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Accommodations/Things To Bring

Clothing

Bring clothing that you would wear for outdoor activities during southern Ontario's summer. Loose-fitting clothing that allows for plenty of movement is recommended. It is also wise to bring something warmer like a long-sleeve sweatshirt (or equivalent) for indoors (air conditioning in Taiwan is often fully on or off so it can be quiet cold indoors). Swimming gear (and snorkeling equipment gear) maybe good to have when you have some free time or if you decide to tour around the country after or before the course). Water-proof sandals are often useful for swimming, light hiking/walking, general use (e.g., Tevas, Chacos, etc.). Light rain gear may be useful (we will aim to be in the field during the best weather days)

Sun protection (we will be spending considerable time outdoors)

1. Sun block - at least SPF 30 is recommended
2. Clothing with UV protection is a good alternative to sun block (and also helps keep mosquitoes at bay).
3. Hat of some kind to protect you from the sun (however, wind can be a factor in keeping your hat from flying off your head and into the sea)
4. Sunglasses - look cool but make sure the optics will filter out at least 99% of the harmful UV rays. Polarized lenses are quite useful at times and looking into water (cuts glare), a brown lens is best in bright light (orange to yellow lenses are good in low-light conditions). Sunglasses do not have to be very expensive - many sunglasses made for sport fishermen are adequate.

Travel light and bring only what you really need (the course is only about two weeks long and there are very cheap coin-operated laundry facilities at the NMMBA). We recommend that you bring one main check-in and your carry-on luggage (check with the airlines).

Accommodations and Bedding

At the NMMBA, you will be housed in student dormitories (4-6 students per room depending on availability). Although the building is co-ed, women and men are on separate sides of the building (and men and women are not allowed in the rooms of the opposite sex – this is an important rule of the NMMBA that has to be respected). The dormitory building was constructed in a traditional Chinese style with an open centre courtyard towards which the doors of the dorm rooms open. There are separate men's and women's bathrooms with several personal shower stalls and coin-operated laundry machines (washers and dryers) in each. There is a common living room area with refrigerators, a hot and cold (filtered) water machine, and TV. While in the field, you will be staying at local "hotels" where bedding will be available (but cleanliness may vary). So, I prefer to bring my own bedding - a sleeping bag liner (cotton or polyester/cotton blend) is often sufficient. For those who tend to be a bit more thermally-challenged (women tend to be a bit on the cooler side), a fleece sleeping bag liner, thin summer or "tropical" bag (rated to about 5oC or higher) or even an over-bag for sleeping bags, should be more than adequate. Taiwanese beds or sleeping surfaces tend to be a bit on the hard side so if you need some padding it may help to bring a small ThermaRest-type inflatable camping mat. If you are a light sleeper, you may want to consider bringing some ear plugs and eye shades. Towels are not always available in the hotels, please bring a small, quick drying towel.

Mosquitoes are common year-round with summer being worse. Although not common, some mosquito-born diseases do occur in Taiwan including: Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever (including the haemorrhagic form) and malaria. Sometimes outbreaks can occur. Mosquitoes will get indoors and can make sleeping difficult so I often travel with a compact mosquito net for my bed - they are not very expensive and available at many stores including Canadian Tire, MEC, etc. Cone-shaped ones are usually more compact and easier to hang but rectangular ones are more comfortable to sleep under. No-see-um netting is not required.

Personal Cutlery

In order to reduce our impact on the environments of Hong Kong and Taiwan, we suggest that you bring your own cutlery or chopsticks (you can purchase personal travel cutlery and chopsticks at the NMMBA) rather than use disposable chopsticks, which are not all that great for your health either given how they are treated chemically to prevent fungal growth..

 

Electrical Power

In Taiwan, it's pretty much the same as in Canada. The only thing that may be a problem is finding three-pronged outlets. Older buildings tend to only have outlets with two prongs (I think the NMMBA has what we are accustomed almost everywhere on site) but adapters can be purchased locally pretty cheaply. HK is on a different power system and have different outlet configurations (sometimes several kinds). At the airport, there are some N. American type outlets but make sure the power supply is fine for whatever you want to plug in. HK generally uses 220-240V (compared to N. American's 110-120V). Usually your notebook power source is fine with inputs anywhere from 100 to 240V but check the information on the back/bottom of the power source.

Money Access and Currency Exchange

Your basic needs will be covered in HK and Taiwan so the only money you will need is for personal things and souvenirs that you may want to buy. In large cities, you may be able to able to withdraw cash directly from ATM machines. Traveler's cheques (in both Canadian and USD can be used but there are more banks that can deal with USD) are also useful in large cities. Cash (USD or CAD) is probably the easiest to convert to local New Taiwan Dollar (=NTD). You can check exchange rates at the bank of Canada website (http://bank-banque-canada.ca/en/rates/converter.html) or www.oanda.com. Exchanges at the HK and KHH airports are probably the easiest. Major credit cards are usually only accepted by large companies. We can also help students with exchanging money once at the NMMBA. We strongly recommend that you get some HK and NTD money BEFORE you leave Canada so that you are set for the trip – we don’t have time to run around trying to find places to convert money.

Course Information

• • Information On Taiwan
  • Health & Wellness
  • Travel Information
  • Accommodations/What To Bring
  • What We Need From You