China: The Experience Everyone Should Have (But Most are too Afraid to) Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

It was the most of what you make it. A lot of the other Americans would party every single night and still did fine in their classes. I took all the classes that were offered, regardless of whether they were counted as credits for my US university. My class was taught exclusively in Chinese. We got a substitute teacher for nearly 6 weeks of the program. I really hated that because she taught in the Chinese way: pure memorization. The other teacher taught grammar in a much more understandable way. It was an international class and not everyone knew English, so it forced us to communicate in Chinese. English could be used if we really didn't get it. We had homework every night but we never had quizzes. We had a midterm and a final exam. Some of the other levels were different. We had been placed by ability and I thought I was fairly placed. I really liked classes and I really miss it these days. The atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed. I didn't feel pressured to be excellent. I found that a lot of what I learned was very applicable to life there. If I was taught a certain grammar structure or certain words, I usually heard it used that day by locals.

On-site administration of your program

The program was a small but good amount of people. We all felt for isolated when it came to understanding what was actually happening at the university. The contact for my school was competent but in general we felt very disconnected from the rest of the university. It felt like I was an outsider living on their land. This did mean we were excused from a lot of things, but it also made us seem distant from the culture and the citizens. Although with effort, I was able to integrate myself to the level I wanted to achieve.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The real dorms were under renovation, so we stayed in a dorm-hotel thing. I really liked it. It had a great location in the middle of campus. We had a maid come in a couple times a week. We had western toilets and bath tubs (the only ones I saw in China). We had a fridge. There was a laundry machine and a place to hang our clothes to try on the roof. We were also in the same building as our program director. If we ever had a problem, it was very convenient to visit them downstairs. It was a small but cozy place with a good amount of space and storage areas. My only regret is that there was no kitchen, but it is very simple and cheat to eat in and around that area. I became very close to both the staff and the other students staying there.

I had no problems with the food. It is spicy. It was annoying during the hotter parts of the early trip. I got a cold early on and decided to eat the spiciest foods to clear my sinuses. When I recovered, no food was too spicy. There are enough foreigner food places and of course classic American fast food. There is food on campus in the cafeteria for cheap, but I found it cheap enough to go off campus. It seriously only costs a few dollars per meal. My only regret is that we didn't eat bigger, more extravagant dinners more often. My friends and I tended to eat at the faster, homier food places. It is very easy to be a vegetarian here. It's so easy to not eat meat and still very delicious. Vegan and gluten-free may be harder to comply with. There were students that were both and they managed to eat enough.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Wow! Every weekend I traveled. My favorite were the hot springs in Emei shan and Chongqing. I even had fishies nibble away my dead cell skins! ATV karaoke was so fun with Americans and especially the Chinese (they are serious). I loved the moon cakes in the moon festival. There were so many pandas at the reserve! More than I expected. Emei shan and Leshan were gorgeous. I loved seeing the summit of Emei Shan and the Giant Buddha of Le shan. I also took a trip to Shanghai, where the night is gorgeous. For the Chinese Communist holiday, I traveled Yunan and went to the Jade Mountain and Three Gorges and ancient cities (they are everywhere). Buddhist temples are also very easy to visit. They are everywhere.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never felt unsafe. I do come from Baltimore though. There were plenty of police and although maybe the people looked kind of sketchy and especially the scenery, I never felt unsafe. There are security guards at the hotels and the school. Bicycle theft and pick pocketing are the worst crimes and I experienced neither. We did live a few blocks from a bar street where alcohol can make anyone violent. I saw fighting, but no knives and definitely no guns. Foreigners were never involved unless it was a fight among foreigners.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Most people in Chengdu do not speak English...they also don't speak Mandarin but the Sichuan dialect. I studied one year of Chinese before I left. I wish I had studied another year because everything I learned, I used immediately. I ended up meeting Chinese people at English corner where they would practice English. It's easy to set up a meeting where one day is Chinese and the other is English. I really was forced to use Chinese everyday and it has made me into a better speaker. Although I am not fluent, I am much quicker to responding and comprehending what people are saying.

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• Dorm

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• International Students

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• International Students

• The location and the people

• Directions. We never know what is going on.
• Immersion. We need opportunities to meet with locals. Like clubs or school events.