The third group of students who were selected to visit the sister universities in Japan took off on October 25, led by Prof. Chen Hwei-mei, the Director of the Office of the International Exchange and International Education (IEIE), Wang Bo-cheng, the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Wong Ching-chang, the Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering. They visited Aoyama Gakuin University and The University of Electro-Communications.
Prof. Wong was affirmative about the positive impact such a trip could make on the students. It could broaden their mind and help them to think more deeply about the Third Year Abroad Program. For him personally, Prof. Wong was even more excited about the benefit of this trip. Since his department has just set up a Master’s program in robotic technology this year, his visit to the University of EC was vital. There he and his students saw the state-of-the-art EyeBot (a mobile robot equipped with an eyecam) that was barely 10 centimeters tall, walking with great mobility and precision with a remote controller. This type of robots is extremely important during earthquakes for searching for survivors.
For students, such as Chong Kuo-cheng, a sophomore of the Department of Chemistry, it was the attention to details of the Japanese that captured his heart. He pointed out that the chalks used in the classroom are not only dust-free, but also designed to be user-friendly with an end reserved for holding. He also noticed that the interactions among staff, faculty and students were frequent and friendly. They always greet one another, showing due respect in particular to more senior members of the campus.
The visit to Aoyama University coincided with its preparation for the big annual fun fair, so TKU students could see how dedicated Japanese students were to their extra curriculum activities. As a result, Japanese students work cooperatively in achieving perfection in whatever they do. However, with great sadness, TKU students had to leave before the commencement of the fun fair.
Nonetheless, they were at least able to immerse themselves in the Pub Culture of Japan first hand. Their hosts took them to several pubs where they could see atypical Japanese who are not serious and reserved. In pubs and in particular, after a few rounds of drinks, Japanese appear carefree and relaxed. Pubs, Chong observed, are places for relaxation. This attraction aside, Chong and his fellow students managed to tour around some nearby tourist attractions. They even managed to do some shopping. No wonder, everyone returned to Taiwan with a big smile on their faces. (~ Ying-hsueh Hu )
