I am a student of the University of Technology in the city of Troyes in France. I started an exchange semester at NTU in February 2010. My major study program is mechanical engineering, but wishing to learn about civil engineering I selected all my courses in this department. As well as learning new things like structure design in a high hazard earthquake regions, this semester allowed me to meet many people. Everywhere I went around Taiwan, they were friendly and welcoming. In addition, I had the chance to study in the civil engineering research building, which is a very good place to work: always a good atmosphere and it’s easy to communicate with students or professors. When you are tired, you just need to look through the window of your lab to see Taipei101, which is quite motivating for CE students.
After the semester at NTU, with the help of Professor Leu Liang-Jenq, I found an internship in the company CECI Engineering Consultant Inc. This six-month work placement was an excellent way to use all the things I learnt at school. In particular, I had the opportunity to work on some finite element analysis in the superstructure of 社子 bridge. In addition, I went to visit construction sites, which was a very good experience. More generally, I really liked living in Taipei because there were always places to visit or something to do. What’s more, it is easy to travel with the MRT or bus. I was quite amazed by all shops open 24h/24h every day, which is quite different to France because they all close at 7pm. Besides, during my internship, I lived on Ba-De street just in front of the Hao-He night market. That was really convenient for eating many different kinds of Taiwanese food every day and night. Through my stay, I went to visit many places in Taiwan: Sun Moon Lake, Tai-chung, Kaohsiung, Kenting, Fu-long… It was fantastic to discover a new country and a culture so different from mine. If you have the opportunity to go abroad for an exchange semester or for a summer internship, don’t hesitate, just do it! At last but not least, I would like to thank all the people I met, people who helped me and people I had fun with, in NTU, CECI or Taiwan in general. Now I am back in France with many wonderful memories and one idea in my head: when can I go back in this part of the world! Hervé Aubry, April 2011
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