There are eleven students studying in Taiwan this year under the exchange program of the International Rotary Club. The sponsoring organization has observed that in the last year or two, there has been an increase in the number of students coming from Europe. No longer do they hail only from English-speaking areas, either, and Taiwanese students are expanding their European destinations beyond English-speaking countries as well, going to more European nations. There, they not only learn European languages other than English, but also enlarging their world view beyond previous limitations.

Local Chapter 3480 of the International Rotary Club held a symposium on the exchange program at Taan Vocational High School in Taipei on Sunday. A number of Taiwanese students who have gone abroad on this program were present. This years 62 international students come from 18 countries, including the US, Canada, Denmark, France, England, Holland, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Belgium, Russia, Japan, Finland, Australia and Brazil, and range in age from 15 to 18 years old.

The international students are in Taiwan for a week, and Sunday was "performance day". Many chose to speak their native language. Most of them had some basic knowledge of Chinese as well. They played a game in which each had to introduce himself using Chinese, stating his or her name, age and country of origin. The Taiwanese students chose to sing the national anthem.

Lu Mian-mei, head of youth exchanges for Local 3480 of the Rotary, said that in previous years Rotary exchange students had been from the US and Canada for the most part. However, the number of European students has been increasing in recent years. This year, there are over 20 from Europe, approximately the same number as those who hail from the US and Canada. Meseke, who is from Germany, said that he chose to come to Taiwan in hopes of having a unique experience, because most of his classmates had gone to the US or England. Peter, who is Danish, said that his first choice had been Japan, but so many people recommended Taiwan due to the friendly and warmhearted nature of the islands people and their welcoming attitude toward foreigners that he changed his mind and opted for Taiwan.

Most Rotary students hope to improve their command of a foreign language. Chu Hsing-ling, who is a student at the Lichi Institute of Technology, has been to the US and Russia as an exchange student within the past five years. Chu says that when she had just returned from the US, she felt that she had learned quite a lot about American culture and understood the world much better, until she arrived in Russia and experienced the outwardly cold but inwardly warm Russians, and saw a school where the bathroom stalls lacked doors. She then felt surprised at how huge the world really is. Chu emphasizes that cultures are merely different from one another, and no one culture is superior to any other; each country has its endearing aspects to discover, she said.