Beyond Expectations: Shiau Han Ning,Tamkang University, Taiwan

Shiau Han Ning (center) during AIU’s winter program.

It is my pleasure having a chance to go on exchange from Taiwan to AIU. Before coming here, I never thought I would have so many special and memorable experiences through AIU life.

Class in AIU

In AIU, all classes are taught in English, which is very easy for exchange students to understand and learn. But the most impressive class for me is the Japanese course. I would have never thought the system of teaching Japanese here is so complete and the teacher’s teaching style is comprehensive. It made me start to become interested in Japanese, which was out of my expectation.

Campus Life

Here, you can meet a lot of people from any other countries. You can make many friends here and hang out with them, cook together, play sports, etc. The atmosphere here in AIU is really good, fresh air, nice people, nice food.

Also AIU has so many kinds of clubs that you can join, especially the Japanese style ones, such us Kendo, Kanto, Flower arrangement, etc. You can make a lot of Japanese friends there and use English or Japanese whichever you want to chat with them. AIU is kind of a small campus, so it’s easy for you to make friends since you see the same people nearly every day.

Activities

To engage in Japanese life style more deeply, join RCOS activities. They have welcome events, where you can talk or play with local students, visit events which you go to the local school to interact with local students. There are hundreds of activities where you can meet the local people in Akita, such as planting crops with them, home stays, or visits to local companies to see how Japanese work. You’ll get lots of special and touching experiences through those activities.

Compared to other big city in Japan, Akita is a rural place. It is not that lively, but it made me feel comfortable and relaxed here. You can feel each part of your skin is breathing. And the scenery in the Tohoku region is really amazing, each season has its own distinguishing features. People are nice and kind here as well. I am really glad that I chose AIU to study abroad.