How to Study while Abroad

In traveling over 7,000 miles away from home to study abroad, there are indubitably going to be an array of obstacles and challenges throughout the course of the trip. In honor of finishing my last final a few days ago at SUFE (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics), I wanted to reflect and share what important lessons were learned and gained for the future. While my tips are geared towards study abroad, they can be applied to basic studying techniques and things I have found to help me in a variety of scenarios. Furthermore, I am aware that there are many differences between exchange programs with universities and study abroad programs.

Managing distractions are important

While you are studying abroad there will be places you want to see, new friends and faces you will want to get to know and meet and this can cause for some serious dilemmas. Finding time to study and to stay on top of your course work will be important in order to make the most of your experience, because after all it is a study abroad trip. Therefore, for me, I learned quickly  that I had to dedicate “me” time when I needed to get work done. I did this because it was too easy for me to find a new place to explore or activities to do with friends. Therefore “me” time allowed me to allot a given amount of time to get work done.

Prioritization 

While this falls very close to managing distractions, I also found this to be a challenge for me while abroad. As course work and grades are still crucial, you came abroad to see as much as possible. In being in an exchange program at my university, I had courses Monday through Friday. Therefore during the week, I would rank what I needed to get done and then try to accomplish all my work before the weekend so I could explore and do as much as possible during my time off. It is important to know your deadlines and gauge how many hours or days you would need to complete certain assignments.

Language barrier and miscommunication

When traveling to a new country that has a different language than your own, of course there will be a learning curve to finding your groove. For me, while a majority of my classes were in English it was hard initially to understand and communicate with my professors as English was not their first language. Eventually I learned that emailing my professors was more productive than maybe talking to them after class therefore, it is important to find the best and most effective way to communicate with your professors.

Adjusting to different teaching styles

When starting college initially I had to learn how to adjust to a college setting and teaching style from a high school one. For study abroad it has to do with the city and country you choose to study in as well as the university or program you select. For me, I found that this was the most challenging for me. I had to learn what ways to study and prepare for my courses which would help me do my best on the exams. This strategy turned out to be important with my multiple final exams ranging from 60-70% of my overall grade.

Be relentless and accept the challenge

Traveling abroad is a challenge in itself, however finding your groove might take some time. Staying relentless to the concept of being flexible, open, and positive is what will make your time abroad a more enjoyable journey and in the long-run a great experience to look back on. While I struggled, made mistakes, and questioned my judgment, what helped me was to keep pushing forward and trying to get better each day.

Thanks

BG

Hangzhou: A Two-Day Getaway

Hangzhou: Paradise on Earth

As my time in China comes to an end, I finally had the chance to take a weekend trip to Hangzhou. My roommate and I had been planning this trip for over two months and every week some “conflict” prevented us from going, whether is was too much work, weather, prior commitments, etc. However this weekend we made a decisive decision and booked our train and hotel all within one day [hotel information at end of post]. And while the temperature has significantly decreased the past few weeks from around 60F(15C) to 45F(7C), we had around 55F(13C) weather during our weekend in Hangzhou with plenty of sun and blue skies.

Hangzhou a city located about 180km south-west of Shanghai has been deemed the “Paradise on Earth” for its lustrous views, picturesque mountain tops, and distinctly unique environment. As with many Chinese cities, Hangzhou has a long history that dates back over 2,200 years and was one of the seven ancient capitals of China. Now with emerging cities developing left and right, Hangzhou has grown to become the capital to the Zhejiang Province and deemed a city to watch with its economy growing around 8%-10% annually.  In addition Hangzhou is apart of the Sister-Cities Program and is a sister city with Indianapolis in the state of Indiana, USA. And with such a dynamically rich history in silk making, tea, agriculture, in addition to highly popular tourist destinations, we knew it would be impossible to see all our top choices and experience all that we wanted in two days. Therefore we chose to visit the Lingyin Temple, attend the Impression West Lake Show, take a boat ride around West Lake, explore the neighboring islands, and go shopping around the Wulin Center. My most memorable moment of the trip was catching sunset on West Lake and then having to call an Uber (for the first time in China) because we couldn’t get a taxi and I happened to get my Uber app to work.

