Some places are hard to leave.  This was one of those experiences.

I lived in China for almost three months.  That the longest time I’ve been abroad, but I don’t foresee it being the longest amount of time in my lifetime though.

It’s hard to say goodbye.  Especially with people that I had grown to enjoy their company and enjoy everything I had learned.  I felt as if I had just broken through something major just as I was about to leave and there was nothing I could do to stop my leaving.  Life was calling me back to the U.S.

The day before I left we all went to lunch together as an office, and I might be slightly responsible for the entire group arriving late to the office after lunch, and a portion of the group being slightly intoxicated.  It was quite an interesting day.

I had become accustom to this life in China.  I had become accustom to the food, the people and the culture.  I had almost become a part of the place that had seemed so foreign.  My Korean roommate which had seemed like a stranger was now a friend that I was going to miss.

I had packed my bags to the brim with souvenirs for my family and took my last photos before I left, of people that I might not ever see again.  My life that I had been striving to understand so strongly was now changing drastically and changing quickly.

Right before I got in the taxi outside of the university gates to take me to the train station I was standing there with my supervisor who said to me some very strong words about how everyone in the office enjoyed having me there during the summer, and was going to miss me.  In a culture where expressing your true feelings and emotions is often not done, this was the most emotion I had seen out of him the entire summer.

I knew he was sincere.

I was going to miss this place.  I was going to miss these people.  For all the frustrations and crazy things I had been through that summer, it was time for me to go.

Life was calling me back to the U.S.

I took a taxi, which took me to train, that took me to the subway that took me to the airport that took me to another airport that took me to a final airport, that took me to a car that took me back to my apartment where my entire existence had changed over a period of 48 hours.

I was back in the U.S., but my mind and heart were back in China.

I feel that someday, maybe sooner than later.

It will happen again.

Life will call me, but this time Life will call me back… back to China.

It took me right before the end to figure a lot of things out.

Like said before, I had read a lot about Chinese culture and been to China before, but I never felt like I understood China.  Even throughout the majority of my most recent trip I was on an uphill battle trying to understand the Chinese Culture and overall China.  Often you would hear people spell out the Acronym “T.I.C”  or This is China.  That was often peoples best explanation for why something was or wasn’t

However you never can really understand a culture until you’ve lived like they people of the culture do.  You could observe any culture from the other side of a window, but until you step outside hear the language, smell the food and walk amongst the people that are of that culture.    There is no real way to do it.  Many people visit countries in a very touristy manner and only skim the surface.

In my last week, the figurative light switch turned on a light in my head, and China didn’t feel like as foreign as it did before.  Maybe it was me, maybe it was my surroundings, but all of the sudden T.I.C. was not my excuse.  I knew why, I couldn’t put it into words, but I understood China, the Chinese and everything in between.

It was like a bright light just clicked on.  All of the sudden the language I had been having trouble with all summer began flushing in so easily.  My time working in the office was less in English and more so in Chinese.  I no longer felt like an outsider amongst the workers of the office, I was much a part of the office.

The Chinese collective culture is something that is hard to compare to a lot of places because it is so unique.  I still have trouble explaining it now because how strange it was.  I don’t know if it was me or if it was the people around me that had changed, but I finally didn’t feel so foreign I felt like family.

Yes, Family.  Thinking about it makes me long for those moments again.  It’s amazing, no one in the office is related to each-other, but we all felt like family.  It’s something that as an International student and one specifically from the U.S., where sometimes our families feel less familiar that our friends that this group of people can find a binding strain that makes them closer than others.

I would ask for anything to have that short week back, and play it over in my mind, not because of what happened, but that feeling.

So many times Internationals never find that feeling when they study or work abroad.  They search for something that is almost like family, because far from home there is only so many things that remind them of home.

I was still International.  Completely and fully, but I had figured something out that last week.  Something that I’m still trying to completely figure out; what it meant to be part of something larger even though I was myself alone.

Many Internationals are doing the same thing, and many are still alone.

In the light of recent shootings on U.S. campuses and other acts of violence worldwide campus safety is a hot button issue at every university anywhere.

