Originally from France, Clara Philipp chose National Taiwan University (NTU) for her bachelor’s degree in political science. She explains what motivated her decision, and how it’s possible to feel at home in a new and unfamiliar culture.
Taiwan is a place so different from France that it was impossible to objectively imagine what would happen after my first step here – and indeed the experience has been one long series of surprises.
Every day has something special, something new to discover – and even after four years I’m still uncovering new parts of Taipei city. It is not only a completely different style of life, but also a different philosophy of life, and it feels like I'll never be tired of it.
I first discovered NTU while taking a year-long Chinese language course at a high school in Yilan. I visited the campus to take a TOEFL exam and was very impressed, especially with the library and sports center. It felt like this was a place where students have access to all the possibilities imaginable to learn whatever they want.
I wanted to study politics, and I loved the Chinese culture and language – it seemed NTU was the best place for me to combine those interests.
At first it was difficult to follow courses taught entirely in Chinese, but this definitely made me improve faster than if I’d chosen to take courses in English.
The most enjoyable part of my journey has been making friends who come from all over the world. Being far away from our homes makes us closer, like a family. I also have strong friendships with local people, so after four years living here, Taipei feels like a second home to me.
Life here is very safe, and also very cheap. It’s easy to travel around the island, and also easy and fairly inexpensive to fly to China. So it’s a good opportunity to discover Chinese culture from different perspectives.
Next, I’ll apply for a master’s degree in public affairs back in France. I hope to be able to use my experience in Taiwan to help improve relations between my country and Asian nations.