As for transportation to Hangzhou we took the high-speed train from the Shanghai Hongqiao station to Hangzhou East Railway Station(Hangzhou has two train stations the other is Hangzhou Railway Station). Once we arrived we took the metro from the station to our hotel in the Wulin Center, which was perfectly located between both train stations and only two stops on the metro from West Lake. As for getting from one tourist destination to the other, taxis are available but when peak hours hit it is extremely hard to get one (we tried for over an hour to get a taxi from West Lake). Therefore renting bikes is an extremely popular and ideal option for people who wish to get around more conveniently. And the metro runs throughout Hangzhou but does not get you close enough to many of the popular tourist attractions.

Overall my experience in Hangzhou was another truly memorable weekend. There is nothing better than a beautiful city, savory food, and great people. Below are pictures from my trip and below that are links to information on Hangzhou.

*And there were so many photos I have added more to my gallery for extra viewing!

Until Next Time

BG

Shanghai to Hangzhou: 1hr 12 minutes via High Speed Train. Source: google maps

First night in Hangzhou attended the Impression West Lake Show, which was an hour long light show and performance on the lake. It was definitely a cold night and the tickets were a little bit expensive. I enjoyed the show but for those trying to save, it is not a must-see. Photocred: LiEr

Another shot from the show. Photocred: LiEr

A view entering the initial entrance of Lingyin Temple

photocred: LiEr

A view of Hangzhou from atop the mountains surrounding the Lingyin Temple.

We had lunch at one of the famous restaurants in Hangzhou that is known for their West Lake fish, restaurant called Louwailou.

The picture on the 1 yuan is resembled after the island called Three Pools Mirroring the Moon which was here in Hangzhou. In being the nerd that I am I had to recreate the image which is the picture below.

A little hard to see with the sun setting but this is the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon.

Great time with great friends!

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Hotel Accommodations:

• Courtyard Marriott Wulin Hangzhou
  • Booked via Hotels.com
• There is plenty of shopping, food, and the metro is a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

Sources/Links for information used in blog:

• Link 1
• Link 2
• Link 3 
• Link 4 

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Shanghai Chronicles Entry 4

December 1st

In approaching the end of my wonderful experience in Shanghai, I have begun to feel a variety of mixed emotions on how to ensure my memories and experiences live on, once I return home to the United States. I have met some phenomenal people and while everything has not been pure bliss, the challenges I have faced have made me that much more determined to continue pushing myself and reaching for excellence in all that I do. For this update I want to focus more on my academic experience and what things I have observed and learned while being here for almost 4 months. In coming here I had my expectations, who doesn’t? Nonetheless, I quickly began to realize that the ability to absorb all that I was learning and wanted to learn in a mere five months, was a challenging task. And just like a blank journal waiting to be filled with stories, I have tried to savor and store all my experiences.

To begin, all my classes are in English except for my Chinese language courses held late in the evening for two and a half hours twice a week. In my English classes there are a combination of exchange students and Chinese students. Here at SUFE the Chinese students are required to take a certain amount of courses in English. In addition, they take in total around 8-9 courses a semester which is 24-27 credits. I have even met some students that take 13-14 courses! I was shocked that they are allowed to take so many, and it made me reflect on how I view my 18 credit semester. As for the classes, most of the work has been group oriented with presentations, group projects, and group papers. The amount of group work has definitely been more than I have ever done before and occasionally it has been a challenge with the language barrier.

We all try to leave at the same time! What it typically looks like when classes are dismissed.

As for extracurriculars, when classes have finished for the day or evening students run on the track, play basketball, (which is by far the most popular sport), play ping pong, and many other sports. Also, the club events on campus are a big deal as well. While I have been here, I joined a club called the English Corner, which focuses on helping SUFE students improve their English and foreign students improve their Chinese. From this club I have enjoyed learning more about similarities and differences between my life and my SUFE friends as well as other cultural customs in China. Just this past week I learned the difference between Chinese black and red tea and how to properly make tea.

