Mainland China. They will exchange different experience after their semester break. They will share what they have done in the holiday. And they feel very happy to join together. I also feel glad that I just like one of their members.
February 23,2012 ( Thursday )
I go to library today. The library is big!! The library is about 6th floor and it is much bigger than what we have in City U. I have borrowed some books which are about my own major.
Today is my friend's birthday.Therefore,we have dinner with him outside SYSU. We have about ten people having dinner together and it only cost about three hundred dollars. It is very cheap.
Moreover, there is a side story that many students and lecturers asked me that which University I come from. And I was so surprised that many of them know which one is City University of Hong Kong. I feel that I am not far from Hong Kong and I proud of I can be one of the students who are in the exchange program.
February 24, 2012 ( Friday )
Today I do not have any classes, so I wake up late. After I woke up and have my breakfast in my room, I started cleaning up my place. It is because my roommates are very concentrating at the clean and comfortable room. I feel surprise that they will always clean up by themselves such as our bathroom and toilet. After that, I have gone out and do shopping. At night, I chat with my friends and play cards with them. Although some of them know Cantonese, I will still try to use Mandarin to communicate with them. I feel that my Mandarin have been improved.
In this week, my feeling is very complicated. I feel lonely because I do not have any experience in living without my family and my friends are not besides me. But now I will very treasure this experience. Not everyone can have such a good experience like mine. And now I have lots of local students to help me and be friend. They teach me many things and we really have some exchange.
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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February 5, 2012 ( Monday )
Tonight, I went to an event called Pub Crawl which was organized by CISA (Concordia International Student Association). Students were put into teams and competed against each other as they were brought from bar to bar. Our team was called 69ers. We went to many bars in this city and played the games like limbooo , flip cup and nude pyramid. Although we LIMBOOO, flip cup LIMBOOO, flip cup didn’t win, LIMBOOO, flip cupbut we really enjoyed the game. The night ended with an exclusive CISA party with special drink prices. We drunk a lot and thanks Toby, my exchange buddy, took me onto the taxi
February 6,2012 ( Tuesday )
Besides Vancouver and Toronto, Montreal were full of Chinese too. The China Town in Montreal was quite small when you compared it to others in the rest of the world. But it satisfied all your needs especially when you missed Chinese food. My buddies and I went to Little Lamb for hot pot tonight. The food offered here was the same as Hong Kong and only costed $20 per person. We enjoyed our meal and had a great night here.
February 7, 2012 ( Wednesday )
Today was my school day. There was a serious snow storm. It was really hard to walk in the street as the snow was hitting your face and the roads were accumulated by thick snow. It was good that the underground path of Concordia were well developed so you can passing from one building to the other building without crossing the street. The lecture ended earlier than usual as the weather were getting worse. I headed back home immediately after the class.
February 8, 2012 ( Thursday )
Mount Royal Park is one of Montreal's largest greenspaces. The park was designed byFrederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York's Central Park, and inaugurated in 1876, although not completed to his design. The mountain, Mount Royal, is located at the downtown of Montreal and is one of the best locations to view the city landscape. 6 of us took a 15-minute bus from metro station to get there. Because it was still in winter, the park is covered by snow and ice. The footpath was so slippery and it was not easy for us to walk to the top. After spending nearly an hour we reached the top, we were totally attracted by the view of the whole Montreal city. From the hill we could see rue Sherbrook, McGill University and other famous site. It was totally worth to come by.
February 9, 2012 ( Friday )
I never skied before. Today I joined a ski trip with my buddies at Mount Ste-Anne. Mount Ste- Anne is located at the north of Montreal and it took 3 hours for us to get there. The weather was so cold which was -16C only but the view of this place is so nice. As we were all beginners, we tried out first step on a gentle slope. Sliding down was easy but stopping was difficult. I did fall down for many times but I did have fun.
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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February 20, 2012 ( Monday )
It is the first day of the semester and it is a busy day because I had to get my student ID. After taking a class in the morning and having a rush lunch with my buddy, I went to several places which is far away from each other to do the registration and it was exhausting.
After that, I went back to the dorm and took a rest. However, when I was taking some snack, I saw a “buddy” outside the windows. It was a monkey called Formosan macaque. It is one of the protected animals in Taiwan because it is rare. And I had to make sure that all the windows are tightly locked because they will get into your room not only for getting the food but also messing up your room.
February 21, 2012 ( Tuesday )
We met a friend who was from Thailand and he has already studied in Taiwan for a semester. Therefore, he is quite familiar with Kaohsiung. Tonight, he took us to Shinkuchan(新堀江) which is a shopping area that young people love to go. Apart from clothing, there were so many booths on the road which is selling food and drink. I tried a bun filled with beef and mustard tuber. It was incredibly delicious. We also tried a lot of food around. One of my friends bought clothes. After that, we headed back to our dorm.
