#academic exchange

[studyblease]

Sorry I still haven’t posted much original content, I’m too much of a procrastinator and a mess :/ I’m currently applying for exchange to the US and I’m awaiting my professors to reply and say they’re willing to be my academic referee so I can submit the form! The deadline is noon and it’s 09:42 so I really left this to the last minute ;-; don’t be like me folks

[beenasarwar]

Knowledge knows no borders: The case for free academic exchange in Southasia We are republishing this piece, with permission, as a public service, to make cross-border reporting more accessible to readers across Southasia. See the Press Statement: Access is not a threat: A call to lift reciprocal news bans in India and Pakistan The article first appeared in The Wire. Please credit the original publication and Sapan News when sharing or republishing....

Knowledge knows no borders: The case for free academic exchange in Southasia

[postcards-and-postcrossing]

Commemorative Events, Anniversaries, Festivals Stamps 5

Soviet Union – 1970 All-Union Military Patriotic Game “Zarnitsa” – Series: Soviet Pioneer Organization Russia – 2021 Diplomatic Relations with Mongolia, Centenary (Joint issue of Russia and Mongolia – Musical Instruments = morin khuur or horsehead fiddle and balalaika) The morin khuur is considered a symbol of Mongolian culture and is recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and…

Commemorative Events, Anniversaries, Festivals Stamps 5

[townpostin]

Srinath University Forms Strategic Partnership with Shinawatra University, Thailand

Srinath University and Shinawatra University, Thailand, have signed a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster international collaboration. The MoU, signed by Srinath University’s Dean of Administration, J. Rajesh, IQAC Cell In-charge, Dr. Mritunjay Mahato, and Shinawatra University’s President, Associate Professor Zhou Fei, alongside Dr. Pratikshya Bhandari and Dr. Venus Deeman,…

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[susanjminter]

Academic exchange, travel to Australia impacted by coronavirus outbreak despite signs of easing - Global Times

Academic exchange, travel to Australia impacted by coronavirus outbreak despite signs of easing  Global Times Originally Published here: Academic exchange, travel to Australia impacted by coronavirus outbreak despite signs of easing - Global Times

[hey--mandie-blog]

LOVE THIS!

[hailstudies]

hi guyss!!

I want to apply to study a semester abroad next year in the University of San Francisco and I was wondering if somebody in the studyblr community could give some info about USF and how it is there in San Fran.

I’m also interested in Marquette University and Loyola University Chicago.

I’ll be taking some Business Administration courses, so if you have any experience studying there… feel free to talk to me please!!!

thanks so much 💞

(((i will be so grateful if you reblog this!!)))

[gunjanmarwah]

Studying at CQU as an Int’l Student

I’d been meaning to write this blog for a while but figured I should wait til I’m finished studying at Chongqing University for the semester so that I don’t flood the end with additions. People ask me how it is studying in China, one of the world’s most studious countries, as compared to in Canada – or, more specifically, Chongqing University (CQU) versus Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU). They ask me if it met my expectations, and I can only say one thing: I did not come in with any specific expectations. I did, however, have some indirect expectations that followed the university’s exchange acceptance and transition process. Of course, when one ends up being surprised at some characteristics of an experience, it does indicate that they had some expectations after all, whether or not they were aware of it. I decided to gather a list of things that I feel should be passed on to future generations of exchange students in China – and specifically at CQU.

To provide some context, I was studying for my Bachelor’s in Business Administration at WLU, but the exchange program offered through CQU was actually in it’s Master’s in International Business program. Therefore, WLU will be giving me equivalent credits for the Bachelor, even though it was Master-level courses.

The MIB program is part of the university’s School of Economics & Business Administration, or SEBA. The SEBA building is the finest on the university’s A campus. In the short time that I was in Chongqing, I only visited three of the four campuses of CQU, but I have heard that the university offers programs in many departments.

Geography

Chongqing is known as the mountain city. Calling Chongqing a city, in my opinion, is an understatement the size of Mount Everest. It used to be part of the Sichuan province, but Chongqing itself is basically a province with different districts the size of small cities. CQU is situated in Shapingba, which is home to two of its campuses. The main downtown areas are called Jiefangbei and Guanyinqiao, both about 30-40 minutes away on public transit or 20-45 in an Uber, depending on traffic (which, as you can imagine in China, is often terrible). Shapingba itself has its own centre, called Sanxia Square, but it does not have much to do. I should also add that it takes anywhere from 15-25 minutes to walk from campus A to the Shapingba subway station – so deciding to go outside the area often took a lot of thought.

Being the mountain city, it has hills everywhere and the infrastructure forces you to walk a lot. I lost so much weight on my thighs because of that!

Transportation

The subway reaches most parts of the main areas where you will go. I recommend the subway during traffic periods, even though it is crowded. The subway signs and PA are in both Chinese and English, making it much more foreign-friendly. The local buses, however, are completely in Chinese, there is no chance of the driver speaking English, and you have to give exact change or use your transport card. I only took a bus twice: once with a local Chinese friend, and once to go to Jindao Canyon (what a journey that was! Four hours each way!) When traveling to further destinations in Chongqing, such as Dazu Caves or Yongchuan, where my friend’s family lives, it is necessary to take long-distance buses or even high-speed trains.

