Pre-departure:
Living in China for 6 months certainly sounds daunting, especially if one has aunts and uncles who ask you if you are ready to drink green tea every day, and eat dogs for breakfast! But China is much more enjoyable than other people might believe it to be. A few simple preparations will make your stay simply unforgettable!
With regards to visa application, I found the process very simple and within 5 days one will have one’s visa, so I will not elaborate in this aspect of preparation. However Medical Insurance is something that will require more thought. Most Chinese universities require that you buy the medical insurance that they provide and without buying this, one cannot register at the university. This amounts to about 400 yuan per Semester, but does in actual fact not provide you with a lot of medical aid. I bought extra medical aid at a travelling agent in South Africa. I would also recommend you to buy all the medicine that you usually use back home. The winter in Beijing is extremely cold and if one gets sick it is easy to find a pharmacy, but you will struggle to find exactly what you are looking for as they simply use different things here.
The banking system in China is also different from ours. In most places in China, one has to use cash. In big shops you will mostly be able to use a card. Before I left, I got an international bank card, just be careful what card you use, because China does not really use Mastercard, so I would advise you to get a visa card. The only downside about these cards, is that the withdrawal fee is quite high. One can of course also get a Chinese bankcard which is very easy to arrange once you are in China. You only need a passport. This card will have almost no withdrawal fee and the great thing about this card is that you can use it to buy things on the internet in China which is absolutely amazing! However then you will have to take all your money in cash and deposit this amount in a Chinese bank account once you arrive here. At my dorm, they also expect you to pay for your accommodation upfront in cash. This is a very big amount of money and can sometimes be tricky when one wants to withdraw this big amount at an ATM, so I took the exact amount in cash with me and then paid when I arrived.
The last aspect that I would advise you to look at, is a VPN programme for your computer. As many knows, in China google, youtube, facebook, gmail and twitter cannot be used owing to government policies, so if you still want to use them, then download a VPN programme for your computer before you depart for China.
China is really an amazing country, filled with so many cultural differences. The most important part of your preparation would be to completely open-minded as here you will scarcely encounter things that you are used to!
Experience at Beiyu:
My experience at Beijing yuyan daxue, or for short, Beiyu has been extremely enjoyable! I think it is one of the best universities one can study at when one wants to learn Chinese. There are a few interesting things one would want to know when planning to come here.
Firstly the Chinese course that foreign students are enrolled in, is really excellent. We had 4 courses: Listening, reading, writing as well as oral Chinese. I was very impressed by the quality of teaching as well as the textbooks. We had classes from 08:30 to 12:30 every day and in the afternoons I was usually busy with assignments and studying for tests. But there is also time to have fun of course.
I don’t know if this is a downside or upside of this university, but there are a lot of foreigners! I think there are more foreign students than there are Chinese students. Sometimes this makes it easy to have only foreign friends, but I would strongly advise you to make Chinese friends. It is quite easy to meet Chinese people with whom you can practise your Chinese as Chinese people are extremely open to make foreign friends. There are also numerous programs such as language corners in which one can meet Chinese language partners.
The international dorm that I stayed in was very comfortable. Two students share a room and a bathroom. The area is quite noisy though, but one does get use to this, as one also gets used to the hard Chinese beds! But I thoroughly enjoyed the experience in the dorms. My roommate was from Thailand and I got the opportunity to practise my Chinese with her as she did not really speak English.
Beiyu also has a lot of activities on campus that one can partake in such as badminton, volunteering and talent shows. It is really diverse in terms of culture! The area Wudaokou is known for the amount of foreigners as there are so many universities in this area. It is very convenient to get from one place to another as the busses and subways are very close by.
Beijing is a very interesting city with numerous things that one can do during the weekend and the university also arranges outings for students. The downside of living in Beijing is of course the pollution. It was a bit of an adjustment when I first arrived here. When it is really bad one suffers from a sore throat or even headaches. But usually it is not that bad. The key is to drink a lot of hot water! I drank about at least 5 cups of hot water per day.
Beijing is an amazing place full of life and I think everyone can find something to enjoy here. Sometimes the amount of people and noise can be overwhelming, but it if one is up for a challenge and come with an open-minded attitude, it will really be a wonderful experience.
Beijing: I say goodbye, but not for too long!
Coming back to South Africa after 5 months in China has been a real joy. It was the first time that I was away from my family for such a long time and in the process I learnt so much about being independent. The time away has been so rewarding academically as well as emotionally as I have had an opportunity to experience a world that functions in a completely different way from what I am used to.
Upon arrival in Cape Town, I was so happy to return to our beautiful country with its amazing people and heritage. I missed hearing Afrikaans and Xhosa. I missed braaivleis and biltong. I missed our amazing weather. However after a few days, I realised that even though South Africa will always remain my home, I have returned with a more critical stance about how the country is run and moreover people’s mindsets. I have realised that there is a general laziness in our country. In China people are so aware of the fact that the only way to be successful in a country with so many people is to be excellent in all one does. The students at the university as well as the people working on the streets are extremely diligent. Of course I do not want the same rushed lifestyle in South Africa, but we can certainly learn from the Chinese in being more effective in what we do.
I have also come to the conclusion that so many people in South Africa are dissatisfied with things which are such a luxury in China. People have to manage without cars and big houses, because there simply is no space for everyone to have this luxury. Coming back I have learnt to be grateful for the space we have in South Africa, but I also realised that we can live so much simpler.
During my time abroad I met so many international students and this really opened up my mind to possibilities to study abroad. Even though I love South Africa and would never want to leave my country permanently, I have returned with an even bigger curiosity to see and experience more of the amazing world in which we live. I am returning to China in the end of February this year to continue studying Chinese and I am looking into the possibility of doing my Masters. How my small world has opened up to big dreams, simply by living in another country for a few months.
This exchange was challenging in so many ways! I had so many doubts before I went, but how rewarding it was, I cannot even begin to explain to you. I have returned with more dreams, more confidence and more amazement of God’s creation.