English corner activities in which we had to make some tea

Lastly, in regards to living arrangements while at SUFE, I currently live in one of the international student dorms on campus and have a wonderful roommate. My dorm has A Yi(s), who are women that are in charge of the building. They are very motherly toward us and make sure we don’t have any problems such as the time when I could not figure out how to close my window! As for transportation around campus, I mostly take the bus or walk. However a month into living here I wanted to be able to travel around my campus and surrounding area quicker and thus I bought a bike for 250 RMB (around 40 USD). This ended up being the best decision ever and I quickly embraced the chaotic yet natural flow of transportation here. If I’m not on or around campus and located more in the central downtown area of Shanghai, I take the metro or a taxi. Overall exploring Shanghai as well as surrounding cities has been a blast and as I approach my last month in China I look forward to the new adventures ahead.

BG

China Roadtrips: A brief weekend in Zhoushan

Zhoushan: The Archipelago of 1,000+ islands

Another week has passed and time still has not halted in order for me to live in each minute for just a little bit longer. This post is about my weekend during the 8th of November when I had the pleasure of traveling with my family friends to Zhoushan. This beautiful archipelago is about 4 and half hours (by car) south of Shanghai and just about 1 hour east of Hangzhou located in the Zhejiang province. Currently the archipelago is comprised of over 1,000 islands with 100+ that are actually inhabited.  And because of its prime location on the edge of the East China Sea, it has become one of the largest seaports for all of China. It is also rumored to have some of the clearest and cleanest air in all of China. Unfortunately the days we were there we didn’t get to experience Zhoushan at its best, but still a much enjoyed trip irregardless.

This trip was spur of the moment, and graciously my family friends invited me to embark on their car-trip to the archipelago for two days. In always being up for an adventure, I packed my things and the next day left for what turned out to be a time filled with memorable family stories, car ride games, and as always picture worthy food.

Now to speak on what we did in Zhoushan, I must first mention that it rained for the entire first day and the following day was a mixture of overcast with the occasional appearance of sunshine. Nonetheless this was somewhat expected when traveling later in the fall season. If you choose to go to Zhoushan it is a popular destination during the spring and summer with its famous beaches and sand building competitions as well as beautiful mountains for hiking and famous Buddhist temples. During our time there we had the pleasure of taking a boat ride over to Mount Putuo which is one of the four holy Buddhist mountains in all of China. In having only one full day to explore, more time is definitely needed and I hope to visit again. Below are pictures from our adventures and another fun filled weekend!

BG

Zhoushan known for its fishery and has the largest fishing port in all of China, we of course had to eat some seafood!

An assortment of snails

A quite popular and tasty dish of steamed egg custard mixed with clams and scallions.

Some grilled tiger prawns

We were too hungry to wait for my picture, but this stream fish was delicious.

This was the boat we took over to Mt. Putuo, it was quite an luxurious experience with drinks and snacks passed out during the 30 minute ride over.

Exiting the boat heading to the top of Mt. Putuo

A great view across from Putuo to the other surrounding islands. Near the beach there are many Bed and Breakfast spots that people can stay in while visiting.

                 

Until Next Time!

Shanghai Chronicles Entry 3

Let the Good Times Roll!

Like most things in life, when all is going well, you never want it to end. You just want to soak up as much as possible in each day and live in that moment forever. This is my general sentiment as I embark on my third month here, truly realizing that my time in Shanghai is halfway over and that all these wonderful experiences will soon be memories that I can happily look back on and cherish. Furthermore, I am so grateful for the people, the stories, and the new life experiences I have gained which will never be duplicated. I have grown in a variety of different ways, my outlook and perspective on people continues to become more eclectic and robust as I hear stories from those with similar backgrounds to me and from those quite different. As I still have plenty of time left in Shanghai and China as a whole, I want to reflect on what these first two months have meant for me and look to what the remaining months have in store.

