by Dylan Wilson

From the Archives: this blog post is taken from a student exchange report from 2019

Another reason Taiwan is great is the cost of living! Compared to New Zealand, and other
exchange options, the cost of food, transport and accommodation is really cheap. This
makes it great for a student looking to travel on more of budget. Taiwan is also different to New Zealand, as they have a culture of eating out at restaurants for pretty much every meal as the cost is comparatively cheaper than of buying food from a supermarket.
This is one of my favourite things about Taiwan, eating egg pancakes for breakfast, and a
wide range from fried rice, noodles, dumplings, curry for lunch and dinner every single day, costing on average around $5 NZD for a meal.

Photos: A squid for the night market, and Lachlan from Aussie and I with our homestay mother from our Kinmen trip

The visa for Taiwan is easy! You can apply for the 90-day Visa, which just means you need to leave the country and come back in after 90-days which lots of international students do, however I opted for the Student Visa meaning I didn’t have to leave Taiwan, but for that you need to apply at the Taiwanese office in Auckland and it cost just over $100. Yet, because of Taiwan’s location, travelling South East Asia or heading North to either Korea or Japan for a few days is a breeze. Flights from Taipei prove pretty cheap so doing a few weekend trips to different countries is also really common amongst exchange students and a fantastic chance to see more of Asia. For Kiwis, most Asian countries don’t require visas if you are going for a short trip, apart from China, which you need apply for in advance but always double check!

My must-see things in Taipei are Shilin Night Market, Elephant Mountain, the highest Starbucks in world in Taipei 101 and Tamsui for the sunset. Additionally, if you enjoy the night life Taipei is great for that with plenty of bars and clubs frequently putting on events.

My personal favourite travel destinations when in Taiwan include; Hualian for a walk in Taroko National Park, Dulan to have a go at surfing and Kenting for the beach. One of the best trips I went on however was to Kinmen, a small island owned by Taiwan, located less then 5km from the Chinese Mainland. I enjoyed visiting Kinmen because of the rich political history and gorgeous landscape.

Aside from my family and friends, Taiwan doesn’t miss much of what I needed to feel happy and fulfilled. Mum send over a few bags of Fruit Burst, Minties and other lollies, as well as Marmite and Weetbix, which was admittedly a treat yet everything I feel I need is here.

My final piece of advice would be, make sure to venture out from the “exchange student
bubble”, those who are on exchange will become you best mates and that is great, but
remember, you are in Taiwan, meet the local students, go to where they eat and listen to
their thoughts and opinions. What I gained most from exchange, I gained through listening.

Exchange helped broaden my perception and world view as I interacted with so many different people who come from different circumstance and especially people who I won’t normally have the chance to know in New Zealand.

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A list of my personal recommendations to any future student of NCCU!

Stay in the International Students Dorm (I-House)
It is a little more expensive but it is well worth it, the location saves the ten-minute
uphill commute each day and most of the international students from other
countries will also opt for this so you don’t want to miss out on becoming a part of
this little Model U.N like community.

Cash is still King
Most places still only accept cash, so the best way is to get cash out from the ATMs.
This is very easy as Taiwan has one of the highest densities of Family Marts and
7/11s, which are the equivalent of smaller Four Square or a Dairy that always has an
ATM.

Bring multiple Visa/Bank Cards
Save yourself from a potential nightmare if you lose one!

Get a Taiwan Sim Card ASAP
Really easy, My Phone, one located by campus is great, I found at deal for $50 NZD
for a SIM card with unlimited data which lasted for the whole exchange.

Make the most of the U-Bikes

All you need to do is register you Easy Card (a basic transport card) and for cheap as
chips you can rent a bike, then return it with stations pretty much everywhere
around the city.