Study Abroad Column Deniz Guzel

Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Deniz Guzel, 21 years old, 3^rd year international business student, editor of the Risk Magazine, tutor at Capita Selecta, Dj at the Wolther Wolthers and currently I am on my exchange at the National Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

My exchange experience has only just begun, but already I am sure that this is the best experience of my life. I departed in August with a good friend of mine (who’s exchange destination is also in Taiwan) to travel through Vietnam before heading for our end destination. It was by far the best trip I have made in my life, especially because this was my first time outside of Europe. After three weeks of exploring, hiking, diving, laying on the beach and partying, our paths diverged.

After a few hours in Taiwan I was impressed and amazed on many levels. First of all, the Taiwanese people are one of the most friendly, helpful and patient people I have ever met. People kindly take their time to genuinely help you with whatever you might need. The degree of development and organization of the country, especially in the big cities, impressed me a lot as well. Comparing Hanoi to Taipei is like comparing two different worlds. The first being extremely chaotic and dirty, the latter being peaceful and very developed.

The degree of development and organization of the country, especially in the big cities, impressed me a lot as well.

Hsinchu is a city located at the west-coast of the island that inhabits roughly 400,000 people. To be honest, there is not much to do in Hsinchu. There are very few bars, a small number of night markets at which you can have local taste of the country through a variety of dishes and a relatively empty city centre. Luckily, the capital Taipei is only an hour away, which we have visited many times during the weekends.

However, the reason why I’m here is of course for studying. The quality of education at the NCTU surprised me in a positive way. Before leaving the Netherlands, I had low expectations of the courses here, but many of them are actually comparable to the courses I have had at home. I follow some finance related courses as well. My fun, educational and developing experience at Risk comes in quite useful in here.  My classes make up three days of my week, which leaves me with enough time for other activities and trips with all the great people I’ve met here.

My fun, educational and developing experience at Risk comes in quite useful in here.

Every weekend we make trips to cities inside and outside Taiwan. Sometimes to explore the nature and culture, sometimes just for the nightlife. I also play as a DJ at International Student party’s here in Asia, which is an extremely fun way to visit cities like Taipei, Hong-Kong and Seoul.