“I am smiling while dreaming when thinking of going to participate in TKU’s junior abroad program but I am crying when thinking of leaving Taiwan,” so said Lin Yi-ying, a junior from the German Department.

Lin made these remarks when she was taking part in the flag-handing ceremony of the junior abroad program for the 2002-2003 academic year. President Chang Horng-jinh presided over the ceremony held on Taipei Campus on Aug.17. In addition to 156 juniors who are leaving soon for the student exchange program, a lot of well- wishers, including Georgii Zynoview, Deputy Representative of Moscow-Taipei Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission, Representative Office in Taipei and parents of program’s participants witnessed the ceremony.

Yin Yung-chun, a senior of the Department of Russian who just returned from Moscow for a year-long junior abroad program, reminded the participants that teachers and parents have always taken care of us when we are studying in Taiwan. But nobody would take care of you when you are studying abroad. However, everyone knows he should study hard and understand the importance of study, Yin said.

His classmate Hsiao Liang-yu called on their followers not to be afraid of speaking the language of their host country. “You can easily communicate with your future classmates even employing your body language,” Hsiao said.

Tsai Hsiu-chu, parents’ representative, urged those program participants to take care of themselves when they are studying abroad. Safety is the most important issue for every participant, Tsai said.

With the exception of four participants coming from Departments of Economics, International Trade and Management Science, a great majority of participants come from Departments of English, Spanish, Japanese, French, German and Russian.

Dr. Clement C. P. Chang, TKU Founder, called on the program participants to take care of themselves when they are studying abroad. He hoped that they would accomplish more academic achievement after one year of overseas study.