(Some) Scholarship granted!

Ok, I just got a mail!

"Dear Mr. Fotland,

I'm writing to inform you that you are granted a 3-month scholarship(Sept.-Dec.,2012).
You will receive an award certificate issued by our office by 30 June. Before you move to Taiwan, remember to apply for your visa.
Have a good day.

..."

So, I've been granted scholarship the first three months. I'm very pleased, although I'd hoped for 12-months. This also meens I don't have to write kind of a report after 6 months, which I'd had to if I'd been granted for more than 6 months. And I don't need to get top scores on exams, but that's kind of bad as it removes a lot of the pressure on me to study hard. But, I'm gonna do it anyway! This blog will be proof of my progress!

Now I need to apply for student-visa, and mail CLC and ask them to adjust my application to "general applicant" from December. Shouldn't be any problem :) A few more preparations, and I'm ready to purchase my flight!

Let the game begin!?

The interview

April 20th I headed to Oslo and TECRO for my scholarship interview. I had just shaved my beard when I went into the office. I didn't know much about the interview, or the interviewer. As the woman in the reception first thought I was an other scholarship-applicant, I now know I'm not the only applicant, which means I compete with someone else to get the scholarship.

The interviewer was the same man I delivered my application to earlier. We sat down, and he started asking me questions about my studyplans. I'll just write down some of them... (briefly as I remember them) P.S. I answered all the questions as honestly as I could.

Q How can you make sure you will work hard to study in Taiwan, and not just party around?
A My father lives there and will follow up on my studies, and I have a blog where I plan to write about my progress.

Q Will you still study if we only give you scholarship for three or six months? (I've told them I plan to study for at least 12 months, which is the maximum length I can recieve the Huayu scholarship.
A Yes

Q How will you pay for your stay and studies in Taiwan after the scholarship have ended?
A I have a study loan I haven't used yet, which can pay for maybe upto two years of study.

He also asked me about my erlier education and what I'm going to use my mandarin skills to in the future. I said I didn't have excact plans for the future, but if my mandarin skills improve during the year, and I like it in Taiwan, I hope to continue my study.


Before I left the office, he told me they would let me know if I got the scholarship in the end of april. Today is 30th, but I still haven't heard from them...

Interview completed today!

I'm happy with the interview. I was a bit nervous about not beeing able to express myself well enough in english, but it was no problem. They told me they would contact me in the end of april to let me know how it went. I guess I'll write more about the interview later... :)

PS. Because I didn't shave my beard before I went to Oslo, I bought some (overpriced) shaving-equipment in a convenience store nearby the TECRO, and shaved in a restroom close to their office. My beard wasn't that bad, but better safe than sorry! ;)

Scholarship interview upcoming

I have just been asked to meet at the TECRO in Oslo for an interview on April 20th.
I'm not really shure what they will ask me about, but I guess it's related to the study plan, my motivations and so on. Excited!

Slideshow from my last Taiwan visit

For two years I've lived and studied on the west coast of norway. A small county called Eid with approx. 6000 citizens. When I left Eid to enjoy Taiwan for two weeks last year, I decided to bring a t-shirt with the caption "eg elskar Eid" ("I love Eid") and picture my self wearing it around in Taiwan. I later made a slideshow with many of the pictures taken. Video above. Music: Queen - I was born to love you

I don't like to take pictures to store in large albums. But I would like to update this blog with pictures/video from my stay in Taiwan. As I don't have any camera today, not even on my cellphone, I believe I have to buy one soon. But what type of camera?

GoPro HD? - Cool for taking video, but does it take good pictures?

iPhone or other smartphone? - I don't like "smart" phones, and I don't like touch..

Blog-camera?

Regular compact camera?

Time will show! :)