To dorm or not to dorm?

I lived in the dorms at Fujen for one semester before moving out…the same kinds of thing (although they were fairly clean) with staying out past curfew (something ridiculous like 10 p.m., if I remember) and so on. No visitors of any description in the dorms if they didn’t live there. At least I had a single…at one point there was a screw-up and they were going to put me in a room with three other Taiwanese students. It would have been good for my Chinese, I guess, if I could have avoided going insane.

I personally was much happier having “my own life” outside school, while participating in whatever activities I liked. But everyone’s mileage may vary.

And yet we were asked to keep it down even we were just pre-partying! [/quote]

Well, foreigners are not allowed to make any noise at all in Taiwan. If you so much as talk in a loud voice the police are called. I have decided not to speculate on why this might be.

Thanks again for all your insightful comments. I’ll be sure to bring ear plugs. I’ve already secured a dehumidifier from a distant relative. I can’t stand humidity. It’s 23 celsius right now but it feels like 29 celsius. I’m already uncomfortable. :s

Great to hear that some of my McMaster collegues have studied at Chengchi. I’ll be doing entirely IMBA courses. I hope they’re not difficult. How did you find the workload for the IMBA courses?

Let’s just say that you’ll have plenty of time to party. taiwannights.com will be your bible.

Hi! I will be joining NCCU’s (chengDa) spring sem2009 this March. :smiley:

I got accepted to stay in the dormitory… I’m pretty nervous.

What’s the dorm like? I think we are not provided mattresses and pillows… how do I got about buying these stuff when I arrive?

:s :s

Just ask where there is a “za2huo4 雜貨” store. Those stores carry everything you could possibly need. While it will be warm at first, I’d advise getting one of those little roll-up beds with the bamboo on one side and padding on the other side. Sleep on the bamboo side while it’s hot, then flop it over when the weather turns colder. And splurge on a double-bed sized quilt, rather than a single sized one. You can sort of roll it around yourself better, much warmer. Anything else you might want (random containers, baskets, stupid decorations, stationery items, etc.) will probably be on offer in the same store, and the prices are much better than a department store.

These days you pretty much have little difficulty finding anything you want in Taipei. Not like the old days… :grandpa:

IMO, the dorms at NCCU are to be avoided, free or not. However, you could book one if it is close to your grad department and try a shared apartment off-campus concurrently (aka gf).
sat

Most of the dorms are quite a hike from the campus mall.

Keryl,

If you a a girl, the ladies’ dorms are next to the main campus entrance -and heavily guarded by a trained army of doggis who only let girls pass, really.

If you are a boy, sorry, but a long trek up the mountain and down again is in order -they meant to keep the sexes separate and they did try- as the gentlemen’s dorm is close to the back entrance -next to the bridge leading to Dong Shan High School. They do have a shuttle bus, though hiking promotes a healthy body and strong legs.

Back in the :grandpa: day, well the dorms were worse. Now they have air conditioning in the rooms -but not in the corridors. I was talking to some foreign students last week, and they are content, no luxuries but no big complaints.

I am not sure about the mattress and pillows, but they are quite cheap. There is a cheapie supermarket (Zhuen Lien Fu Ri Zhong Xin) across the main entrance, and there is WELLCOME a few minutes away from the back entrance. GEANT, another supermarket, close to Jinmei Nigght Market, is a 10-15 minutes bus ride away. Pillows are cheap, from 200 to 400 nts tops.

I got my cheapie mattress from IKEA -also a bus ride away, you might want to take the MRT back, though, as I did- 1200 nts at that time, for a decent, cotton filled, soft yet firm new mattress. I just rolled it and carried it on the metro. Later on me and a friend carried a nomal mattess, but that was years ago. Dunno if you can pull that one now -MRT is much more crowded now.

The rest -hangers, boxes for knicknacks, plastic or DIY clothes rods and mini closets, etc… can be bought, as Ironlady said, at one of those little ubiquitous stores that sell everything and anything under the sun, from hammers to alarm clocks, from stuff to declog your toilet to perfumes.

Life in the dorm means living in a mixed community of locals and international students and sharing homework and people to talk to at 3 am. It is a test in endurance, negotiation and communication skills. It will certainly enliven your stay.

Just down overwhelm the local net dowloading stuff. :smiley:

omg thank you so much icon for your reply. greatly appreciated. it will surely help.

I’m quite nervous! :s

will keep you guys posted.

I’m a girl, haha. i don’t mind :slight_smile:

glad to hear that!! phew! :discodance:

thank you thank you!

Don’t hesitate to contact the Office of International Programs for assistance.

ps.
There is a supermarket and bookstore on campus, too. And a lot of other new stuff. Why, you even have Starbucks now. :grandpa:

But my favorite breakfast place is gone. No more crispy tuna dang ping. :cry:

[quote=“keryl”]I think we are not provided mattresses and pillows… how do I got about buying these stuff when I arrive?[/quote] I opted for IKEA but then again, I’m Swedish :wink: But I seriously think that’s the cheapest stuff you’ll find if you’re picky. We’re talking about a whole semester’s worth of sleep. That’s worth a whole lot of money in my book. You could ask around as well. There might be some stuff left by the previous foreign students. Hell, for all I know my old mattress could still be around :laughing:

Yep, IKEA is OK. Then the CARREFOUR mall is close by, and on the way there, there is a whole street of furniture stores. They offer transportation, at a price of course -negotiable.

Didn’t you mention you have family here? Surely a relative can drive you and load a mattress from IKEA in the car. You can treat them to lunch later.

As Eddie says, there is stuff going around from ages past. I am still dragging around dishes and a wok that belonged to a Japanese student from 198* cough cough cough

[quote=“Icon”]
Didn’t you mention you have family here? Surely a relative can drive you and load a mattress from IKEA in the car. You can treat them to lunch later.[/quote]

no family in taipei. an aunt and her family lives in Tainan…so not much help there. hehe

I’ll probably go to Ikea or carrefour. yipeeee!

thanks again. :smiley:

Taiwan now has a homestay program. You can read all about it here csic.khc.edu.tw/11/1109/homestay/ (in Chinese only, oddly). No payments to the family, so I can’t see how they expect it to work in this breadhead culture. The MOE has emailed every academic in the country so I suppose they’ll get some suckers.

Seems to be targeting vocational high schools mostly though. Do they even have foreign students?