to staying inside his room, looking at the world for the screen of his computer. But

there it was. The day I'll finally discover Asia. I had no idea of what was going to happen

to me, but the best was yet to come. Day 1

Everything started July 13th. I hadn't got much sleep the day before and I was still

trying to figure out what was going on around me. It was the first time I'd take the plane

alone, and it didn't look like an easy task. But eventually I found my gate and headed

to Shanghai... The Shanghai Pudong airport was an extraordinary

thing to look at. It was pretty modern and you couldn't drink water under 30 degrees.

But I heard the airport was imagined by French architect Paul Andreu, which kind of makes

you feel more comfortable. Being in a plane is a little scary. But staying

in it for over 10 hours becomes very painful. Thank god the air company found a way to cheer

things up a bit. After 15 long hours of wait, 4 movies and

4 meals, I finally landed in Taiwan. Boy I felt numb. I realized that I hadn't slept

that much during the flight, but it didn't matter. I was really excited to meet the other

students. I then arrived at the airport, where I met

David for the first time, a mechanical engineer student who was going to take care of us during

the summer school. I also had to convert my US dollars into Taiwanese dollars, and I was

scared I'd end up with a lot of money. But Taiwan's smallest coin is 1$, so didn't have

too much cash to carry after all. The bus trip to the NCU went pretty well.

I finally met some of the people I'd stay with, like Reda a French student from Reims

majoring in math, and two Hong Kong Guys Chi Kwan and Bryan studying math too.

Right after unpacking, we all headed to a little restaurant where we'd have dinner,

the right time for us to chat a little with each other and try figuring out where everybody

came from.

Day 2 My first day at the NCU started smoothly.

After a quick breakfast just below our dorm, we headed to class. Except that our classroom

was located at the other end of the campus. So we walked all the way there, discovering

our new environment at the same time. The NCU had been ravaged by a typhoon a few days

ago, but hopefully there were no casualties. Later on I discovered our classroom where

we were going to have 3 hours of Chinese language courses every day. This is Gun Tae, and here's

Ki Sung. Both Korean students I'll study with in class A. Yeah, we're all beginners in Chinese.

The rest of the day passed by pretty fast, and I didn't really have time to realize where

I was or what I was doing. I crashed on my bed after class and took a look at what was

on TV... wow. I didn't understand a thing. So I decided to go out and eat with our counselor

David and Hayato, a Japanese student. We tried out some beef and noodles soup, which was

delicious even if I had a lot of difficulties eating with chopsticks.

My day ended after some pool games. I was surprised at how cheap it was, because the

fee was proportional to the time spent playing, instead of the amount of games played. By

splitting up the price I think I ended up paying 20 cents for 1h30 of play.

Day 3 The following day went pretty well. After

visiting the campus I joined the cultural course class, where we created our own necklaces

using nail polish. I started to feel more and more comfortable with my new classmates.

Even if 10 of us were French, there were a bunch of Koreans, and a lot of girls. This

is Matthias, a French student studying Chinese back in Lyon and staying for one whole year

at the NCU. And this is Adrien, another French student coming from the UTBM, which is the

school in which I study engineering back in France.

By the end of the afternoon, some people got the chance to present their creation in front

of the class. I met Boran for the first time. Later in the evening we went out to visit

Jhongli, which is the city where the NCU is located. I met Eva, and Tim, two Taiwanese

teacher assistant during the summer school majoring in French -- and Lynn, a counselor

just like David who was going to take care of us during the trip.

The temperature always rose from several degrees when we went to Jhongli downtown, because

of the heavy traffic and pollution. I was surprised to see that even at night, all the

shops were still open, and a lot of people were in the streets.

Day 4 It was kind of hard getting used to wake up

every day at 8h, but I started getting the hang of it. The morning language courses with

our teacher, I-Li turned out to be a blast. Even if it was a little difficult to memories

all the new words she taught us, we always had deliciously entertaining breaks.

I also got closer to Yuho, another Korean student who turned out to be very good in

English, and my roommate, Mathieu who was a really awesome person.

Later we had a quick stop at Family Mart, about time I introduced you to the other French

students. This is Tiphaine, Patrick and Celine. All majoring in engineering in my school:

the UTBM. Even if we studied on the same campus back in France, we didn't get to know each

other before the trip. Mathieu was also a former UTBM student, and now works as an IT

engineer. When the Taekwondo class started, I was a

little scared. I hoped the teacher wasn't going to be too rough on us. But eventually,

everything went fine. After some warm up, the teacher taught us some useful moves we

could practice if we were in danger. Tammy and Bryan helped to demonstrate and the lessons

ended up being very interesting thanks to David's effort to translate everything the

teacher said. After a quick break, the counselors accompanied

us at the Jhongli night market, a place swarming with people where we could buy a lot of clothes,

oily treats, or even play some games. The fruits there were fresh and delicious,

and had a unique flavor different from those in France. I was beginning to realize that

Taiwan was a pretty special country, with kind and obliging people that would always

do their best to help you. I was also getting closer and closer to the French students I

met there, especially Mathieu. But the Koreans were also so nice and welcoming that I wanted

to know more about their culture. I went to bed exhausted but with many plans ahead.

Day 5 Half of the week had already passed, but so

many things were still to come. It was already Thursday, and we were getting ready to discover

aboriginal facts, dances and songs from the former tribes in Taiwan. Two Taiwanese girls:

Célia, majoring in French and her sister -- both amongst the remaining 500 000 people

of aboriginal origins in Taiwan -- were going to deliver the course.

