Hello,
I am Rebecka, and I am currently studying a PhD program at Taipei Medical University (TMU) in Taipei, Taiwan. I have by now spent roughly four months in Taipei and would like to share with you briefly how I got here and how my time so far have been.
Now you might ask, but why even do a PhD abroad and why Taiwan? Well, it is quite simple for me, I have always known since I started my education that I wanted to continue studying and hopefully work in the academic field. As the years passed by, that didn’t change. Luckily for me, when I did my master thesis at Yves Hsieh’s lab in my home university, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, I was asked by my supervisor if I had any interest in doing a PhD and if I was willing to do one in Taiwan. It was quite easy to say yes, even though I knew very little about Taiwan. I knew very little, but after talking with my co-supervisor, who is from Taiwan, I became even more interested to go. I was also aware that it would be a good career step to do a PhD abroad. So once I had gotten my diploma, I applied to TMU (Taipei Medical University), had an interview, and finally got in. It was pretty straight forward in my case.
While I was applying, my supervisor informed me about the MOE Taiwan scholarship and even before I had been accepted by the school, my supervisor helped me get in touch with Taipei Mission in Sweden. They helped me a lot, with what information to prepare, answering questions I had, etc. So once I applied for the scholarship, I already knew some people and felt very comfortable asking whatever question that arose, because I knew the people at the Consulate were very helpful and eager to help me get to Taiwan. I think this was a huge reason that once the entry date got postponed, due to covid, Taipei Mission in Sweden’s support helped me stay motivated and positive. They made the process a lot easier
I won’t go into details of the quarantine, hopefully it will be not necessary once you go. However, I can say I am very grateful again to the Ministry of Education as they helped setting up a lot of things, like sim cards, how much money to prepare for tests, etc. Whenever I felt confused, I felt comfortable contacting Taipei Mission in Sweden and ask for help.
So now you might be curious, how has my first couple of months been? To be honest, both wonderful and terrifying.
Wonderful in the sense that the experiences have so far been so much fun and interesting. I have been so far going to cute cafes in Taipei, took a weekend trip to both Yilan and Wulai recently with my laboratory-friends, and I try to go to museum’s or other exhibtion’s from time to time. There is so much to see and the Taiwanese culture (or should I say cultures) are so rich.
Terrifying, because everything is new, I don’t know the language and I know so few people. It scares me, as I can be quite introverted, that I will accidentally isolate myself. However, I find myself thinking now that the fear is somewhat unfounded. People here in Taiwan are very friendly, and even when I had a hard time talking to people, they would start talking to me. I find myself thinking that Taiwanese people are more than happy to talk and help. I was also stressed about the food as I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and was suffering the past year a lot from it. However, it seems like the Taiwanese food have done wonders for my health, and I find myself feeling like I can eat like I used to, without any major issue. The food here is very diverse also, but I have fallen for their vegetarian options that one can find in quite many places.
Amongst all the traveling and the new experiences, I also try to find some kind of routine. I think that is important, so that while yes, it is important to discover the culture, I also do things I did back in Sweden, e.g. knitting, bouldering, fika (hehe), etc. It helps me feel a bit more grounded, amongst all the new experiences.
There is so much more I could write; I didn’t even get into who my trips to Yilan and Wulai were (which can be summarised to fantastic and with lots of tasty food!). But I am afraid that I will start rambling more than I have already done. So in case you want to know more about any of my experiences, you can ask for my email through Education Division at Taipei Mission in Sweden!
Sunrise at a port in Yilan County in late January
Bridge and river near Wulai in early February
Tian Yuan temple in Tamsui at the end of January
The Liberty square taken from the CKS memorial hall (a very warm day from January)
Photo of Taipei 101 in an early December morning (another very warm day)
