{"id":12181,"date":"2009-09-07T08:52:31","date_gmt":"2009-09-07T08:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress72\/?page_id=11556"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:37","slug":"jolin-chang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2009\/09\/07\/jolin-chang\/","title":{"rendered":"Jolin Chang"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Spring Break\u00a0<\/h1>\n

25-03-09<\/p>\n

There were a lot of disturbing reports about Mexico showing on the news. But that didn\u2019t stop me and a lot of other student to go there. On 9 March it was finally our spring break and we had booked a week for Cancun, Mexico! Before having our spring break I heard many of my professors telling us to not get in trouble or not to go to jail. Hearing my professor warn us in those exact words was surprising. Apparently students tend to behave really inappropriate during their spring break. I was getting anxious, my first (and only) spring break like the Americans; it should be an experience never to forget!<\/p>\n

It is a really short flight from Florida to Mexico. Before you know you\u2019ll be hitting the Mexican tarmac. Mexico is beautiful! Not only as a tourist attraction for spring breakers, but also for many tourists from all over the world. It has gorgeous beaches and amazing scenery, many ancient remaining Maya Ruins, which was amazing. At night all the young people (indeed) start behaving inappropriate. The free tequila shots and the all you can drink inclusive pushed lots of students to their limits. From my point of view, inappropriate means that everyone was feeling more at ease and had lots of fun. No one got dragged away by the police.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately spring break only lasts for one week and if you\u2019re having fun time always flies. Before I knew it my break was over and I am already sitting in class listening to my professors\u2019 lecture again.<\/p>\n

Today is Patty\u2019s day, also known as Saint Patrick\u2019s day. Traditionally an Irish Christian celebration, but nowadays it\u2019s more like a justification to party hard. Here in Tallahassee it is being said to start drinking from 2 o\u2019clock in the afternoon till late midnight. It\u2019s also said to wear something green. I asked many students what the meaning is of St. Patrick\u2019s day, and why the color green? None of them seemed to know exactly why. The number of students I asked isn\u2019t a reflection of the whole group, but it does indicate something\u2026 Fill in the blanks please. My lack of knowledge brought me to internet, which is the best thing ever to get information. I found my answers on the net and all I need to do now is find my answer about how to celebrate Patty\u2019s day like my American friends. This the internet can\u2019t precisely tell me, should be yet another bit of exploring for me.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>Tips when you go abroad\u00a0<\/h1>\n

28-02-09<\/p>\n

Why would you go abroad as an exchange student? That\u2019s an interesting question, still even for me at this moment. You all must have heard the common pros and cons of going abroad. But nothing beats the real thing. The new environment, new observations, new friends, new school, new country, new culture, and much more, it is all really exciting. Let me try and give you an impression by summing up the \u201cnew\u201d that has happened to me.<\/p>\n

First of all I need to properly introduce myself: my name is Jolin Chiang and I am, as we say in Dutch, in my fifth year of law school. After receiving my bachelor\u2019s degree, I, like most other students at the Erasmus University, started my masters at the same university. This year, in the beginning of January I left to the U.S.A. to study for one semester at the Florida State University in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n

I came a long way to get where I am right now. My first tip: if you have any plans for going abroad, make sure you have a nice seat in the airplane on your flight to your destination. It\u2019s not amusing to sit all the way in the back, overhearing your outdated looking flight attendants gossiping about their best friend\u2019s husband having an affair and discussing how to lose more weight. Or otherwise my second tip is to bring your IPod and make sure to turn the volume up. But enough about the trip, after all it\u2019s going to be all worth it once you get to your destination!<\/p>\n

Florida State University, like most of America\u2019s universities, is huge! The campus is so large that they provide busses that go around campus. This is free for every student, like most facilities on campus are. The university buildings are beautiful and have an authentic architecture. Florida State University is located in Tallahassee, which is the capital of Florida. But don\u2019t be misled by this, because Tallahassee is actually a small town. You can either like it or dislike it. To be honest, I disliked my first impression of Tallahassee. But I had already made a deal with myself that I would make this study exchange one of my best times ever so I wasn\u2019t discouraged. And interestingly, after a few days in Tallahassee I began to like it! I began to realize that this town and this university have lots of opportunities and activities for students; during daylight and in the nightlife\u2026<\/p>\n

Jolin Chiang<\/p>\n

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<\/a>Law and certain acts\u2026\u00a0<\/h1>\n

13-03-09<\/p>\n

What about FSU Law School? My plain answer is that it is just different. The American education system is not a carbon copy of the Dutch system. Most (law) students know the American legal system is a common law system, meaning in essence that it has developed a system of case law; authoritative decisions are laid down by judges in court. The Netherlands has a civil law system, being a coded system, were the laws are laid down in written form and it has been heavily influenced by Roman law. But this of course makes my educational experience more fascinating and more of a challenge. You can say, partially because of a different legal system, that the lectures are also different. <\/p>\n

I am thinking about one of my professors that goes off topic a lot, meaning he will use class as a platform for expressing his own success. Most of the students, like me, don\u2019t care about this. Those moments, students seem to be intensely focusing at their computer screens, also known as reading or even chatting on the internet, instead of listening to his glorifying career.<\/p>\n

This leads me to the third difference: the FSU law school has great modern technical equipment, free wireless everywhere, (with an accent on \u2018everywhere\u2019), plug-ins for your laptop throughout the whole building and in class, positioned at every seat. Furthermore it also gives students an incentive to check email, chat, be on Facebook or surf the Internet during class.<\/p>\n

One might say it is the school\u2019s fault students are not paying attention. But of course eventually it is the responsibility and discipline of the student him\/herself to pay attention and prepare for class. <\/p>\n

While being in the States however, it is not just all about my intellectual enhancement. Non-academic experiences are important too! That is why I left Tallahassee for the weekend to go celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was a crazy experience, what a contrast compared to the \u2018angel\u2019 students in school.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless there were many people, like me, just hanging and observing the whole festival. Especially the night scene at Bourbonstreet was pretty interesting. I myself acted as a semi-participant of Mardi Gras. In a sense that, I admit, drank a few alcoholic drinks, screamed for beats, shouted to people to show me some goodies, but I myself did not flash anything. Never ever could I do such a thing, but some others did with such ease. In fact it seemed pointless to me, since everybody was handing\/throwing out beats anyway. Nonetheless there was a good atmosphere and I enjoyed my first (probably only) Mardi Gras. <\/p>\n

One day you can be sitting in class listening to your professors\u2019 lectures and the next day you can be leaving for New Orleans to go and act all crazy. What an amazing act of opportunities. <\/p>\n

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Other columns Jolin<\/h2>\n