February 22, 2012 ( Wednesday )
I only have 4 classes weekly so I have 2 day off on Wed and Friday. Therefore, I have no class today. Because my roommate and I are out of food and drink, we decided to go shopping today. We took a taxi with another friend to the biggest supermarket in the region which is Carrefour. It is a two-storey building with different kinds of wares including food, electronic devices, clothes, medicine and so on. Also, it is as big as a shopping mall in Hong Kong. We were crazy and got whatever we liked to the shopping cart. It was fun though.
February 23,2012 ( Thursday )
It was a sunny day and we got nothing to do so we decided to walk around. After walking about 30 minutes, we saw a sign plate which has “zoo” on it. Then, we walked along the road which is uphill. We thought it was so close to get there because we asked a police officer how long it takes to there. He said it is only about 5 minutes. However, as we are going up, we started to wonder if the police was telling the truth or not. Finally, after 25 minutes, we got to the zoo. We were excited before we got into it but we found that there was nothing special in it. They got the animals we got in Hong Kong so we just walked around and took a bus to go back
February 24, 2012 ( Friday )
It was Friday and all of my friends got no class today so we decided to go to the area nearby. At first, we wanted to find a shopping area which is near our school but we got lost. Then, we sought for help from the police station. They told us the area is so far away and there is nothing special and worthy of note. He suggested we go to the railway museum nearby. It was about the history of the development of railway network when Taiwan was the colony of Japan. There were few train in it and they were cool.
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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February 6, 2012 ( Monday )
Today was the first day of my Monday lessons. It starts at 8:30am. It is a bit early for me, since I need around an hour to go to school. Anyway, I am still so excited about it. Studying in Paris is so different from CityU, we have to read a lot of business articles and do a presentation of it. Although I am trying to get used to it, I think it is a good training to be aware of the global issue.
These days were so cold in Paris. Only -4 Celsius degree! It is a huge difference compare with Hong Kong. However, I have to admitted that Paris do have beautiful and signature buildings. I really enjoy walking along the street here. It is so relaxing!
February 7, 2012 ( Tuesday )
Today is my day off. I and my friends went to Musee du quai Branly. It is a newly established museum in Paris. It has many collections of indigence art, civilizations, culture from Americas, Oceania, Asia and Africa. It is quite interesting and I have learnt a lot about their culture. The museum is also beautifully designed and decorated.
Since Musee du quai Branly locates near to the Tour Eiffel, after having he afternoon tea, we headed to Paris most famous tourist spot- the Tour Eiffel. This tall tower is a must-go tourist spot if you are in Paris. You will be amazed by its height. Unfortunately, we had to wait for around an hour to buy the ticket. Also, we could not go to the top floor since today was too cold and it was not open for visitors.
Paris really has a lot of museums. I think I will visit them all during my exchange period!
February 8, 2012 ( Wednesday )
Wednesday is a tiring day for me. I have classes from 8:30 am to 6:45pm. I even would not have this schedule in CityU. And today is all about culture. Having Cross Culture Barrier class with all exchange students are quite interesting. We all talk about our own countries and cultures. We are all amazed by different cultural differences. This lesson is really worth to attend.
I and my classmate went to the CROUS, a student canteen. It is the first time we tried to have lunch in the school canteen. Since it is quite expensive to eat outside in Paris, almost every student in Dauphine will have lunch in their canteen. It saves a lot! Food in here is quite diverse, ranging from pizza to rice, and the dessert in here is excellent!
February 9, 2012 ( Thursday )
Today is a cold day. It’s -5 Celsius degree! When I walked out to the street, it is covered with a thin layer of snow. What a beautiful scene! My friend in France told me that it is the coldest winter in these years. But luckily, it didn’t snow heavily!
After classes, I went to join my friend who is from Hong Kong too. We had dinner on a crystal boat on the River Seine. It is quite expensive. However, it is worth to try once in your life to experience it, which you will never find it in other places. The boat will go along the River Seine. And you can enjoy the night view of Paris and see all those amazing architectures along the Seine. You will be able to see all famous architectures, from the Tour Eiffel to Notre Dame, during the 2 and a half hour dinner.
February 10,2012 ( Friday )
Friday is a relaxing for me. It is my day off, too! I went to the Pantheon with my friends. It was originally a Christian basilica and it was first built on 507 AD. It has a long history but it is still well-preserved. Now, it is the temple of the nation, where many famous people were buried in here. Mostly for those heroes in the French Revolution. But one name, I bet most of us will know, is Marie Curie, she was honored with the Nobel Laureates in physics for the work on radium.
Paris is a place enriched with history. Everywhere you go, there is a story behind. I wish I will know more about this place when I visit more places in Paris.
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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January 9, 2012 ( Monday )
Today is the student orientation day, all the exchange students gather around at school. We have our lunch together and the briefing session.
I meet different people from different countries e.g. Spain, Germany and Britain. We have shared our reason for coming to exchange and the experience in our home countries.
The welcoming team member of Toulouse Business School is very helpful and friendly that they give us a backpack which contains the map of Toulouse, the bus route and timetable and especially a TBS tee.