This month of October started off with Golden Week, China’s National Holiday in which I received a full week off from classes. In having a week off, it was my first true opportunity to explore Shanghai and the surrounding areas. I am proud to say that I conquered the crowds that flooded some of Shanghai’s most popular locations, visited the nearby city Nanjing for a day, and through all of this, enjoyed it with people who care effortlessly and who have continued to make my Shanghai exchange experience that much more memorable. In addition, the holiday also gave me a chance to explore the SUFE campus and capture some photos without the crowds of students that normally occupy all the facilities and walkways. I might be sappy and truly blissful with my view of all things Shanghai but I truly love my campus and all the true quirks that make Shanghai, (whether it be good or bad) Shanghai.

After classes resumed and I returned back to a seemingly metronomic routine, I still found ways to take full opportunity of living in a dynamic, urban setting. During the beginning of the month, I attended the Shanghai Masters Tennis Tournament and had tickets for the finals which allowed me to see the Bryan Bryan brothers win in doubles and Roger Federer dominate in his singles victory. I explored Changxing Island (an island right across from Shanghai) with family friends and one of their coworkers who owned a farm. I witnessed my favorite singer, Mariah Carey in concert, and knew every single song sung and loved every minute of it. Lastly, I had the opportunity to take a boat cruise around The Bund with fellow SUFE students for an exchange event.

As I look forward to November, I see more challenges as well as a multitude of wonderful experiences ahead, excitedly waiting to be added to my memory bank. In addition I will continue to improve my Mandarin and to grow my usage of the words I know as well as increasing my vocabulary. Overall, I am looking forward to the new travel adventures I will embark on with my friends, my second family the Hau’s, and my roommate. The journey continues, and I appreciate all who have followed me on my journey. As always, thank you so very much.

 

Until Next Time

(PS I have once again added more pictures from all my adventures this month to my gallery!)

 

BG

Shanghai Snapshots (Sì)

Family Time on Changxing Island!

 

Another week of classes and another fun filled weekend! This past Saturday I had the pleasure of exploring Shanghai’s Changxing Island with my family friends who invited me to visit a local farm owned by one of their coworkers. Changxing Island is located about an hour by car outside Shanghai (from the Pudong side) and you can get there either by car or bus. It was such a relaxing day in which I got to eat some great home-made food, hangout with some chickens, ducks, and goats, and explore the extensive grounds. We even attempted to fish but I was quite bad at it. After spending half the day on the farm, we ventured over to Dongping National Forest Park where we rented bikes and explored the serene grounds. I was impressed by the forest park and truly enjoyed biking through all the gardens, campsites, and lakes. With Shanghai having a hustle and bustle atmosphere, visiting Changxing Island was a day filled of relaxation and pure enjoyment. A side note: The weather these past few weeks in Shanghai has been quite exceptional, especially during the day with luscious blue skies and a non cumbersome wind to keep you cool. I am definitely cherishing the days with this type of weather before the temperature starts to drop. Also I am so thankful and happy to have a second family here to help make my Shanghai experience even more special!

PS: There were so many great photos that I added the remaining to my photo gallery!

-BG

The family prepared a big meal for us!

Actual fish, unlike my multiple attempts to catch a fish.

Trying to fish, keyword trying.

A stunning view at the park

I love this view with the clouds, so beautiful

Golden Week: Day Trip to Nanjing

 

14 Hours in Nanjing

Where do I even begin! Nanjing was a day trip that my roommate and I decided to embark on rather spur of the moment. Afraid of the excessive crowds that were drawn to some of China’s largest cities and touristic spots, we were hesitant to go anywhere too far. We wanted to explore outside of Shanghai without the hassle of trying to find a hotel.  In addition we wanted to go somewhere we could always easily go back to, since we knew one day would not be enough time to enjoy all the splendorous wonders in Nanjing. The fastest and most convenient option for transportation into Nanjing was high speed train. With booking last minute (and during Golden Week!) we still managed to find reasonably priced train tickets and left from the Shanghai Hongqiao train station early morning (6am) to allow ourselves the entire day to explore. Nanjing is about 300 km west of Shanghai located in the Jiangsu Province. The train station was quite crowded for an early morning and the ride took a quick 1 hour and 15 minutes.

