Who's going to BLCU in 2006?

[lalibela]

Thanks Mike,

Just came back from the bank and sort it all out! I thought about going one month in advance, but can´t make it. I´ll be going around the 20th of august. hope that is not too late!!! I´ll try to book something from Europe though, as soon as I get my admission letter.

[underscorex5]

Hey!

My name is Angela (19y/o), my friend Craig (20) and I will be going to BLCU from July18th-Aug29th. Im kinda pressed for time to post because we are just heading out to send of our applications now. So I will post more later. Email me if you will be there at the same time as us.

blueicelight@hotmail.com

bye!

[cantogurl]

hi there,

I'm Tiffany from Jersey and my friend and I sent in our apps for the July 27th - Aug. 23 program two weeks ago. We're starting to worry about when the responses come back since booking the plane tickets and housing comes after/is contingent upon when and if we even get accepted. hopefully, everything goes through and we'll be there in late July although i'm getting all paranoid worrying about where we should live during our one month stay. We are actually thinking of staying at the Xi Jiao hotel if all else fails, unless they get fully booked too for some reason. Neither of us speak any mandarin whatsoever, so it should be an adventure if we end up banging on doors begging for a place to sleep in English/Cantonese/and stuff we picked up off the Pimsleur Learn Mandarin CDs.

[underscorex5]

Hey Tiffany,

My friend craig and I were faced with the exact same dilemna three weeks ago. What we decided to do was to arrange the trip regardless of the BLCU outcome. We have booked our flights, acquired visas and are making (well trying to make) arrangements to stay at the Beijing Foreign Students Activity Centre.

This site gives you information about housing 15mins off-campus:

http://www.iscbeijing.com/isc_residence.htm

This is as far as we have gone, we aren't too sure what is going on for housing for us, but if I were you I would check around this site and read the forum posts on housig to help you decide what you want to do.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/63-taiwanese-writer-san-mao26

If you wait too long, the plane fares are going to be ridiculous! I've decided that I really want to go to Beijing, regardless of my acceptance (or not) to go to BLCU. With everything else in place my friend and I will still be going to Beijing and if we dont get into BLCU we will take some TaiChi, bring some study books and hire a tutor and just enjoy the city. We may have to find alternative housing, as the BFSAC is intented for students only, but there are lots of hostels and hotels so it should be fine.

I just went through the entire process of preparing to go so if you (or anyone) wants any help feel free to e-mail me! Also, I have taking a couple years of mandarin so while you are there, if you get stuck, send me an email and I could come meet you and (try to) help translate.

blueicelight@hotmail.com

Angela

[Ascese]

Now...BJFSAC just called me and said that they have an update on the renovation of the rooms and that they should be ready by the first week of july, but that they will increase all fees in one dollar and that there is a brand new option in which you get unlimited electricity, water, local phine bill of 50 rmb, airport pick up and drop off and cleaning 2 times a week for 150 as an application fee. Of course you can just walk in there on the first day and try to get a room at a better rate and without those extras, but they do not guarantee the room.

Also, if you don`t have a roomie right away, they advise to get a single straight up because they are not assigning room mates anymore...Oh well, there goes the studio I was willing to share.

[Rikesh Gandhi]

Hi there,

Hope everyone is well. I am a new user and have just registered. My name is Rikesh, I am 23 and am from London. I am currently working for The Bank of England.

I am thinking strongly about undertaking a 4-6 intensive course in Mandarin starting next month, and was hoping that you guys might have some advice. In particular:

- I was wandering whether BLCU is a good school -- I have no idea about the universities in China, but one my friends went to BLCU a few years ago and thought it was great.

- Second I am a pure vegetarian -- how much of a problem will that pose??

- Finally -- what is the accommodation like on campus? It seems the most convenient for a short course like mine.

Thanks for your advice -- hope to see some of you next month!

Rikesh

[foolip]

I got my admission letter from BLCU yesterday, so I'll be going to Beijing at the end of August, staying for a full year.

[Eternity]

Hello there,

I'm glad i found this site/forum. =)

My name is Clarissa and i will also be studying at BLCU, starting in September 2006. I'm so excited....2 1/2 months left. yooohooo!!!

However, i realized that there are a lot of things to do before taking off. Right now i'm all stressed up because of all paper work i have to fill in about the uni and the BLCU website is not giving me much information. So i hope someone in here can help me...i wonder if anybody know when semester 1 (fall 2006) end and when semester 2 (spring 2007) start.

It is important, i need the exact date. Thank you in advance.

[foolip]

Hi Clarissa, fun to see another swede going to BLCU. I can't help you with those dates, but the only dates you need for the BLCU application is 1 September 2006 - 31July 2007. But perhaps CSN wants to know more, I haven't gotten around to dealing with them yet.