January 10, 2012 ( Tuesday )
This is the first school day in Toulouse Business School; everything is very new to me. The interior design of the school is new and stylish. The classmates are nice and pleasant. Since their mother language is French and some of them speak little English, however, they are vey please to talk to you
January 11, 2012 ( Wednesday )
I go for a visit to the Musee des Augustins today; this is a monument plus the museum of fine art. The museum’s collection of paintings and sculptures from the early Middle Ages to the early 20th century are displayed.
I have a great time in this museum because I love fine art and paintings so much
January 12, 2012 ( Thursday )
Cite de l’espace – a site that is both unique and spectacular. Toulouse is famous of Airbus A380, on the other hand, I can experience the world of space right here. There is a 3D cinema that displays the secret of the universal. At first, I don’t think of this small town has its own invention; after having the aeronautics and space visit; I recognize that Toulouse really has a mighty achievement in its aero space sector.
January 13,2012 ( Friday )
La gateau des rois (king’s cake) a kind of flat pastry cake which is a cake that celebrate the Epiphany in France. It is a traditional festival in France and the cake can be found in most bakeries just during the month of January.
The cake is to draw the kings to the Epiphany, a figure or a tiny toy will be hidden in the cake and the person who finds the toy in their slice becomes the king for the day.
My friend has buy one king’s cake for me because I will have my birthday on 15/1
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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January 30, 2012 ( Monday )
There are any exchange students in University of Oklahoma and all of us like to hang out together. Today is one of our friends’ birthday and his flat mate held a birthday party for him. During the party, both of us shared something special from our country. After that, I knew more about different cultures. Some of the exchange students made some traditional food from their countries which were delectable.
January 31, 2012 ( Tuesday )
Today I went to Wal-Mart(a super enormous supermarket in US) to get some food. Normally, we would buy as much as we can each time, because we do not have a car here and Wal-Mart is really far away from where we live! But shopping in Wal-Mart is fun. The food in US is relatively cheaper than Hong Kong and we could find many interesting snack here. After the crazy shopping, both of us were so exhausted.
February 1, 2012 ( Wednesday )
University of Oklahoma offers countless activities or events for exchange students. Today is a resources fair which we may know more about different societies in OU. During the fair, we played bango and the prize of this game was really attractive! We all had fun from this.
People in OU are nice to everyone and they always willing to give us a hand for everything. After the fair, I got lost because I still cannot remember the way back home. Suddenly, one local student just stepped forward and showed me the way. This was really warm and touching.
February 2, 2012 ( Thursday )
My host university is located in a small town which takes us 40 minutes to the city. Today, my friends and I went to the Oklahoma City to have some sightseeing and visit around. In there, I could finally find some tall buildings, as Normal, where I am living in, does not have. In the city, there are so many different kinds of museums. It was a pity that we did not visit any one of them, since we only had limited time. The shopping mall there is extremely big and the goods there are cheap! Both of us did a little shopping there.
February 3, 2012 ( Friday )
Today was so excited as my friends and I went for the NBA game. Oklahoma City has a NBA team called Thunder and they are quite famous here. When I went to the arena, there was full of people. Everyone was wearing a T-shirt with Thunder logo on it. Throughout the whole game, the atmosphere was great! Everybody shouted for Thunder. ”Let’s go Thunder!” That’s what we usually say during the game. And this time, Thunder won again!
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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January 9, 2012 ( Monday )
It’s my second week in this lovely city. Though France maybe one of the most wonderful countries as you can see, administration work is particularly complicated here. Today, I am still dealing with documentary work. Luckily, my host school has opened a welcome desk for us in these two weeks. As I need to open my electricity bill account, I go to the welcome desk in the morning for asking help. Finally, a student come with me and help me to phone the electricity company as I don’t speak French. My advice to students who are going to France is learning as much as French you can! Nothing here is in English including all contracts you signed.
January 10, 2012 ( Tuesday )
Today, I finally get some cooking utensils. Thanks very much for CityU students who studied here exchange last semester. They left the utensils to their friends and passed them to me. It’s my first time to eat some hot food here. Really the best meal I have had here.
January 11, 2012 ( Wednesday )
My host university hold an activity to all exchange students today. We gather in a classroom and 5 in a group. We get into a train and go to play bowling together. There are almost a hundred students so we need a long time to wait for changing shoes. Drinks is also offered for us, what a warm welcome to exchange students.
January 12, 2012 ( Thursday )
We have a Facebook group for winter semester intake students. Today, we have dinner with around 30 students. They took us to a traditional French food restaurant. Actually, I think the dishes like the American one rather than the French one. Anyway, it’s really a good opportunity to meet friends from different countries.
January 13, 2012 ( Friday )
There is no class in this week. I and few of my friends from Canada go out and have a dinner in a really tasty restaurant. It is useless to give any signals to waitresses in France. They will serve you when they think it is a suitable time. So what you should do is being patient. Normally, we need 2-3hours to finish a dinner. That’s French style! For the dessert, I order the most original French one. French people drink coffee even at night. Coffee in France is served in a tiny cup. For HongKongers who used to drink grande coffee in Starbucks or Pacific Coffee Company, you can definitely finish it in a minute. French coffee is one of the best coffee in the world, for coffee lovers, you must try when you come to France!
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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