Anyone at BNU fall '09?

[blink]

Hey - anyone studying at BNU this fall?

[roddy]

Hmmm, bit empty in here. . .

I'm not at BNU, but live in the area - been here off and on for four or five years. Will no doubt be passing new starts in the street shortly.

[blink]

Yeah strange. Guess BNU lost out on student numbers this year - or at least those that frequent the forum...

[roddy]

Do you know the area at all? I've written up a post or two about the neighbourhood before, could look them out if you want.

[cui ruide]

I've been accepted, but just got back in town from a trip. I need to take a look at the "packet" that's waiting for me at the office... But I was wondering if someone happened to know the number of courses you take in a semester or can describe the course-load... or more directly tell me what little I can get away with but still get my visa taken care of?

That sounds rather shady, but really I would like to keep my commitment low because I've been in plenty of intense, shove-as-much-as-you-can programs. I'm out of school now, and really I want to take an upper-level Chinese course or two (which hopefully I can test into still) and have time to enjoy it and learn from it. Meanwhile, I'd still like some time to work on other projects maybe make back some of my money, too.

Realistic?

[blink]

Roddy

I don't know the area- this will be my first time in Beijing- but I have seen your posts. That's actually part of the reason I chose BNU. I didn't want to be in the middle of the Wudaokou/BLCU craziness. Hopefully it'll prove to be a good choice.

cui ruide - Did you see the email they sent about quarantine for all incoming students? You can read my post about it at the bottom of this forum page which has a link to the message the BNU website.

[cui ruide]

I didn't get the email, but I did see your post and get my own hard copy when I went in to the office (been a couple of times). Despite the fact I've been here 8 months (with under 30 hrs spent in Hong Kong as my only departure), I too must present a record of temperature checking. I bought my own 5 kuai thermometer yesterday. To boot, they zapped me with a temperature gun the last time I went in the office before speaking with me haha.

I've finally checked out everything I supposedly need, all the various payments I'll have to make, when different things are, etc. Now I'm just worried about the placement test, as I'm rusty on writing... If it's reading and multiple-choice, I should be gravy, but part of the reason I want to go back to school is to work on writing again. I'm still hoping to get into upper-level/gudai hanyu classes---whatever that means, because I can't get a straight answer from them. They just say classes and schedules are hard to say because it depends on the placement test...

[bigtops]

Wow. Good thing I checked in here. I'm arriving in a couple days for a year of BNU study as a CSC scholarship recipient. So... Looks I'll have an extra week to brush up on my writing and work on jetlag before the placement tests.

[amazing grace]

Hiya,

I am studying at BNU this fall for one year. I will be there in a couple of days to move into student accommodation (Xinsong apartments because the online system would not allow me to book any of the international dormitories). Been reading all the posts on this forum which has been so helpful (thank you admins). I have to travel to the clinic to get my physical examination because I haven't had the time to get one done so will definitely post any information that could be useful.

blink and bigtops- are you living in halls too?

cui ruide- was the office you went to a converted hotel room in the Jingshi buidling?

[blink]

hi amazing grace, big tops and cui ruide -

I arrived yesterday and just got set up for internet. I'm in int'l dorm 3. Xinsong's on the same block. I think where am is more expensive (by 20Y/day) but it means I get my own room with a shared livingroom and bathroom. Amazing grace - no one's in the other room yet so if you're looking to move PM me - we could meet and see if we'd be a good match as 'apartmentmates'.

big tops are you in beijing yet?

anyone interested in getting together to brush up before the placement exam?

[cui ruide]

amazing grace - yes the office in the Jingshi building!

blink - I might interested! I'll pm you my cell phone number...

[amazing grace]

Hiya!

I'm afraid I can't pm anyone because that was my first reply!

I would love my own room and a shared bathroom because at the moment, I'm booked into a double. I am willing to pay more for a better room but it wasn't an option when I booked! I will be checking in on Wednesday morning so I will see how that goes and if you guys can sort out sharing between you, please do in case someone else snaps it up!

blink- Did you have to pay for the whole semesters accommodation when you arrived? Are there many international students around now?

[blink]

I actually got assigned a flatmate this afternoon. She's from Japan. A ton of students arrived today. It seems like a lot of the new arrivals are from Japan, but that's just my guess from overheard snippets of non-Chinese in the halls so I may be totally off base.

I didn't have to pay the first day I arrived - I just put down a 200Y deposit. The ask me every time I stop by the desk though so being ready to pay when you arrive is good.

