Love Boat (study Tour) - Addition of Ocean Campus

Addition of Ocean Campus

Starting in 1992, another memorable change occurred in the Study tour in that Tam Kang Campus was replaced in use by Ocean Campus in Keelung. Many recall with fondness or revulsion the facilities of Ocean Campus. But by popular opinion, those students who were placed in Chien Tan Campus had the more comfortable facilities and the convenience to the nearby Shilin night market in Taipei. In comparison, those students at Ocean Campus experienced slightly less convenient facilities albeit theirs did include more athletic and outdoor activities but unfortunately were a good cab ride away from the Taipei nightlife. Without such amenities as Chien-Tan campus, students at Ocean Campus often had no choice but to use their greater opportunities and free time at Ocean campus to communicate and bond. Unfortunately, the idea and logistics behind a Campus switch between Chien Tan and Ocean would not come to fruition until the Study tour of 1996. During this switch, participants at Ocean and Chien Tan would switch campuses half-way during the tour. This type of switch would continue until the 2001 Study tour.

One other reason for stricter rules involved the death of a student. It was reported that on the "9 day trip down south", this participant went against the wishes of the counselors to swim in the bay of Kenting. The student was caught in an undertow and subsequently drowned while others were attempting to rescue him. Since then, the Study tour has been embroiled in a multi-million dollar lawsuit with the deceased participant's parents which continues to this day. Thus, stricter rules were created for the Study tour overall not only for legal purposes but also for the protection of the students. Although complete enforcement is extremely difficult for the counselors of the tour, students caught breaking major rules such as fighting, stealing, or sexual harassment are immediately sent home.

The program maintained its number of participants and its program structure throughout the 1990s but this changed after a large Taiwan earthquake in late 1999. As a result of this earthquake, many parents were hesitant of sending their children to Taiwan. As a result, the number of participants in the year 2000 tour dropped to 800 as anyone who applied was accepted. Further problems for the Study tour continued. The Study tour had historically been funded and supported by Taiwan's Kuomintang party since its inception in 1967. After the 2000 Taiwan election, the incoming change of administration of the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) did not fully support the aims or goals of the study tour. As a result, funding was drastically cut and enrollment for the tour of 2001 was limited to 800 students. To cut costs, most students of that year were removed from the traditional Chien-Tan building and moved to a smaller adjacent one that historically hosted the "Baby Boat", a much younger study tour, where participants were aged between 12–18. The cuts did not end there. In 2002, due to lack of government support, the China Youth Corps which usually ran the program announced that it could no longer support a sizable number of students at Chien Tan for its 2002 Study tour and that other organizations would have to pick up the slack.

As a result, in 2002 the Chien Tan campus hosted about 100 students with other tour participants going to three other different campuses; including one campus near the Taipei Zoo and another in Taichung. The fourth group was the most unusual as they did not have a specific or permanent home base and spent most of their trip traveling around the island by bus. This fourth group therefore, did not get nor require a "Trip down South." There was no campus switch for this 2002 Study tour and each group hosted approximately 100 members.

In the 40 year history of the Taiwan Study tour, the students have survived through many travails such as earthquakes, typhoons, localized disease outbreaks, and even missile threats/military posturing from China. However, no study tour year was ever canceled due to these incidents except the 2003 year. In 2003, the worldwide SARS outbreak caused the only ever cancellation of a study tour before it even began. Parents were hesitant to send their children to Taiwan at the time and tour organizers recognized the logistical nightmare due to widespread quarantine conditions.

The Study tour resumed in 2004 with two groups. One group remained at Chien Tan Campus which on this year included more strictly enforced 11pm bed checks. Another group was located at Taichung. The enrollment has also slowly increased with Chien Tan campus presently housing up to 200 Study tour students with the potential for greater expansion.

Despite the fact that Chinese communities now enjoy greater mainstream acceptance than they did 40 years ago and that some Chinese North Americans may take associating with other Chinese North Americans for granted as well as an unquestioned way of life, the goals and endeavors of the Taiwan Study tour remain the same. Regardless of the many changes to the Taiwan Study tour program and the cultural changes of Overseas Chinese, the Taiwan Study tour aka "Love Boat" still remains a valuable program to the Overseas Chinese community worldwide.