Because of the social structure of China there are certain things within the University that may seem backward, but for the most part they are seen as very normal parts of every University.  The one thing I can think of specifically is curfew within the residence halls at Qingdao University.  Curfew was something that the University saw as necessary for all the residence halls and even closed certain gates on the exterior of campus at certain times of the day.

Now mind you this is a mid sized Chinese City of 10 million, so it wasn’t like we were in the equivalent of a sleep college town in southern U.S. where all the stores close down at 6 pm because they’re all local businesses.  I kept hearing people comparing Qingdao’s location in China to Boston in the U.S. So the equivalent of this would be Boston College, sorta.  So when you think about campus safety these are the best terms for me to relate them to for those of you who have never experienced a Chinese city.

So curfew kept students under control for the most part. Some of the native Chinese students I was able to hang out with were very adamant that they be in before curfew, and if they missed curfew they would choose to stay out all night rather than come back late, because not coming back at all was better than showing up late and the door man knowing who you were.

I went with this idea while living in my hall for the summer as well.  I was working for the office, and I didn’t want to get in trouble with the office, so I just decided to stay out those three times that I missed curfew, minus one time that I accidently missed. (Yes, that implies that the other three times were on purpose, let’s just say World Cup Games didn’t fit into a normal sleep schedule).

I had met the door man, and talked to him in my broken Chinese multiple times before.  So I figured that we were friends, but this one time I showed up late, because I was coming from the Train Station from a short weekend trip and I arrived 10 minutes after the door man shut the door.

I first knocked on the door and got the door man’s attention who was on the other side of the door.  He didn’t look happy.  I ended up making it back inside, but I had to argue with him for a good fifteen minutes about how I live in this building.  He didn’t seem to remember me, which I found very confusing. I hearken back to the thing my tour guide said to us when we were in Beijing, “All you Americans look alike”.

While sitting in on sessions with some of the campus safety officials, I found out how very structured and connected their security was.  The curfew was just a small part of a much larger machine. Security is strict at most Chinese universities, but it seemed like there was always a way around it.

In a society that bases much of its social rules from collective social ideals, campus security seemed to be one place that it was almost not present.  However, like all things in China, the Chinese way found it’s way back into much of  it.

That is just how China is sometimes though.  No matter what government controls China, no matter the different changes that China has gone through in the past decades; there still is that “something” about China that makes it Chinese.

As giants fight and politicians scream, normal people live their lives; just as they always have.

One part of my position that I got to see first hand was the admission part of the student experience for International Students in China.  Obviously this varies in some ways from University to university, but for the most part the Visa process and other things are similar. But the fact of being a student trying to be admitted into an international university can be quite tricky.

In my experience working in the office, I was known as the expert on all things English.  So, when it cam down to a certain student who kept calling the office that really couldn’t speak Chinese, I was forced to become the communicator for this young gentleman.  However for the most part everyone else was expected to conduct business in Chinese, even the foreign students who would visit the office.

However since they had me on hand this summer I was often their go to guy when it came to English.  So throughout the summer I got to be the first contact for this student who was an American living in China, but trying to move to Qingdao University, from his current University.

Me and this mystery man on the other side of the phone continued our conversations throughout the time as I walked him through the process of what he needed and what he needed to know.  I could tell that a fellow English speaker made him feel much more comfortable with the answers I gave him.

On of the major questions for admission came down to a few simple things.  Payment, Housing, and Student Visa.  My phone friend called me on multiple occasions asking about Visa’s and his issues with needing a Visa from when his Visa from his current university ends to when the new Visa starts.

I got to watch as this student ran into barrier after barrier, and issue after issue that kept leading him to one definitive answer that was not necessarily the one he wanted to hear.  The answer which cost him more money, and left him frustrated was one that related to his Visa.

Even though it wasn’t me, I felt his frustration a small amount and  felt like I was there along the way as he found the trek for admission to the University to be a troubling manner.  The truth is, is that admission was not a problem, the fact that he should pay for all of his tuition in cash, and the fact that he can’t have housing until a certain date before school starts are all basic things that International Students would have to deal with if they decided to come to Qingdao University.

