So recently I was asked to share my experience in China with someone who was thinking about applying to the same program. This is what I came up with as advice.
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Student's are very helpful and will want to do things for you or spend time with you. They will not, however, tell you when they get bored or need to do something else. Read between the lines and when they tell you that you look tired or need a nap let them go home.
Accommodation's for the program are nice especially by Chinese standards. You'll have your own bedroom if you're a "volunteer" and a small suite if you're an instructor. The bathrooms are manageable but odd. Do not drink the tap. You will get sick. More on that later. You'll have a fridge, a tv, maybe a microwave (I don'tremember), and the Tsinghua dorm staff is very nice. Your students live 4-6 to a room. It's not really bad but once you see it you'll feel a bit guilty. They have washing machines on every other floor but I did most of my laundry in the sink.
You will get your stipend in cash. If you're an instructor you're making about the 10,000$ from a Chinese perspective. Don't tempt fate. Hide your money in your room and wear a money belt when you travel. A vast majority of Chinese are super, super, super honest but theft can occur. One of my students told that she was pickpocketed of her cell phone and bicycle's routinely roll away. People think I'm paranoid about the money belt thing it's a good idea.
Buy a bicycle. The Tsinghua campus is huge and you need a bike to traverse it. I bicycle at Purdue for transportation so it wasn’t a huge adjustment to me. Bikes are cheap and second hand bikes can be bought for about 10 dollars. Second hand bikes are a good idea. They're less likely to roll away on their own. Use the bike on campus. Never take it off campus unless accompanied by aBeijing native (more on this later).
If you want to go into town you can take the Taxi or a train (metro/subway/tube/whatever). You'll want to take a Taxi to get to the train. NEVER walk or bike in the street in China. You will see the Chinese doing this. That DOES NOT mean it's a good idea. The third night there I saw the aftermath of a collision between a William and Mary student on a bicycle and cab. He didn’t win. Cab's hold four people and it's a dollar to get to the train. It's worth the quarter to be safe. Cab drivers in Beijing are awesomely polite forthe most part. They will not speak English, they will drive very fast, and most likely will not provide seatbelts. Save yourself a lot of grief by getting someone to write down your destination in Chinese before you leave to go anywhere. Furthermore, if you only learn one Chinese phrase let that be your address.
Some things you must try while in China. KTV Karaoke. You rent out a ROOM and everyone sings. Often snacks are provided. Interesting things will occur. The markets. Buy a Mao watch, sift through junk, learn the real price of that 70$ polo shirt. Watermelons and cantaloupe. You will see these everywhere in July. Enjoy. Massage. I missed this one but everyone told me it was wonderful. Skip the ovary treatments. A girl I knew got one these and had horrible bruises on her back for about a week and a half. Chinese television. One night it’s going to rain. Stock up on beer and snacks and watch TV with friends. It’s best if no one understands Chinese. This is classic. Buy an ice cream cone for 12 cents. I'm not joking when I say my favorite one was corn. However stay away from the one that has green peas on the package at allcosts!
Eat whatever is set before you. Most likely it will be delicious. If you're squeamish sometimes it's best not to ask but most of the time it's fairly"normal" (whatever that is?) stuff. Stretch your comfort limits. In China I ate chicken feet, scorpions, jelly fish, fish eyes, duck liver, lotus roots, bamboo worms, frogs and god knows what else that I didn’t ask about. You will survive and you won't necessarily get sick. If you choose to eat from street vendors use common sense. Look for ones that look fairly clean, that cook their food over very high heat or deep fry, and are moving their food quickly. Additionally, you might wait until the end of your trip before becoming too adventurous with the vendors. It would behoove you to learn to eat withchopsticks before you go.
I did not get sick in China. Many people I knew did. Come prepared with atravel pack of antibiotics and diarrhea medicine. Additionally pack extremely light. When I return I'm literally taking only about three shirts and two pairsof pants. They will provide you with a pair of shirts that will be your uniform and clothing is so cheap over there that you can buy anything else you need(T-shirts and polos - 3 dollars, jeans 12 -15, chopstick sets for 2.5-5 dollars)and bring it home. When you go shopping be prepared to bargain. Everything is negotiable from MP3 players to fruit and only a handful of grocery stores have set prices. Walk away prices drop miraculously. When you go to a market and you see a westerner with something they bought there that you want, ask how much they paid for it. Remember there is a Chinese price and a “cracker” price for everything. They will have overpaid. Now go get it for less.
If you're white you'll be stared at. If you're black, Indian, or any other shade of yellow or brown that's not Asian it'll be even worse. Don’t worry it's not rude and it doesn't mean bad things will happen to you. I once rushed backto my travel companions (3 young women) when I saw a large crowd of primarily men forming around them at about 10 pm in front of a train station. I needn't have worried because they were laughing and just carrying on. In the end they convinced a police officer that was drawn to the crowd to let them take their picture together.
Labels: China