And I loved it. Célia sung so well I could just close my eyes a feel part of a tribe,

chanting to the gods. After the songs came the dances. And boy I

sucked. The men were supposed to show their strength and bravery as the girls were expected

to be soft and gentle. The whole choreography could be amazing to watch providing the whole

thing was done right. In the evening, I wanted to try out some of

the drinks in the neighboring shops around the NCU and luckily Tim guided Adrien and

I to try some of them. We all decided to go on a lemon and honey smoothie, and we didn't

regret it. After, we went back to the guesthouse, were our dorms were located and had a nice

chat before going to sleep... Day 6

On Friday we made our first culture trip to Yingge, a District located south of Taipei

City. It was a really awesome day. I was starting to know some of my classmates pretty well,

and friendships were being built. I also discovered what a Taiwanese bus actually looked like.

People could ask to sing a karaoke song during the trip. And we were on for a nice and groovy

ride. We then made pottery using clay in Yingge

Old Street, and it clearly wasn't as easy as it looked...

We all had our own machines, where clay was already set on. The first step was to shape

your creation from the exterior using your whole hand. After, by placing my thumbs above

my pottery, I was able to "dig" inside the clay to make it hollow.

When our job was done, we decorated our pots and left them to be heated and dried for 2

weeks. And we went back to the NCU the same way we had come, with some cool karaoke songs.

Day 7 The week-end had finally arrived, and even

if we all were very tired from our week, we thought it would be a good idea to go and

visit Wulai, another District around Taipei that wasn't on our school schedule.

The trip wasn't too much of a chore thanks to Eva's help. But it was still long though...

Hopefully, luxuriant and wild scenery was awaiting us. I was amazed at the peaceful

view and surrounding quietness of the area compared to the city. But the trip wasn't

over. In order to get to the top we still had to take the cable car, after a walk in

small village. Even if we barely knew each other, Eva was

always there when we needed help. She practically bought everything for us and prepared the

trip the day before for nothing to go wrong. I had the feeling we would get along well

with each other. We went to the aboriginal village park and

watched some dances. I could recognize some of the moves Célia taught us, and the choreography

made some of us want to join the dancers. So Mathieu, along with Eva, Tiphaine, Céline

and Patrick went to perform on stage -- and it didn't always seem that easy to follow

the tempo. Then, we visited the park and had a lot of

fun there. By the time we took the cable car back -- I was getting really tired and was

glad to find my bed back at the NCU, with many memories of the awesome day we just had.

Day 8 Taipei City...finally. After visiting the

National Taiwan University's huge campus, I headed to Taipei 101. 509 meters high, it

is known for being the 4th tallest building in the world and I was wondering what the

city looked like from that high. This is Annabelle, and she is studying Chinese

and literature back in France. Just like Reda and Matthias, she's staying for one year at

in Taiwan. Oh! I think the elevator ready for us, let's hop in!

The elevator we were in is the fastest one on the planet, and won a Guinness record.

With a speed of 60 km/h, we went up the 100 floors in about 30s and I could feel my ears

pop just as if I was on a plane. The view we had from the city was breathtaking.

The other buildings looked so small compared to 101, and the tiny little cars we could

see looked like toys with ants going in and out of them.

The stability of the tower is maintained thanks to a gigantic sphere weighing over 600 tons

and located at the top end of the tower. The sphere allows the tower to be less affected

by natural disasters while still remaining flexible.

After going to the outdoor highest peak of the tower, we slowly went back down to meet

our friends and find some place to eat. In the evening, we went to the Long Shan temple,

a really special place for the Buddhists right in the middle of Taipei. The unique atmosphere

there was reinforced by the incense sticks burning in the night and regrouped in the

same spot. I also noticed that people were throwing two

pieces of wood shaped like a crescent moon while praying. Someone later explained to

me that those pieces had a round and a flat side. The first step is to clearly think of

a question you'd like to ask to a god. Once you've asked it, you can throw both crescent

blocks. If one falls on the round side and the other on the flat side, it is a "Yes"

answer. But if both blocks fall on the same side, it means "No".

When I found two spare blocks abandoned on the side, I decided to give it a try. I wanted

to know if I would have a more than friendly relationship with a Taiwanese girl. The first

time I threw them, the two blocks fell on the same side. Disappointed by the answer

I decided to give it another try. But they fell on the same side again. Meh, maybe it's

not always good to try figuring out your future... Day 9

The first day of our new week marked a new beginning. We had 6 hours of Chinese language

courses so it was going to be long, but at least, it was a nice opportunity to take a

break from all the trips we had made. Mathieu, Annabelle and I also had a presentation on

the differences between Taiwanese and French deserts to prepare.

So during the midday break, we went to a small snack store selling huge ice creams on campus

to interview one of the employees there. She showed us a selection of deserts people were

usually buying, and was really kind to have us in the middle of her working day - And

we even go one Oreo ice cream for free  Yeah, we also wanted to bake a chocolate cake.

But making a cake on campus was almost impossible for a student. So we just gave up doing it.

Day10 Today we were going to customize and learn

how to play with spinning tops. But not just the simple ones you can just spin with the

tip of your fingers, but bigger ones, wrapped in thick cord and a bit more technical to

use. But first, we had class. This is Euiryung, a kind and smart Korean student working with

us. Yuho and some others had tried a nightclub in Jhongli the day before, and I could tell

from his eyes that he was pretty tired. Adrien and Euiryung on their side were ready to start.

Finally my long awaited moment arrived. The spinning tops lesson. Once our top was ready,

we had to wrap our cord tightly around it. To throw the top, one of the techniques was

to swing your arm in parallel with the ground, then swiftly move your wrist back towards

you to pull the cord. Yuho was about to try his luck on the big

one. Due to its weight, he would have to pull the cord quickly to give the top enough initial

spinning speed -- but thanks to its inertia, it would spin longer. Still pretty good for

a first try. And then the tournament started. The goal

was to make your top spin for the longest amount of time.