From September 2016 until February 2017, 19 UIC students went abroad as part of the exchange programme, which is organized by the International Development Office (IDO). The following stories are what three UIC students experienced when studying abroad.
Guan Shiya (Year 3, Management of Human Resources)
My name is Guan Shiya, and I went to Institut d'Economie Scientifique Et de Gestion (IESEG) School of Management as an exchange student in the Fall semester of 2017. IESEG is a business school in Lille, France, established in 1964. This business school is part of the Université Catholique de Lille, the largest private university in France in terms of student population and endowment.
Almost everything was a bit different. Especially, I found that in France, people use a lot of greetings in their daily life. Gradually, words and phrases like “Bonjour”, “Merci”, “Au revoir” and “Bonne journée” became part of my life too. Surprisingly, I grew fond of using these phrases as much as possible.
I found several differences between IESEG and UIC. First of all, IESEG is physically much smaller than UIC. Therefore every day during school time, IESEG felt much more crowded. IESEG is an international school that has over 400 exchange students from all over the world every semester. Not only are many students from abroad, but the teachers are from many parts of the world as well, and most of them can speak fluent English.
Teachers are very committed to and responsible for their jobs. During the whole semester, I received emails almost daily from teachers explaining assignments that would be covered the next day. Teachers communicated and asked for students’ thoughts on assignments that needed to be done instead of simply assigning them.
IESEG allows students to be flexible when arranging their classes. There are two types of courses: the intensive and extensive courses. The extensive courses are courses that last for the whole semester, and the intensive ones only last for one week. Even though people might think you can’t learn much within one week, for certain kinds of courses, this was a great taste test to inspire students to be interested in something different and let them try something new.
Before this stay in France, I was a bit scared of studying in a different country that I was unfamiliar with. Through this exchange, I am now capable of feeling comfortable and confident even while stepping out of my comfort zone. In the future, I would consider applying for overseas universities and even companies.
The main thing I liked the most about France was the people. Most of the people I met were extremely nice and caring. One thing that was impressive was that they didn’t treat me differently just because I looked different or because I don’t speak very good French. They always made me feel welcome, which sometimes made me forget I was a foreigner in their country. I will miss the people as well as the food, the weather, and the language.
I don’t think it will be difficult for me to return to UIC, because many things are quite similar between the universities, especially since both schools incorporate an English teaching culture. Personally, I find it quite easy to adapt to new places.
I would say that I did experience a little culture shock, both when I arrived in France and when I returned to China. I had almost zero knowledge about life in France when I arrived, and I wasn’t very confident with my French. Therefore, it took me more than a week to get used to the new environment. After I returned to China, I had a strange feeling that I was surrounded by people that I should be familiar with, but I felt out of place. However, it only took me a few days to make myself feel like I belong to this city again.
There are always so many things to see and things that we don’t know about out there in the world. Do I play it safe and stay in my comfort zone for as long as I can, or do I take the chance and go discover things that are completely new to me? Through this journey, I have become more courageous, and tend to choose the latter. Life is full of surprises, but they can’t uncover themselves until you discover them on your own.
Zeng Kaishan (Year 3, Contemporary English Language and Literature)
Last semester, I was an exchange student at the University of Kent (UKC) and it left me with a very positive impression. Life in the UK was different from that in China in many aspects including food, customs and lifestyle.
Compared with UIC, the student body at UKC was more diverse, with students coming from various countries and regions. Many courses took the form of seminars at UKC and students had good interactions with their fellow students as well as teachers in the classroom. It made me wish there were more seminar style courses offered at UIC, so students could have more of a chance to participate in classes. After this exchange experience, I am more interested in pursuing further studies in the UK.
I really appreciated that British people had so much respect towards their cultural heritage. I miss the scenery in the UK a lot, with its delicate architecture and elegant natural beauties, which was great for photo taking. Though sometimes I think back on my life when studying in the UK, it is not difficult to return to UIC because my roots are at UIC and I missed my teachers and my friends here. I did experience some culture shock that I didn’t expect before. My interactions with students from different backgrounds have expanded my views on different cultures immensely.
This exchange experience has broadened my horizons. Big life changes are challenging sometimes, as I had to face head on my identity, and being directly exposed to Western culture. However, it was meaningful since eventually I was able to gain a better understanding of myself and my identity when I am taken out of my comfort zone. Life in a foreign country has made me more thankful for the people who have helped me at home and abroad. I sincerely appreciate that UIC has offered me such an excellent opportunity to explore every possibility in my life.
Xue Bowen (Year 3, Government and International Relations)
For the 2017 fall semester, I studied abroad at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Japan. I found that APU was very much an international university, with about half of the students coming from overseas. You get to know people from all over the world, which made me feel like a global citizen. All the classes in APU are huge, with around 250 students per class. Compared to UIC’s average class size, this was a downside of APU, because larger classes meant students are less likely to pay attention, and it’s harder for the lecturer to manage so many students.
At APU, they had “Culture weeks”, which included China week, Indonesia week, Oceania week, etc. During this time, students get to taste and sample food from other countries, watch performances from that country, and take part in many fun activities. I think this sort of activity can actually help to reduce stereotypes and discrimination among countries.
At APU, students don’t live in dorms for four years and they do not have curfew. Only Year One students are required to live in dorms. After studying in Japan, I feel that more people should go out to see the world because there is a huge world out there waiting for us to explore.
We all know that Japan is famous for its politeness and cleanness. One thing that I want to mention the most about Japan is their recycling system of domestic refuse classification. They divide refuse into three types: burnable, bottles and unburnable. Also they will check your refuse every time you throw away anything to make sure this is being followed. If there is anything wrong, they will take it out and put it in the right bag. In some cities they even stipulate that people can only throw away certain type of domestic refuse on a certain day of the week. Even though it sounds complicated, and took me some time to get used to it, recycling definitely lightened the burden on staff and was more environmental friendly.
It was hard to say goodbye to my new friends in Japan because we don’t know when we will meet again. Since studying at APU, I’ve come to like UIC’s teaching method more, and I’ve decided to focus more time on my studies now. After one semester at APU, I realized just how efficient UIC’s classes are. As well, last semester was totally an English improvement period for me. I was forced to speak English every day even outside of classroom and out in the streets, which makes me more courageous about what I said and I am more willing to speak now.
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Samantha Burns (MPRO)
(with special thanks to the ELC)