For our day-trip to Nanjing, we had furiously planned a schedule of top places we wanted to visit, restaurants we wanted to try, and transportation to all these locations. We were quite organized in our planning but as always the unexpected happened, and our plans changed rather quickly (the joys of traveling)! We had initially planned (or at least attempted) to go to 5 major tourist locations in Nanjing but with the crowds, we managed to go to 3 which were Purple Mountain, Xiaoling Tomb of Ming Dynasty, and Hunan Lu. We went to Purple Mountain first and quickly realized the crowds would dictate our day. Purple Mountain is an extensive piece of land with several parks, observatories, and a chair lift (cable lift) that will take you to the highest point of Purple Mountain for an overlooking view of Nanjing. While it was foggy, the shots I captured were still worth the wait for me. After spending half the day at Purple Mountain, and we easily could have spent the whole day, we departed for a late lunch and then went straight to Xiaoling (Xiaoling is actually still considered to be on the grounds of the Purple Mountain). With time becoming less and less on our side, we had to depart quite early from Xiaoling and did not manage to see all of the grounds, which is a reason to go back for sure!

Before returning back to the train station, we headed to Hunan Lu for a quick bite, which is one of the busiest streets in Nanjing located in the city centre. The area surrounding Hunan is extremely lively with a presence and a feel that is palpable to those all around. Bright neon resplendent lights, plenty of food vendors, restaurants, stores, and street performers help to showcase Nanjing’s urban life. Not having enough time to soak in all that was surrounding us, we had to catch a taxi to the train station and thus our trip to Nanjing was over. A short 14 hour trip to Nanjing helped me realize just how rapidly China is growing and with over a 100 cities in China with more than a million people, I am excited to see as many cities and places as I can in my remaining 3 and a half months! Nanjing is well worth a few days or at least visiting during non-peak holiday times in order to fully experience and enjoy the 10th largest city in China. I will definitely be back to see the other landmarks and sites that I ran out of time to see.

Until Next Time!

 

Shanghai Hongqiao Train Station – an early morning but many people already are on the move!

 

Waited an hour and a half just to ride the chair left up to the top of Purple Mountain. The view was well worth the wait but it did eat up a chunk of our day and there is not much to see after the view.

 

Me and the buddha!

 

One of the views a top Purple Mountain – aka known as Tou Tou Link Park

 

 

A view overlooking downtown Nanjing near the city centre.

 

An ancient Chinese astronomical tool

 

Another astronomical tool created in 1437 that was used to measure the equatorial and horizontal coordinates of celestial objects.

 

Map of the Ming Tomb

 

Heading into the Ming Tomb, stone generals and officials resemble loyalty as they guard the tomb.

 

 

 

Waited quite awhile to get a clear shot of the entrance into the actual grounds of the Ming Tomb

 

 

 

The bright neon lights of the Light Tunnel welcome us to Hunan Lu

 

A side street on Hunan Lu

 

Many Thanks Again! – BG

 

 

Shanghai Chronicles Entry 2

October 2nd – 2014 Hi all! This is my monthly post recapping on a fantastic September full of new experiences! Firstly, I can’t believe four weeks have come and gone by here in Shanghai! Each day that I have been here, I become more and more comfortable with my surroundings, the SUFE campus, and China as a whole. One major component to this has to do with how welcoming and caring the students on campus have been. Flashing back to my first day here, I knew two words and had trouble with the simplest of tasks such as ordering food or giving directions to a taxi driver. Now 30 days later, I have learned how to say my name, order food (which I need to survive!), give directions to a taxi driver, ask someone for help, negotiate a price (essential for bartering), and say the numbers 1-10.

