Studying in Tsinghua University - a dream come true?

I’ve lived in Beijing for almost two months now and there’s one thing that I am 100% certain – I live in one of the coolest campuses and study in one of the best universities in the world.

Home, Building number 6

Course registration and my final selection

My first days and weeks in Tsinghua were a mess. I cannot even count the times I wanted to hit my head against the wall because of all the paperwork I had to do or because of the stress that the online course registration caused. By the end of the second school week I was already ready to give up because the course registration was about to end and I still didn’t have enough credits.

The problem was that some of the courses I really wanted to take turned out to  be in Chinese, and by that I mean I was the only Western person in the class (or one of the two only ones). Like imagine yourself going to the class called English News Reporting  and it turns out that oops the professor is actually giving his lectures in Chinese and all of his slides are in Chinese. Or you go to this public speaking class and look around and everyone is Chinese and no one even understands English.

Luckily the third school week turned out to be a game changer. By the beginning of my October holidays I actually had all of my courses figured out and the stress was almost gone. This means that I am now left with 11 credits (16,5 ECTS) and five masters courses. And the best part is that I actually like all of them.

-           The Principles of Area Studies (it’s actually more of a Chinese political economy course)

-           Ancient Chinese Thinking of Foreign Policy

-           News Writing and Multi-media Reporting

-           Overview of International Energy and Environmental Governance

-           Chinese

Two of the courses are taught by American and three by Chinese professors and I can honestly say that they are the best among the best. For example, my ancient Chinese thinking professor Yan Xuetong was named as one of the Top 100 public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy in 2008.

Studying in Tsinghua is not easy

Studying under the best professors in a top university also means that you need to work twice as hard to get good grades (or to pass the class). For each class you have to finish a massive amount of readings plus hand in home assignments. Compared to the European system where you just go to lectures and pass the final exam it is definitely more difficult, but it is also a lot more effective.

But life is actually a lot easier for the foreign students. The Chinese undergraduate students take at least twice as many credits as I and study three times harder because even though they have already gotten into Tsinghua University, which only accepts 1% of the students, they also have to stand out among the best.  If you want to get into the graduate programs or want to study abroad you must have a killer GPA.

But if you thought it would get easier when you get into a graduate program you are mistaken. My roommate is on her second year of masters and she leaves home before 9AM and returns after 11PM. Most of her days, weekends and even holidays are spent in the lab. The general requirement for her is to spend 40 hours a week in the lab, but since they also have additional homework and projects, the days are a lot longer.

An example of how Chinese people can really sleep everywhere

Outside school activities and the Tsinghua campus

I've always believed that in order to keep yourself healthy, you need to find a balance between physical and mental exercise. Luckily the students in Tsinghua university think like me and therefore there are about a few hundred different student associations here.

Since I am in China, which already seems a bit weird for a lot of people, I decided to do something different this semester and join organizations that I would probably never think about joining back home. Therefore I auditioned for the traditional Chinese dance team and the musical club and got accepted to the latter. Unfortunately I won't be able to do the whole musical since I'll be back in Estonia by then, but I can perform in a show where we will be doing a few numbers from Chicago, Burlesque and some other musicals. Life is an adventure!

But overall, the campus in here is amazing. We have tens of canteens, restaurants, supermarkets, stadiums, parks, a fruit and vegetable market, a gym, swimming hall, concert hall, movie theater, etc. The campus is seven square kilometers and it accommodates about 40 000 students (yes, the campus is bigger than my hometown). The huge amount of students isn't usually a problem, but it is pretty obvious during the breaks between classes when the roads are packed with people on their bikes. Since no one really cares about the rules here, it all looks pretty chaotic (to be honest I am still afraid of dying every time I ride my bike).

But other than the fact that the traffic is crazy, everything is pretty great. Okay, actually there are so many things that are not normal at all and things I could never get used to, but this is what I like about living here. I love that it is not easy - it is a challenge, but at the same time it is so exciting!

The concert hall

One of our libraries

Final note: USNews recently published an article about the top engineering universities in the world and Tsinghua University was number 1 (followed by MIT and Berkeley).
TopUniversities has ranked Tsinghua as the 25th best university in the world.

Tsinghua University campus at night

Yours truly,

Kai 

China through the eyes of an international student: expectations vs reality

This blog post was written for my news and multimedia reporting course in Tsinghua University. Enjoy!

