Tsinghua Spring / Feb Semester 2010 [Chinese Learning Program]

[bunny87]

Well, my family is spanish & pakistani, but i didn't learn anything other than English. Going to Tsinghua was the first time i was away from family, never the less left the country.

Tsinghua is impressive, from how different everyone dresses (it's all ho's out here in Florida unfortunately), to the administration. The teachers I had were more than just teachers, when I was homesick they tried comforting me, when I was sick they literally tried coming to my dorm to accompany me to the hospital. In a country of more than a billion, they treated each and every one in my class with so much care personally and academically it was mindblowing. She spent at least an hour every day in her office dedicated to the student who wasn't able to keep up even, on top of saving the rest for others.

The amount of work I found myself with was killer. 4 hours of class, combined with at least 2 hours of homework, often with 4 hours of homework, and I needed at least an hour or two to study. The bright side was, towards the end of the program, I felt like I could absorb more characters. That, and i LOVED walking or biking to class. I did have 2 bike 'accidents', but i adored watching how elegantly the Chinese girls could ride. Umbrellas/parasols were everywhere. The scenery just perfected it. Gosh, I could go on and on...

oh, and the food! I loved the food like fat kids love cake. Granted, I found that those girls practically never ate to maintain their figure, I'd never felt fat in my life until then. I've always been the skinny one... however, regarding food, i hope you like spicy. Many things were flavored with 'ma' (not sesame). It was a spicy in the sense that i found out it was poisonous (just lightly so). My culture teacher explained that there is 'sweet, sour, spicy, etc. etc. and numbing'. However, everyone was used to the 'numbing' flavor, and even I adapted. If you're used to eating black pepper whole, you're halfway there.

I think i've written more than I should have for a forum, however i'd be glad to elaborate on anything. (i found no butter btw. the closest was something like oil [ghee?] hope you're not a dairy lover)

[bunny87]

My application status changed from "verified" to "completed" ...i don't suppose that's a Chinese synonym for "accepted" ?

please let me know! Thanks!

[nazreal]

Hi again bunny87,

Wow! Thanks for the post and sorry for being lame and replying so late. Yeh, it sounds like you spent a lot of time studying in Tsinghua - were you doing the same sort of course? Your Chinese must be pretty advanced...?

It's going to be fairly weird for me but I'm looking forward to diving in there and trying everything out! The only no-no for me is....I have to eat! I love food! I'm Chinese but I'm not super thin so I might get stares O_O but hey, the way I see it, life's too short you know?! Bring it on!

My status also changed from 'verified' to 'complete' a while ago although I see have the 'we don't have your application fee' thing in red despite a confirming email from the uni saying I can just pay on arrival....am really hoping that's not stopping my application...

[bunny87]

were you doing the same sort of course? Your Chinese must be pretty advanced...?

that was a study abroad program, but i suppose it's similar. my chinese? i think ni hao kai lan sports more vocab, since i haven't used it since last summer.

I have to eat! I love food! I'm Chinese but I'm not super thin

i'll show you where to eat, i already finished that phase annnd, in my experience, unless as a girl you're size negative 2, you're pudgy. guys actually vary. me? my self-confidence hit the floor when not only was my chinese size a flipping 'large', there was x's behind it. i cried on the inside and missed the US for a bit. Chinese women's sizes were US children's sizes. but as far as food is concerned, if we both go there in the fall, i'll gladly show you what to survive off of, and what will make you fat cause it was so good. start learning "bie fang la jiao" and "bie fang ma" (there's some poisonous ma) unless you're a spice freak.

My status also changed from 'verified' to 'complete' a while ago although I see have the 'we don't have your application fee'

you too, huh? maybe i'll give them a call then. cause according to the "map" they drew of the application status, after 'completed' it's supposed to change to accepted or rejected... how long have you had that status for? i got mine only 2 days ago...

[nazreal]

Hey bunny87,

Well my 'completed' status has been like that for about 1 month - I was super keen and worried about not getting a place (apparently they get snapped up quickly - read that somewhere on this forum I think) so I applied literally when it came online.

Anyhoos, I've just sort of left it and taken their email to me as unofficially official. I actually tried calling them several times using the numbers on their website but to no avail...

Are you going to try and call them? If you're successful, would you mind passing me the number you use please?

Thanks so for the food advice hehe I think I'm gonna be buying lots of my clothes from the UK before going to Beijing....and I don't mind spicy food - actually I love spicy food although one time I had Korean cold noodles and I was panting like dry mouthed badger. Not nice. O_O !

[bunny87]

I've called and started a new thread on it too, just for us fall/autumn 2010 students

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/25155-tsinghua-university-fallautumn-2010

i feel all this info might be more relevant there, so i'll be copying the number there too.

the numbers i used were the ones listed on the foreign student affairs office website,

Chinese Language Programs

Tel: +86-10-62784621, 62771142

Email: chinese@tsinghua.edu.cn

both numbers rang for me, but no answer the first time. the second time someone answered the first number, a woman who spoke a little bit of English.

as far as clothes are concerned- you will find things that fit you, especially touristy sorts of thing (i <3 beijing shirts, Tsinghua U shirts, shirts with pandas on them, etc.), or at touristy sorts of places. outside of that it gets difficult.

and the spicy i encountered was the type you described. it makes black pepper/paprika look like flipping sugar. a lot of it was vinegar + pepper spicy= i loved those 'sauces'

[superskunk]

Greetings,

I am seriously considering to learn Mandarin in Tsinghua or BLCU either during Fall 2010 or Spring 2011.

this being Tsinghuas forum i would just like to know are there many Malaysians studying there?