【Reported by Jia-wen Lin, Tamkang Times】Last month from the 20th to the 22nd the Graduate Institute of European studies held the 6th Annual European Union Winter Course and the 3rd Annual Russian Winter Course. It attracted students from 100 different Junior Colleges all over Taiwan. Vice President of International Affairs, Wan-chin Tai stated, “The purpose of this event is to let Taiwanese students peer deeper into European society. You could say it is a social service for Taiwan.” The curriculum was made up of both hardware and software that emphasized the uniqueness of European culture.

Dean of the Graduate Institute of European Studies, Chiu-ching Kuo, stated, “This course has been divided into the Russian group and the European Group. The class has an emphasis on the two different cultures and their relationship with Asia. This is the first time that we have held the course during the winter season.”

For the curriculum, special guests were invited including former member of Bureau de Représentation de Taipei en France (Bureau of Representation of Taiwan and France) and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jung-nan Chiu and Assistant Professor of the Taiwan Hospitality and Tourism University, Tao-chun Wei. The course not only touched on European culture, but also shared concepts of etiquette, wine-tasting and fashion. Third-year student from the Department of Industrial Economics, Shi-han Zheng stated, “Not only did they introduce and explain the difference of the wine quality, they gave me a deeper understanding of the methods used to preserve wine in European culture. I felt I was able to gather invaluable information about Europe even though it’s such a long distance away.”