Studying abroad is an amazing opportunity, but it is also a challenge. Especially when you go to a country that is more than 7000 kilometers away and that has a completely different culture from what you’re used to. 

That’s what Karianne Larsen did – she came from Norway to study in Tsinghua University in Beijing for a year and to be honest, it hasn’t all been easy. There are times when all you want to do is kick your head against the wall or take a glass of wine to calm your nerves, but there are also times when everything is so great that you praise yourself for taking this opportunity.

But living in a different culture also means that you see a lot of things that you would never expect to see. You read things before coming here, but when you finally get here you discover that things are really not the way you thought they’d be. That’s why I asked Karianne about the situations where her expectations and the reality didn’t really match up.

1.  Screaming and angry Chinese people

„    "I remember my first bus ride. I was sitting in the bus and there was this Chinese woman sitting behind me and screaming something in Chinese. I turned at her and tried to figure out what’s the matter, but she just kept yelling. It’s pretty frustrating that you really try to understand what they’re saying but can never actually get it and they often sound really angry.“

      2. Cheap Clothes, maybe not?

„    "Everyone has this idea in their heads that everything in China is super cheap and well it is the case with food, but when you go to clothing shops you will definitely be surprised at the prices.“

So if anyone wants to come to China to get cheap clothes, you might want to reconsider your destination.

3. The amount of bureaucracy

      Studying abroad means filling out countless applications and papers and during the first weeks most of your time will be spent on going from one building to another one and filling out papers. „But then when you get used to doing all the paperwork and going from one place to another you suddenly have to do one thing online,“ says Karianne implying to the course registration which all the students in Tsinghua have to do online and which can often cause a lot of stress.

      4. Take-away food in plastic bags

„    "I had seen pictures online before about Chinese take-away food before, but it was still weird to have my first take-away meal from a random plastic bag.“

      5. People really don’t speak English

„    Some people are really good and really try  a lot, but when you get into a taxi where there is again this angry-sounding driver who speaks in a language you don’t understand, this might become an issue. Also when you get lost in the campus on your first day and no-one can understand your cry of help in English.“  

      But that's the thing about coming to live in a different culture - you never know what to expect and that's what makes it exciting. And even though there are times when you sit at the side of the road thinking about how difficult everything is there are also times when you jump out of happiness and do splits at the Great Wall. 

        Yours Truly,

        Kai

Spring break & Miami

Kuna kevadvaheajale järgnenud nädalad on sisaldanud suurtes kogustes kodutöid, teste ja eksameid, siis jõuab see postitus teieni alles nüüd.

Mingil määral pole ma veel siiani suutnud sellest Spring Break meeleolust välja tulla, sest see kogu nädal oli lihtsalt nii äge. Ma armusin Miamisse ning kuigi mitte miski ei läinud selle nädala jooksul plaanitult, oli see nädal kohe kindlasti üks põnevamaid minu elus.

Vaheaeg algas aga tegelikult hoopis Pittsburghis, kus veetsime Kanamiga kaks päeva. Minu ebaõnnestumised said alguse juba enne Pittsburghi jõudmist. Nimelt suutsin internetist bussipiletit ostes teha "pisikese" vea ning osta pileti 3. juuliks mitte 7. märtsiks (miks nad ei võiks õppida kuupäeva õiget pidi kirjutama?!). Õnneks sain lõpuks bussijuhiga kokkuleppele ning sain siiski Pittsburghi.
Ajapuuduse tõttu on Pittsburghi (ja Washingtoni) pildid veel täitsa sorteerimata ja seega näete neid kunagi hiljem.
Pühapäeva öösel suundusime aga edasi Washingtoni. Kuna suutsime piletite ostmise jätta viimasele minutile, olid kõik normaalsel ajal väljuvad reisid välja müüdud ning pidime öö veetma bussis. Hommikul kell 4 jõudsime Washington DC-sse, kus me oma väsimusest ja külmast ilmast hoolimata veidi linna uudistasime. Aega oli aga vähe ning juba kell 3 pidi väljuma meie lennuk Miamisse.
Päris nii see aga ei läinud, sest meie lendu lükati umbes-täpselt 3 korda edasi. Paar tundi hiljem saime lõpuks lennukisse, kus sain isegi kerged 2 tundi magada.

