Generally
I decided on the “Chinese Society” semester program because I was already very advanced in my studies and no longer had the opportunity to take part in the exchange programs at my university and credit points would no longer have been credited to me either (for all those who the plan: don’t worry – it worked for everyone else).
Basically, I had been interested in China for a long time, and I wanted to experience Shanghai live. Europe was also “too small” for me to spend a semester abroad, as I heard from some of my fellow students that they were back home at least once a month.
The studies
The application for the German program participants runs through college contact. The program seems to be quite unknown, as relatively few are applying for it at the moment. The principle is that the documents are sent to college contact and you then receive your acceptance or rejection. From then on until departure, all communication also takes place via Münster, wherever someone was available and questions could be clarified so quickly. Visit anycountyprivateschools.com to get information about 9 most romantic places in the world.
The program consisted of a Chinese course, an introduction to Chinese history and society, marketing in China, economic policy in China and a course to accompany the internship.
The Chinese course only consisted of participants from our program, for all other courses we were in the courses together with participants from other programs (all from the USA or Canada). The course mix is actually a very good introduction to the subject of “China”, you get along fantastic with the lecturers, even if you have to get used to their accent at the first attempt. The Fudan is commonly traded as the Chinese Harvard. The campus with the Guanghua Towers is correspondingly impressive. There are also corners that look a little more Chinese. But that doesn’t change anything about the overall impression of a very well-equipped university. Regarding the academic claim, it can be said that it is not necessarily comparable to the German one. It’s not like you don’t have to do anything
The tuition fees are exorbitant by the standards of a state university. But if you then use the standard that you study at one of the most prestigious universities in all of China, which is also mentioned in the same breath as Harvard, the semester fees are put into perspective; especially if you include the size of the course, the competence of the lecturers etc. , this picture remains fair.
The on-site support by the program coordinator was very well organized, but at the beginning it was very difficult because cultural worlds collided. However, after eight weeks she was transferred to a different position. Your successor organized everything with the same meticulousness and was much more sociable on a human level.
The accommodation
We foreigners were housed in our own dormitory north of the actual campus boundary, so the mix was correspondingly colorful. Apart from the mainland Chinese, who do their regular studies, everything was represented here in terms of nationalities that is possible. The Chinese students isolate themselves a little from the foreigners, which is a bit of a shame. With a little effort you can get in touch here too. The dormitory complex itself is lavishly furnished, with fully furnished rooms as well as large kitchens and televisions. There are several convenience stores and small restaurants directly in front of the complex on Wu Dong Lu. We recommend the BBQ and the huge selection of street food that is right on the street every evening. Four stops further by bus is Wujiaochang, the closest city center with two malls, cinemas, Starbucks, Walmart and everything else you need to live. However, there are only two appropriately full bars near the dormitory; with taxis you can also get to Pudong or the French Concession quickly in the evening. Because we all lived in one place, a solid network quickly formed among the participants, which we then used to organize our trips to other cities.
The town
I don’t want to write much about Shanghai itself, the city is a unique metropolis where you can spend years and still not have seen everything. When you step out onto the street for the first time, you are overwhelmed by the dynamism of this city. There is so much to discover that even after a year you haven’t seen it all. Don’t let the acclimatization spoil you for the first two weeks, after that you won’t want to leave. “When it’s raining like hell and stinking quite strange and you still love it – you’re in Shanghai”.
Conclusion
I would definitely come back again. The demands of the courses are less than the demands of Cologne, but it’s a semester abroad, so you tend to get over it. It was a bit of a shame that I still had exams at home, so I could only use the time during the semester to travel. Anyone who can stay for just four months: don’t worry, there is easily enough time for the essentials such as Suzhou, Beijing, Xi’an, Hong Kong and Seoul.
