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(Jan. 30, 2012) Eight cadets from the Taiwan Chinese Military Academy spent several days last week visiting North Georgia College & State University and the region.

The visit was the first by foreign cadets, according to COL Michael Pyott, professor of military science at North Georgia. Pyott also welcomed the students to his class on military theory.

Two Taiwanese visitors, LTC Yeun-Jon ChenChyn and LTC Jessie Ma, talk about the culture in Taiwan during COL Philip Rosso's class.

"This visit was historic for us and was an important part of developing a relationship between both institutions that will benefit students and cadets at both schools," Pyott said, adding that the Taiwanese cadets enjoyed their visit. "It also was a boost for our Mandarin program because the cadets were very impressed with the proficiency displayed by our students and cadets."

LTC Yeun-Jon ChenChyn, a battalion training, advising and counseling (TAC) officer with the Republic of China Military Academy, and LTC Jessie Ma, an assistant army attaché with the Tapei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, accompanied the four female and four male cadets. ChenChyn is from the academy's Taiwan campus, while Ma is based in Washington, D.C. As college students, both officers studied at military schools in the United States.

But for many of the visiting cadets, the trip was their first to the United States. The cadets arrived in Dahlonega late Wednesday and stayed in cadet residence halls, ate meals in the dining hall and participated in Corps of Cadets' activities during their three-day visit.

The group also met North Georgia faculty members and administrators and attended classes. On Thursday, two of the cadets attended a military science class in which cultural understanding was the topic of the day. Ma and ChenChyn added to the class discussion by talking about the similarities and differences between life in the United States and in Taiwan. Both laughed when they explained their brush with local culture -- joining some of North Georgia's military staff for karaoke night at a Dahlonega restaurant.

The Taiwanese cadets also took part in physical training with North Georgia's cadets and took a walking tour of the campus.

During their Georgia visit, the group visited the Martin Luther King Center and the CNN Center in Atlanta. The cadets also visited Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel during their visit to the United States. North Georgia, VMI and The Citadel are three of the six senior military colleges in the nation. The others are Norwich University, Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech.

While the Taiwanese students are the first foreign cadets to visit campus, a contingent of administrators and instructors from the Republic of Georgia National Defence Academy visited North Georgia last spring. That delegation toured a handful of schools in the United States as it prepared to transform its institution from one focused purely on military training to a four-year academic institution that also provides military officer training.