Maandudes ootas meid aga juba uus üllatus. Nimelt selgus, et oleme täiesti öömajata, sest meie host hüppas alt ära. Kuigi ma olen alati veidi couchsurfingut peljanud, otsustasime seekord minna riskile ning otsida esimeseks kaheks ööks öömaja just selle lehekülje kaudu. Meie host Ben tundus täitsa normaalne inimene, aga seda vaid nii kaua, kuni kaks meie reisikaaslast Gizem ja Dogan tema ukse taha läksid. Põhimõtteliselt viskas Ben nad välja, sest tema sõnul ei öelnud mina sõnagi, et üks neljast inimesest on meessoost (kontrollisin enda mailboxi ning olen talle selge sõnaga öelnud, et minuga on koos 2 tüdrukut ja 1 poiss). Tema aga enda korterisse võõrast meest ei võta ning meie võime endale uue öömaja otsida.
Nii me siis jõudsimegi Kanamiga Miamisse: väsinuna, näljastena ning ilma öömajata. Õnneks tuli meile lennujaama järgi tuttav Morgantownist, kes viis meid sportautoga (?) enda luksushotelli (?), kus saime rahulikult mõelda, kust me endale hotelli leiame ning nautida head sööki (room service?). Õhtul kell 11 leidsime endale lõpuks täitsa toreda hotelli ning saime kokku ka Gizemi ja Doganiga.

Kui esimesed kaks ööd veetsime North Beachil hotellis, siis järgmiseks kolmeks ööks oli meil broneeritud toad South Beachil Bikini Hostelis. Hotell oli otse loomulikult mugavam ja privaatsem (ilus rand ja basseinid), kuid samas oli  hosteli asukoht kordades mugavam. Lisaks oli hostelis palju toredaid inimesi ning vaba aja veetmise võimalusi.

Täitsa lõpp, kui soe ja mõnus seal oli :)

Vaade rõdult

Kaks sammu hotellist oli just selline rand

Esiplaanil minu toakaaslane Kanami ning taga Türgi tüdruk Gizem, kes minuga alati õhtutel pidudel viitsis käia. 

Ülidselt saime oma 5 päeva jooksul nautida Miamit, lebotada rannas, uudistada linna, käia laevakruiisil ning viimasel päeval jõudsime lõpuks ka Everglades'i loodusparki. Tegelikult pidime veetma kaks päeva ka Orlandos ning meil oli isegi hotell broneeritud, kuid kuna car rental firma tegi meile tünga, siis jäi meil sinna minemata. Seejuures oli mul eriti kahju minu toakaaslasest, kes tahtis Miamisse tulla ainult selle pärast, et Orlandos Disneyworldi minna.
Ilmad olid peaaegu ideaalsed: kahel esimesel päeval oli sooja umbes 30 kraadi ning viimastel päevadel 25. Päike paistis, pilvi nägime vaid viimasel päeval ning sedagi vaid mõneks tunniks.

Millest ei saa Miami puhul aga üle ega ümber, on peod. Seda kõike on lihtsalt nii raske kirjeldada. Kohe kindlasti on Miami üks parimaid linnasid, kus pidutseda. Kui lugesin kunagi Elina blogipostitust Miami kohta, tundus see kõik nii ebareaalne ja äge ja just täpselt nii see ongi. Tüdrukute jaoks on sealne elu ikka eriti ilus. Klubides ja restoranides on promootorid, kes sinuga tihtipeale juttu teevad ning kutsuvad sind "kõige ägedamatele" pidudele. Nad võimaldavad sulle tasuta sissepääsu VIP rivist, tasuta joogid jne. Muidugi mõtled selle peale, et kus on konks; mida nad sult vastu ootavad? Vastus on: mitte midagi. Ükski promootor ei käitunud meiega kuidagi lugupidamatult ning enamus aega tundsid nad lihtsalt muret, kas meil on ikka kõik korras, kas meil on lõbus ja kas meil on veel mingeid soove.
Meeste jaoks elu aga nii ilus pole. Meiega oli koos ka üks Türgi kutt, kes jäi lausa kahel korral klubi ukse taha. Mehi aitavad klubisse sisse enamasti vaid suur rahakott või head tutvused.
Üldiselt käisimegi pidudel Türgi tüdruku Gizemiga, sest minu toakaaslane oli tõbine ning ainus kutt seltskonnas veetis enamus aega klubi uste taga. Aga tõsiselt huvitav nädal oli: käisime ägedates klubides, kohtusime huvitavate inimestega, jõime Lebron James'i manageri ja New York Knicks'i mängijaga tekiilat. Meid kutsuti Denver Nuggetsi mängija hostitud peole ning käisime ägedal hotellipeol.
Pidutsemist oli ausalt öeldes palju, kuid samas ei raisanud me hommikuti aega magamisele ja ärkasime üsnagi varakult, et süüa midagi head hommikusöögiks ning seejärel linna uudistada.