However when you are used to one way, or not even sure how exactly it should be you often run into issues like this young student.  He was lucky because I was there to help him with all of his issues and at least help him figure out the facts instead assuming like many students do before they arrive at a University.

The one take away that I took away about the Admissions process is not that it’s terribly complicated, because honestly it’s fairly simple at most Universities, but that every student has there own diverse issues that could create issues and that even though we have one clear cut process that is garnered to fit all students; it simply does not.

So what do we do make exceptions?

I don’t have a clear answer, but I know that this student was not the only student that may have had trouble with the admissions process.  I just remember trying to find a  way to have this internship and how stressful that was.  Investment of more time and money for a student means an expectation of better dealings no matter the institution.

-NL

It’s why students go to college right?

It’s always bothered me that in the U.S. that we call it “going to college” when it seems like the rest of the world goes to “University”.  I think I can leave my theory of why there is an obvious distinction, but people go to University to get an education, or at least that’s what we’d like to think.  I like the saying that a Senior told me my freshman year in College,  ”I’m here for a diploma, not an education”.  He’s now a successful chiropractor.

Is it much different in China?  Are students there actually trying to learn or wanting to just move on so they can have a better and career when they leave University?

Well I can’t speak for every student there, but most students that I talked to were similar to student in the U.S. in the fact that they wanted to graduate so they could have a better job and as I heard them say over and over, “a better life”.  I’m not going to argue whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.  I’m just gonna state the facts and the things that I found interesting.  Because I have a very firm stance on the state of “education” in higher education.

A good portion of the system in China for careers is based off of a test.  If you want to be a lawyer there is a big law test you take, If you’d like to work for the banks in China, there is a test you take; and if you wanted to become a translator or work for the government, there is a test that you take.  Much of Chinese education is based off of “The Test”.  This of course means that on the whole, the Chinese population are very good at taking tests.  Some better than others,  but when the system is based on doing well on a test your outcome is how good are students when taking a test.

The testing system has been around in China for years.  Even back to the dynastic periods when there was a test to find out who would govern the people of China.  So, in short, testing is one of the things that the Chinese have been used to for a while.  I would say it’s not too different to the way that testing is done in the U.S., however I would say that the way that students are taught is much different.

When I was there I got to sit in on some classes that were specific to International students.  These classes weren’t like all of the normal classes that domestic Chinese students would take, but it gave me a small insight into education and the style that the Chinese preferred.  Which in a language type class it is much more interactive than that of general classes or subject.

One thing I kept on hearing from the domestic Chinese students I talked to about their classes was that they would worry more about memorization.  They would learn the information for the test, and not really take the information and try to actively learn it.  The students I were talking to were above average and we’re able to recognize the difference between actively learning something and learning something in order to just take a test.

I remember from my own University classes how I had classes that I did just learn to take the tests.  One example of that is Calculus.  I don’t think I could tell you a thing about derivatives or how to find one anymore, but I have 4 credits for taking a Calculus class and receiving a B in it, and by the standards of the University I have earned a credit.  I think that’s the fair distinction.  Learning and earning are sometimes one in the same, but not always together.

When you learn you also earn, but earning doesn’t always mean you learned it.

There are obviously differences in the level and instruction on the academic side of Chinese Universities compared with U.S. Universities.  However I would say that overall China and the U.S. probably have similar amount of students, whom at their respective University, are actually there to learn. Most students are in College just to earn, and then get a job.  Therefore, very few students in China and in the U.S. are in University to actually learn and be educated.

This similarity is not one that I wish was apparent for either side

I wish I could be more positive about this issue, but this is one that I see as a major issue in Universities and Colleges today.  Worldwide there needs to be a change in our education systems and students that they are at Universities to learn.  Student come to college for a variety of reasons, but a diploma should not be the major one.  A diploma should be the residual effect of students coming to prepare themselves for life after college, whatever that means to each individual students.

I can hope that students like those I’ve met in China, and others worldwide who are striving to better and learn rather than just earn, will find a way to infect other students and the world with their fervor.  Because the world needs fervor for excellence in education.