I rarely took taxis because the fare factors in time and distance – it once took 45 minutes to go 12km away! I always took Ubers, which are usually available at any time of day, and end up being almost half the price except in the case of high surge pricing (when the Uber fare was at least 1.5x the minimum). With all the flights I took within China, Uber proved to be very useful in cost saving. The only downsides were that most drivers a) call to ask where you are and where you are going, rather than looking at the GPS on their end of the app, b) do not speak English, c) destinations must be typed in Chinese in the app. My Uber-ordering process was therefore as follows:

Get the location written by either searching for it in Chinese in advance or taking a chance at just typing it in Pinyin

Confirm the location by matching it up to the English-friendly Apple Maps

Scout the area to find someone who might speak a little bit of English

Request the Uber

Wait for the call and shove the phone in the target aid’s ear while saying “Uber, Uber, taxi, meyo Hanyu (no Chinese), you say I am here”

Sometimes 4 and 5 are reversed

Thank the person many times

It usually works. It was a lot easier to do in Shanghai though.  

Program Dates and Other Key Points

I arrived early to Chongqing in order to spend Chinese New Year with my friend’s family. We moved to Shapingba a few days before registration day, which was when I would find out when my classes were. I knew that the courses would be in phases since they were taught by visiting professors, but I didn’t expect to be sitting around doing nothing for a week, waiting for the start of one course which was taught only once a week, and then waiting another two weeks for two more courses to begin. Basically, I had three weeks of doing almost nothing, so I went to Shanghai for ten days. I realized this would mean I could travel a lot during those break periods, so I did. And I aced every course! Just note that the university has a strict policy of absences and classes missed – I believe six hours missed in one course provides problems when taking the final exam. This was also a lot stricter for those studying for longer than six months, as the residence permit and Visa office is always in direct contact with the university. That being said, I also finished a lot earlier than expected. I was told the semester would run til early July, but I was finished by June 3! Since the Chinese language students still have their regular classes until early July, I wouldn’t receive my transcript until later thought, so I just arranged for the International Students’ Office (ISO) to mail it to Canada.

Residence

There are two international student residences on CQU’s A campus: Xuelin Hotel and Songlingpo. I lived in Xuelin, and I had a few friends who lived in Songlingpo (though I only went there once). Most international students who were going to be in Chongqing for a year on exchange or two years as full-time Master’s students actually lived off campus where the facilities were better.

I found that Xuelin and Songlingpo each had their advantages and disadvantages. Neither one had a receptionist or security guard (chifu) who could speak English. Songlingpo was further away from just about everything and had a huge set of steps to get the main entrance – and no elevator inside, unlike Xuelin. Songlingpo included Internet in its rent, whereas Xuelin students had to arrange our own routers and Internet connectivity through the residence’s predetermined plan with the Internet provider. Neither of the residences had clean kitchens but Xuelin still had many people cook and try to keep the kitchen as clean as possible.

Xuelin also offered a free bathroom-cleaning and sheets-changing service – they even took away our curtains at the end of May to wash them, though that was annoying for people like me who enjoy sleeping in. They both have laundry machines activated by an individual reloadable laundry card for 4 RMB (less than $1 CAD) per load. The dryer machines don’t do a thing and I always ended up either putting clothes to dry all over my room or borrowing a friend’s drying rack. In both residences, you pay your own electricity by adding money to the room. The appliance that uses up the most electricity seems to be the AC/heater, but I still had quite a bit left in my balance before I left. They also provided a kettle in my room at Xuelin but it was quite disgusting and didn’t work anyway, so I just used a saucepan since I was so close to the kitchen.

I could have done without the street noise in Xuelin but overall, I think I made the right choice by requesting Xuelin instead of Songlingpo.

I was also told prior to coming to China that I would have the choice between a single or double room. At first I thought a double room would be neat, as I’ve always lived at home and haven’t had the experience of having a roommate. But since I arrived at CQU earlier than most other students and I saw how small the room was, I realized it was better to have a single room. At that point, they even told me that I would be alone. Once registration day came around, though, I was introduced to a Thai girl who was to be my roommate. We both argued a bit with the ISO and ended up getting single rooms, so we were both happy. I miss having my own place now!

Staff

The three main entities that matter here are the International Students’ Office (ISO), Sully Hu (the director of the MIB program), and the International Students’ Union (ISU).

The ISO handles all of the administrative concerns of all international students, including registration, accommodations, transcripts, etc. I really only saw them like three times.

Sully handles all of the business program issues, concerns, etc. The students studying on scholarship deal with Sully a lot. She also works with the rest of the staff to organize a sports event or two once a semester. I didn’t have the need to see her much either.

The ISU organizes some student events such as a bi-annual day or weekend trip to some site in or near Chongqing. They also organize some cultural days, festivals, etc. I seemed to always be traveling when they had something happening.

Overall, I didn’t really talk to admin much, aside from the Xuelin receptionist.

I think those are the main points that matter when planning to study in Chongqing. I say Chongqing specifically because I don’t know the situation in other universities in China, but I expect for it to be similar. I could be wrong though! If there are any questions you have, feel free to ask as I may have missed some key point.

I will also say that I loved the campus. It was much prettier than Laurier’s.