ICLP Library

The ICLP Library is on the 4rth floor. Most students who come to this library use it as a study room rather than an actual library. I don't use any of the floor-to-ceiling books that line the walls, mostly because I really don't have the ability to read them and also because they intimidate me. I have been coming to this library a lot more often lately because 1) I really like the clean, open, and brightly-lit atmosphere and 2) it's convenient for my laptop.


many students like the rare atmosphere of silence found in this library

I had started out in the computer labs, but after a while，the air-conditioning, the whir of 20 computers, and the fortress-like walls of the carols began to get to me. In the library, I still feel like I can stretch out and breathe. Also, I can bring my laptop and plug it into the outlets. I couldn't find outlets in the computer labs and of course I prefer using my own computer to using someone else's.

EDIT: (8/05)
明高 informed me there are outlets embedded in the floor behind each seat in the main computer lab.

A university I attended in Beijing which had just launched its Chinese language program (and of which I was among their first batch of students) put us in a classroom where the wall paint was peeling, the flooring was from the 1950s era, our desks were one row long and made of wood and our chairs were wooden too. The teacher used a traditional slate blackboard and chalk (oh, the nostaligia!) and we came in our winter coats and gloves because the heaters hadn't yet been turned on and winter had already arrived. I don't think universities (especially like that of Tsinghua) have this atmosphere, but I admit, I did love that classroom. Its sparseness made my education feel all the more essential.

ICLP Program Assessment: Advantage #1 - Campus Perks

The best part about being an ICLP student is that we receive access to the NTU gym and library. Oh, did my standard of living just increase about 100 times.

NTU Gym

The gym complex (which I am visiting almost religiously every other day or more) comes complete with a pretty decent fitness room with ellipticals, stair steppers, rowing machines, and lots of weight training machines. They also have an indoor swimming pool, table tennis hall, and squash courts. Membership for the gym is only 200 NT a month! ($6.60 USD) and membership for the pool is only 250 NT ($7 USD) a month! We can even rent our own lockers for 200 NTD per month. (Yah, renting a locker costs the same as a month of gym membership). The locker rooms have showers. Just love this place!

Outside the gym are the track, bball courts, and tennis courts. Though, I don't know who would want to exercise outside during a Taipei Summer. That's just asking for it. I could be induced to shoot a couple hoops in the evening.

NTU Library


Plenty of English language books for me to pore through and help me along with my research. It's a dream come true. We can rent books for 2 weeks at a time.

With Shida, you can also gain access to their library, but I don't think they have a gym complex. With TLI, there are no perks since it is a company, not a university.