We need it now.

-NL

American Higher Ed doesn’t understand what is means to be an International Student.

That’s a fairly blanket statement, but overall International Students are some of the populations of students that are so hard to truly serve in higher education properly.  I had never been an international student before. The closest thing I had ever been was an out of state student.  I am from the great state of Texas and I received my undergraduate degree in Oklahoma, which by some standards of people is a mortal sin, and now I’m living in Arkansas where my coworkers are also transplants to the state.  Needless to say I’m used to being the outside person, the out of towner and the new guy.

However, nothing completely  prepared me for spending the summer in China.

I had been to China twice before, and the the longest time before was a 3 week stint where I met my friend and other Americans.  This was the first time that I was going to be on my own in a foreign country and also my longest amount of time abroad.  This is possibly a similar story to some other students who we consider international students, but regardless in China I was an International Student.

As an international student I was going through culture shock.  To familiarize some of you with the culture shock continuum is that it simply is excitement that everything that is new, next is the beginning of slight discomfort, then there is actual discomfort and shock which leads to what we see in many international students which is shutting down and solidarity.  After the major shock there is a slow recovery into full synthesis.  Some people can be pulled back into shock and synthesis is not always met.

I was ready.  I understood culture shock, and so I was “aware” of all of the major cliffs and valleys I was going to have while in China.  I didn’t realize that my valley would come two days after my peak.

I was beginning to feel like I was into the swing of things and feeling good.  I had befriended some other students who were friends with my roommate, an american and a frenchman. We decided to go down to a place called Taidong and play pool that night.  I wasn’t feeling good, but I didn’t think much of it.  After struggling to get through the night I tossed and turned in my bed in a hot sweat.  I felt so bad.  I didn’t know what was wrong with me.   I then moved myself to my window which I had open to let in the cool night air.  At that point I felt it come up and come up quick.

As I finished yacking up my guts out of my second story building onto the dirt of the backside of the building I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and just asked myself, “Why in the world are you in China?”  I didn’t realize this till later, but that night was when I had my “shock”.  Maybe it came because of the circumstances, but that night I was in full shock and disgust of my surroundings.  The next day I stayed in bed (it was the national dragon boat festival holiday so I didn’t have classes or work).  I didn’t want to go anywhere.  I didn’t eat for a couple of days, and didn’t want to do anything, but get on my computer and sleep.  I was in full blown culture shock.

I didn’t think I would react so badly to my surroundings.  I had been to China before, and I had always claimed an “iron stomach”.  It seemed that I was wrong on all accounts.  I was not even strong enough to fight off the dreaded culture shock.  However since I understood it, I didn’t stay in my solidarity state long and was back hanging out with the aforementioned students.

Student Affairs professionals must understand that International Students are not only going through other types of development, but also dealing with culture shock and feelings of insecurity and confusion.  I’m in no way saying that other students aren’t going through just as many developmental processes, but I am saying that culture tends to be a stronger determinate in affecting an international student than other developmental processes.

I work with International students on a daily basis and even then I thought I had a small understanding, but I really did not.  Living day to day, and accomplishing simple tasks was something that had become almost an event.  Things that I considered simple back in the U.S. became a new adventure and in some ways a hassle.  I slowly began to move out of my shock and into synthesis, but I found myself continually finding new things that were international and new to me.

Something as simple as going to dinner became an affair.  In a culture such as China where food and meals are very much parts of social culture, I felt out of place ordering and eating as a restaurant by myself.  So some nights I wouldn’t eat not because I was busy or not hungry, I just didn’t feel comfortable enough to do it alone.  I know that some students feel that way also when they are in the U.S.  They just aren’t sure enough in themselves and they decide to stay where they feel safe… their room.

Culture is the largest determinate, but I’ll save that for my next post on being an International Student.

If you take one thing away remember that an International Student is just like any other student.  However they are experiencing everything in the context of their own culture and trying to cope in a culture that is not the same as their own.  So when dealing with a student always remember that there is always more going on than they are telling you, which can be true for any student.