[Eternity]

Yeah, i need the dates for CSN. I think that is the only thing i have left to do before the trip. I was hoping that i could send the form to CSN as soon as possible so i don't have to think about it anymore. Ohh well...thank you anyway. =) I hope someone in here know the dates. I emailed the uni but i haven't got any answers yet.

[axene]

I have been awaiting my admission letter/ form for over a week now. To all the people who have been admitted, what will I need to do after I receive the letter/ form? Do I have to pay right away in order to be enrolled?

I'm getting anxious waiting...

Thanks!!

[billiardsmike]

You don't need to do anything with the university until you arrive. Payment, housing, etc. are all arranged in person once you're there.

[xus-swede]

I'm going to BLCU this fall, staying for a full year. Getting my visa next week and my head is spinning (unhealthy for a guy like me). What I got left now is getting a place to stay when I land in the beginning of august. I need to find some cheap hotel for a for a week to get things settled. Any suggestions?

Also: I sort of don't know a single chinese word, am I alone in this "crazyness" (as all my friends call it)? Would be fun to know.

Edit: I was a bit too lazy before to search for a thread. Sorry.

[foolip]

You're not alone xus-swede, I'm also crazy. I do know a non-zero amount of Chinese though. See you in September and I hope we don't realize that we both know Swedish when we're their or our Chinese is doomed.

[billiardsmike]

If you're crazy, you're not alone xus-swede. I know about 30 words and I'm arriving early August like you. That should give me time to adjust and get through red tape. Do a search here for BFSAC. That's where I'm staying, at least temporarily. That will also pull up some other housing options for you to consider.

Mike Blomgren

[xus-swede]

I have a another question. How do you ppl plan to deal with the payments of the enrollment fee? I'm just wondering since I'm not so sure on how to go along, if I should bring along travelers cheques which I cash in at a bank when I land or do it some other way? Help a confused and crazy swede out

[redpixel]

It's not hard to find helpful people on the BLCU campus so as long as you manage the taxi ride from the airport you should be fine (if you haven't already read about that, take a REAL taxi! Ignore the people saying "Taxi, sir!")

A simple solution for paying fees and managing your money overall in China is simply to bring your VISA card. For withdrawing RMB there's a fee of ~30 RMB each time you withdraw money (this might of course vary depending on your bank), but provided that you withdraw large amounts it's not too expensive. The limit is usually 2000-3000 RMB per time. (In addition to bringing your VISA card you should of course exchange some RMB before you leave so that you have enough money to pay for the taxi ride, etc. without having to bother finding an ATM or in case there's some problem.)

Paying the initial enrollment fee is a little bit troublesome since you need to make ~10 withdrawals in a row and carry around huge amounts of cash but it has worked for me and many others. Note however that there most likely is a limit to the total amount you can withdraw in a single day or maybe even in a couple of days, therefore you need to plan ahead and withdraw as much as you can perhaps a week or so before you actually need to pay, then withdraw the rest a week later. If this is impossible for you and you tell the people at the school that you won't be able to pay everything at once I'm sure they'll understand too.

(It's also possible to pay the tuition fee directly at the school using your VISA card and no cash but they charge a fee of 4% which is quite much. Definitely more expensive than withdrawing money yourself and paying cash.)

[eddieleunggg]

In the Admission Notice , BLCU told me have you register from august 27 to august 31 , 2006 . is it okay if i come to beijing at august 27 ? does it enough time for me to prepare anything ? or i should come sooner the day above ?

when i come, should i go to BLCU by taxi ? is that dangerous ? or i should use the service of BLCU taking me from air port to BLCU ?

thanks

[pumpkin]

Hi everyone!

I'm coming to study at BLCU from Aug 30 til Jan 27. I'm so lost too on what to do and I don't even know how to take the taxi. I'm afraid I will get lost. I also have to go to a hotel on the first day and then look for an apartment. My advisor told me that the orientation starts on the 1st of Sept. I'm hoping that I can find some new friends that are just as lost as I am! Maybe i can find a roommate too! If anyone here needs a roommate or would like to meet up with me, please let me know. A whole bunch of lost people doesnt seem as scary.

[Madot]

Been doing Beginners' Chinese at TAFE and doing quite well but can't communicate in the language so thought 3 months in Beijing would help.

Does anyone know if there is a level between absolute beginners and intermediate?

I've been thinking of not taking the test and just declaring myself a total beginner because I certainly don't know anything like the 800 characters they say you need for intermediate, but on the other hand, I don't really want to start all over again with ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4 and ni hao. Any advice?

Mado