(I forgot to change money this morning ). There's a Bank of China less than a block down the street though which is convenient.

[adrianlondon]

If you want to move accommodation at BNU just go to where you want to move into (e.g. No3) and put your name down at the reception desk. Say what type of room you want. The main ones at No3 are two bedrooms with shared living room and bathroom, and studio with bathroom (i.e. your own bathroom). I stayed in the former - it's more social.

As for paying - they will always say they want all the cash as soon as you move in, however you can trickle feed them the money and they don't complain too much. I just went to a cash point each day (there's one next to the dorm) and drew out my maximum daily amount until I was clear. They're good at keeping tabs at what you've paid or not. Also get some washing machine tokens at reception.

[amazing grace]

Thanks for the info adrianlondon- I will do that first when I arrive instead of going to the place I reserved. Without sounding too prissy, I am a little uneasy about living in student accommodation again (I'm not a recent graduate or a college/uni student and have been working for a good few years now). So, in short, I would definitely appreciate having my own space.

blink- from what you can tell are the rooms at No. 3 filling up?

[blink]

I know the feeling. I'm a grad student and worked in between. I wouldn't want to be back in the 18-20 undergrad days of sharing a double either.

I can't tell you much about the status though. When I walked through the lobby this afternoon there was a line of about 20 people, but with 11 floors that's not necessarily bad.

You could try calling them before you get here. 86-10-58805151

[lilbun]

what's up everybody?

i'm going to be a fall 09 student too. i wish i had checked this site for bnu foreign students too because even though you go to the office and find out changes were made, and you tell them you never received the notice, the office workers don't seem to grasp the fact that just because they sent it to you, doesn't mean you actually received it.

i've been in beijing for the past year as well, and when i went today, they made me get a hard copy of the temperature thing too.

i've tried to get a visa extention 4-5 times in the past month each time coming back empty handed because every time i come in they say i didn't bring something, but then the next time i come in, there's always something new that i didn't bring because they didn't make it specific that it was what i needed. my visa will expire soon and i wanted to get the new one at least a month in advance to avoid any problems, but they make it so difficult.

this time they gave me a checklist of everything i need to bring, but i'm sure when i come back tommorow, there will be something different. i was at beida last year and i thought they're process was a big pain in the butt, but beishida is by far 10x worse than them.

i don't live on campus of even in the neighborhood, i live in wudaokou, so i have to commute everyday. i know i'll have to commute everyday when school starts, but the process of them getting a new visa for me has been freakin' ridiculous.

well, it sounds like everyone else doesn't seem to be having as many difficulties. i thought having already been in china and actually being in the city to personally take care of things would make things easier this time around, but it hasn't. bnu has quite possibly the most difficult proceedures i have ever experienced.

i decided to attend bnu over beida this year because i have found that anyone who had attended bnu has really good spoken chinese. i just hope everything i've been through is indeed worth the switch.

[amazing grace]

Thanks for the info blink! Am glad that I'm not the only one who won't be a teenage student. Was worried that I would be a little bit isolated! I will be there first thing in the morning.

Hope you are all settling in nicely!

Those who know the area (roddy? adrianlondon? or anybody else reading this...) Any restaurants close by you could recommend?

[lilbun]

due to not getting to the office in time before they closed for lunch, i've explored the area outside the gate that's in front of then building where the int'l students' office is. if you cross the street and go down the block a little bit, there's a a diverse amount of chinese restaurants.

[adrianlondon]

I studied at BNU in 2006 (Autumn semester) and was 37. I had a fantastic time; all the students I studied with or met (I met lots due to having a very social Indonesian flat mate) were very mature, and interesting. The fact I was older than all of them, and all of my teachers, didn't lessen the experience.

The trick, when it comes to things like registration, is not to think. At all. Don't try to interpret what they're after or try to imagine how to do it better/quicker. You'll lose. Just do exactly what they ask, in the order they say, like a robot. Then it works very well. Once you've registered, then you can do whatever you like ignoring all procedures.

If, for example, you want to change levels down (I've a trick to get a higher placement than you might expect) or even up, just do it quickly by sitting in the classes, then tell the admin people what you've done and what class you're in. In other words, just do the change yourself then say what you did, rather than asking for permission.

As for the test ... the written part doesn't seem to carry much weight. There's a short interview aftrewards and I was asked how long I'd studied Chinese before. I wanted to say "for almost 2 years, but only an hour a week" but I was too slow. I got out "For 2 years" and they closed the interview immediately and placed me very high ;)