While I have learned more words and phrases while here, the aforementioned are the ones I feel most comfortable with saying and using on a daily basis. While my Chinese is slowly but surely improving, my exploration of Shanghai and neighboring cities is in full swing! Shanghai is a populously as well as geographically ​ large city with a plethora of opportunities whether it be art, museums, gardens, movies, karaoke, festivals, endless shopping centers, etc. In addition, getting around the city is quite convenient with plenty of taxis, buses, and metro lines in close proximity to pretty much any place you need or want to go to. However, the one thing I am slowly getting acclimated to is the traffic. Just like any city there are peak times when traffic is extremely jammed bumper to bumper. However, in Shanghai, traffic is bad more times than not. I have learned very quickly to plan more time for a commute in order not to be late.

View from my dorm window, overlooking the track on campus

Another new experience I love is how big the SUFE campus is and how lively the area right outside the campus feels during all hours of the day. With an enormous selection of street vendors, shops, restaurants, and tea shops, there is always something to do or eat! Coming from a much smaller immediate area at my school back in the U.S., getting use to commuting between multiple campuses here in Shanghai for classes took a bit of time. Lastly, as I am posting this monthly update, I am in the middle of China’s National Holiday which is also referred to as the Golden Week.  During this week, I get a complete week off from classes. With such an opportunity, my roommate and I  have decided to do some exploring and I will document those explorations via my blog with more stories and experiences to share. Thank you to all who have been following me on my journey so far.  It is crazy to believe that I am beginning my second month here…. I’m having such a blast!  Until Next Time, BG

Shanghai Snapshots (San)

 FROM SUZHOU WITH LOVE!

 

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Suzhou, China which is a city about an hour and a half outside Shanghai by car and located in the Jiangsu Province. While spending the day in Suzhou, we visited the TongLi Old Town and Jingsi Garden. Both where absolutely beautiful and with having rainy days prior to our trip, we lucked out and had succulently juicy clouds poking through a mostly blue sky. Perfect weather for a day of walking and sightseeing! Arriving in the early morning on Saturday we began exploring and visiting several places within TongLi, which is a water-town boasting the older history of China with structures and buildings preserved for 1000+ years. Some of the places we visited in the town were: Tuisi Garden, Luoxing Island, Chongben Hall, and Gengle Hall. My favorite (although all were wonderful) was the Luoxing Island which was just a quick ferry ride away. Throughout my day there I took a plethora of photos that I hope gives you some great snapshots into what my day was like in Suzhou!

Entering Tongli! 

Crossing the initial bridge into Tongli

Catching a quick breakfast of Tofu Soup!

 

View of Tuisi Gardens

Another Tuisi Garden Shot

Loved trying some delicious fruit

A serene view from Luoxing Island

A lake full of Lily pads 

Walking around Luoxing

Another stunning view from Luoxing

View looking back across the lake from Luoxing

Thanks for reading!

BG

Shanghai Snapshots (Èr)

My Weekend Adventures

I have more snapshots for you all from my adventures this weekend in Shanghai. It began with me trying some more authentic Chinese food and loving every bit of it. We went to this restaurant called Mr. Su Seafood Restaurant which is known for (just like the restaurant name) seafood and I tried an assortment of freshly caught jellyfish, oysters, steam fish, clams, and even had some chicken feet! (they were a little spicy) What I loved most about this restaurant was getting to select the seafood, vegetables, and other dishes from a display room they had with all the caught seafood of the day.

            

 

 

         

(Mr. Su Seafood Display top left and chicken feet top right, oysters bottoms left and steam fish bottom right)

 

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A blurry attempt to show Canada’s marching band at the Shanghai Tourism Parade

 And in addition to the great food I consumed this weekend, I attended the Shanghai Tourism Festival which commenced with an Opening Ceremony parade located on Huangpi Lu. This parade consisted of 50+ countries that marched along Huangpi with marching bands, floats, and wore traditional clothing from their respective countries. This festival has been going on in Shanghai for 20+ years and helps to showcase Shanghai to the world. Besides enjoying the great music, performances, and floats the one thing that surprised me was the punctuality of the parade; it began on time at 7:30pm and ended exactly at 9:30pm. Never in my life have I been to a parade in the US that began and ended on time!

Thanks for Reading! Until Next Time – BG