China:An eye opening and humbling experience. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I really enjoyed when we went around Yunnan and met different speakers from the area. Like the Dongba expert in Lijiang, one of Wishan's historian, the Daoist master at Weibaoshan, the Lama in Zhongdian. Without forgetting all the people we met on the semester.

On-site administration of your program

They were all very helpful. The program is overall amazing and give a glimpse on a variety of subject such as religions, social questions in China (one child policy, role of the woman, development,..etc). So it is fascinating.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

- When we settled in the dorms we bought: toilet paper, a wash basin and hangers, the sheets and cookware were provided. The dorms were part of YUnnan Nationalities University. As foreigners we were two students (from the program) per room and had (important detail) hot water 24/7 and a shower. This situation was very different from the other chinese students who lived 6 per room, with one sink for all, shower in an independant building with hot water only if the weather was good enough so that the solar pannels worked to heat the water. the environment was very good with little shops and nice place to eat not too far. -during my ISP I lived in a tangka center, with two classmates. The temperature was under 32 F most of the time and there were no heater in the room. Luckily we were provided many blanket so were not cold at night. To shower we went to hostels. I also lived in a school for two weeks. It was very cold but an awesome man, friend of the programme gave me an electric blanket. To wash it was the minimum: hot water in a wash bassin.

It is easy to be vegetarian in Yunnan. Just be careful to precise everytime you go it somewhere :). The portions are very generous most of the time. If you go to Yunnan Mingzu Daxue ( Yunnan Minorities University), go to "noodle street" , also called"snack street" they have many good places there.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I had a blast with our group of students. We did several dinner and night-out all together and it was a whole lot of fun! we stayed alltogether at Shibaoshan, a beautiful mountain..with monkeys! It was amazing to hike to the top and see the 300degree view (almost 360 ;) ). I went twice. One at the end of the afternoon and one early morning to see the sunset. It was truly amazing.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

A doctor related to the program is on call. Regarding health: be careful to what you eat. (normal rules in developing country: careful to raw fruits and veggies, water, not well prepared food). I got stomach ill several times.

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

1. classes are small- if you feel that you are not learning, talk to your peers and to the professors to see how it can be improved, they are here to help you. This is super important..dont wait for the end of the semester to realize that you did not learn much. It would be your mistake! Go on your own to places so as to meet people and have to find your way/ :) That is my best advice. My level of chinese was very poor so each time I was with a friend who spoke a little better chinese, they would go ahead and speak and I would let them. Going on my own first for the Yunnan exploration week then for half of my Independant Study allowed me to progress way faster than with any classes.

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• Host Family
• Dorm
• Other

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• Americans
• Host Family
• Other

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• Americans

• YUnnan, and the travels
• the seminars
• the group ad the people met (host famillies and teacher, staff)

• interaction with chinese students