Vahepalaks veidi söögipilte: 

Mida tasuks ehk veel mainida, on see, et Miami on jaotatud kaheks piirkonnaks: Miami downtown ja Miami beach. Enamus ajast veetsime me Miami beachil, kuid ühe päeva seiklesime ka downtownis ning käisime laevakruiisil. Nägime palju kõrghooneid ning kruiisil kümnete kuulsuste villasid ja privaatsaari. Miami piirkonnas omavad maja näiteks Jennifer Lopez, Julio Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, Will Smith, Shaquille O'Neall ja paljud muud kuulsused.

Miami downtown ja kruiis:

American Airlines Arenal toimuvad Miami Heat'i mängud. Meie kaks reisikaaslast käisid esimesel päeval nende mängu ka vaatamas, aga kuna minu lennuk jõudis Miamisse liiga hilja, jäin mina sellest kogemusest ilma. 

Viimasel päeval käisime Everglades'i looduspargis ning hiljem seiklesime South Beachil ja Ocean Drive'il. Kuna kõik olid kella 3ks juba täiesti omadega läbi ja läksid hotelli magama, jalutasin pärastlõunal üksinda täiesti tundmatutes kohtades. Tihtipeale hindam ma just neid hetki reisil, kui ma ei pea kuskile jooksma ja kellegi soovide järgi tegutsema, vaid saan lihtsalt rahulikult teha mida iganes hing ihkab. Käisin pisikestes huvitavates poodides, ekslesin pisikestel tänavatel, uudistasin erinevaid naabruskondi, käisin pargis ja tegin pilte.
Samas peab mainima, et päris üksinda ei soovitaks ma ühelgi naissoost inimesel vähegi pimedamal ajal jalutama minna, sest kuigi enamik inimesi on ütlemata sõbralikud ja tulevad sinuga jutustama niisama heast tahtest, on seal ka suurel hulgal creepereid. Sa võid kindel olla, et lühikese jalutuskäigu jooksul saad endale vähemalt paar sabarakku, kes sind kuidagi rahule ei taha jätta.

Et postitus veelgi pikemaks ei veniks, teen Everglades'i looduspargist hiljem teise postituse. Ma arvan, et see oli piisavalt äge koht, et väärib eraldi kirjeldamist.

Tagasiteest nii palju, et ma ei ole vist kunagi nii väsinud olnud. Ma ei jõudnud enne ärasõitu hetkegi magada; lennud olid eriti hüplikud; meil oli vahemaandumine Newarkis, kus meie lendu jällegi edasi lükati; me pidime ootama Washingtonis 12 tundi bussi ning stationis ei tohtinud magada; bussis ei suutnud ma samuti magama jääda ning lõpuks kui Morgantowni jõudsime, ei saanud me ühikasse sisse ja seega jäin magama tuttavate diivanil, kus ma unesegasena eesti keeles sonisin ning kedagi läbi une peksin. Pärastlõunal saime aga lõpuks siiski oma ühikatuppa, kus sain rahulikult oma asjad lahti pakkida ning ka korralikult magada, et siis järgmine päev uuesti kooli minna.

Lõpetuseks aga mõned mitte minu tehtud pildid:

Hotellipidu SLS hotellis

Näide Miami ööklubist (SET)

Ja need oleme meie: (vasakult) Kanami, mina, Gizem ja Dogan

Üritan lähiajal teha ka postituse üldisest elust ja olust. Rääkida veidi koolist, Morgantownist ja kõigest muust.

Juba 6 nädala pärast lendan tagasi Eestisse, seega varsti näeme!

Kai :)