China: Sobering but enthralling Past Review
By Justin C (International Business, International Studies, and Chinese, Trinity University) for
Beijing Foreign Studies University: Beijing - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I could write an essay about this but I will just say that my experience was very worth while, humbling, sobering, eye-opening, enthralling, and fascinating at the same time.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
0 More emphasis is placed on rote memorization. 0 The teaching pace is much faster. 0 Being immersed in China really helps your Chinese. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was great with the excetpion of how information got to students. You could either get information on a bulliten board, on a Moodle site, or through e-mail. I would recommend condensing all of these information hubs into one. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Dorm life was dorm life, not much different from the US. Very, very close to class, safe, and the dorms are really nice compared with regular Chinese dorms. The area that IES is located in isn't close to anything cultural or any fun night-life though. |
| * Food: |
Just don't drink the tap water and you'll be fine. The food here is usually really greasy and salty. If you are allergic to MSG I wouldn't recommend coming to China, as Chinese use MSG in just about everything. If you are Jewish and on a cosher diet, it is also difficult to dine here but not impossible. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Hilights: 0 Two week trip to Yun'nan! 0 Three day trip to Pingyao. 0 One day trip to the Harbin Ice festival 0 Trecks around Beijing.. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
I never needed to go to the hospital here but United Methodist is a hospital on par with the best American hospitals. Best piece of advice for saftey: just be aware. Half the time incidents occure to people because they either are not aware of saftey risks or they just do something really stupid. So just use your common sense. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
Finances
|
* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
|
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | You can buy most meals in China for one or two dollars. Everything in China is very cheap. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | If you are going shopping have at least an extra 500 to 1000 Yuan on you. You can live as cheaply or as expensively as you want in China but your money does go further here. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
| Language acquisition improvement? |
0 You can practice Chinese with anyone: Chinese people, teachers, your tutor, friends, cab drivers, restraunt owners, just about everyone. IMPORTANT: Make sure your speak Chinese as much as possible and resit the temptation to use English. 0 Except when your dealing with other foreigners you always communicate in Chinese. 0 Just about everyone spoke Chinese in Beijing. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Come to this program ready to work because you hit the ground running. Your time in China goes by fast so make sure to set aside time to hang out with friend, travel, and make so great memories. |
