Written by Fadlillah Ahdiyat (Dept. of Geoscience)

Hello fellas, my name is Fadlillah Ahdiyat. Currently, it is my second year living in Taiwan as a fast track degree student. I come from Indonesia, where you can find hundred, even thousand islands spread all over the country. And of course, where you can also find many different unexpected events, such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, forest fires, landslides, and earthquakes. One of the biggest event occurred in Indonesia was 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake which attacked my hometown. Dealing with many disaster such that earthquakes, that is one of the things which drives me to study more about earthquakes, especially it’s early warning system which now is still lacking in my country. I find National Taiwan University (NTU) is considered to be the best and number one university in Taiwan. And here, in the Geoscience Department, I would have been spent my time to study more about the subject.

I meet my beloved advisor, Professor Yih-Min Wu, lab mates, all of the professors and academic staff who are very friendly, supportive, and helpful. I learn many things from them and I am very grateful. Thank you very much!

As time goes by, my life is not only existing in the academic field, but also in the huge international atmosphere surrounding NTU. I realize that living far away from my family is very challenging, moreover as a Muslim like me. However, I am very grateful because I find Taiwan is a Muslim friendly country. I can easily find many halal restaurants and two mosques in the city, as well as feel how the Taiwanese respect others. I love to explore more about Taiwan’s cultures and tradition, such as how the Taiwanese treat their waste and trash, how they make a long line to queue up, and how they accept to many different cultures from visitors around the world. I see the Indians can celebrate Diwali Day, the Indonesian celebrate Batik Day, and many cultural festivals through international communication. And, the most important thing is about the cuisine; I love to eat dumplings, beef noodle, stinky tofu, red bean cake, and many street food provided in Taiwan’s night markets!

I feel very lucky to be a part of NTU’s international community. Somehow it all just clicked. I guess we all have similar interests and ideas to satisfy our demands for adventure and multi-cultural interactions. My lab mates and I love to explore and hike the Mountain in Taiwan, and luckily I already climb mountain Jade, the highest mountain and snowy during winter in Taiwan. Besides that, I also love to spend my free time to enjoy and relax my mind in NTU park where I can find a beautiful lake with trees surrounding, birds singing, squirrels jumping, and wind slowly blowing. Or, I go to the NTU’s unique library where I can read lots of books, take a nap, study, and discuss with my friends.

Finally, I appreciate the hospitality of the Taiwanese. Their welcoming nature is what made all of these experiences possible. We internationals are very fortunate to have such generous hosts. Living and studying in Taiwan was really FUN.