Few tips for you before your departure:

- register with the American Institute in Taipei - - the equivalent of the US Embassy
- For your health insurance coverage while you're overseas, here's the link to the page: http://www.studyabroad.iastate.edu/Students/insurance.doc
- within 15 days of arriving, you must sign up for residency card (Tatung student were very helpful with this)
- bring gifts from home to give to (among others): person who picks you up from the airport, people who invite you to their homes, other helpful people
- tell your parents not to send meat in care packages
- get used to the time difference before you go
- be prepared for more body contact & smaller personal space
- be prepared to be an adventurous eater
- be prepared for a more structured environment (bells announce class start / end like in high school; dorms have 11:30pm curfew)
- bring lots of passport photos (6-7) to use for student IDs, etc.
- if you go to Thailand, be prepared for grilling back in Taiwan customs about your purpose in Thailand
- bring $50 in cash to change currency when you arrive, bring at least $1000 in $100 traveler's checks to deposit as needed into your Taiwan bank account (which someone from the university will help you do). If you put the checks into the bank as you need the money, you don't have to worry about trying to withdraw excess money at the end of your stay. Bring more than $1000 if you plan to travel around. A teaching assistant salary brought in enough money to pay for food.
- purchase a pay-as-you-go phone there. Incoming calls are free. Otherwise, use Skype to communicate back home.