This summer, our "exchange" story ︱ my Summer Exchange

Open -column

Summer vacation is over half, and for international students, the story may have just begun.

In a foreign country, are you accumulating credits in the summer school or traveling in Europe?

Do you experience internships in the city or investigation in the countryside?

Maybe there are many fresh possibilities.

Come, our "exchange" story, the password of the exchange is "interest", and the answer to the exchange is "experience". They are recorded in the summer vacation, and they are also included in the annual wheel. It is a youthful bold experience, as well as the smoothness of the sun in the summer.

---

Today's story tells Jiang Chuyan, who had two summer exchange during studying abroad.

About the Author

Jiang Chuyan, born in Nanjing, Jiangsu on June 26, 1998. He studied English and philosophy at the University of Toronto and studied journalism at New York University. The works have been published in New York Daily News (New York Daily News), Salon.com, Modern Luxury, Bedford+Bowry, Pavement Pieces, content coverage of investigation news, race problems, lifestyle, food, and small enterprises. Good at multimedia news, including video, audio, photography and text.

In the summer of 2018, I studied Shakespeare's course at Oxford University and studied contemporary philosophical ethics and spiritual philosophy courses at Berkeley, California. I have remembered these two summer exchange, and I have changed my views on many issues.

Xia School's preparation stage

Summer communication is what I have always wanted to do. However, I lacked the way to understand summer exchanges before. In addition, my parents were young, and my parents were alone. Later, I went to the University of Toronto to study undergraduate. There are many summer school projects in the school. The teacher of this school leads the team. One is that the University of Toronto cooperates with other universities to use his own teacher to take his own courses without transferring points. Summer Abroad. These two projects are not repeated, but time may conflict.

Among the many projects, I am most interested in the projects of California Berkeley and Oxford University. When I was in high school, I listened to my sister ’s happy exchange experience of the University of California, Berkeley. I have always wanted to experience the style of the world’ s top 20 in the world and the top 20 universities in the world. Oxford's summer study studies are Shakespeare, watching Shakespeare's drama in the world-renowned Shakespeare Global Theater, visiting Shakespeare's birthplace in Shakespeare, Stratform-Upon-Avon, a church in Shakespeare and burial. Jane Austen lived for a period of time, and this is a dreamy experience for me who has a writer dream. So I started preparing.

The average score at that time was 3.59 (full score 4.0). The University of Toronto, which is famous for scores, may be able to rank in the top 5%. To be honest, I never thought of one thing like this. I applied for these two switching projects to make my best, occupying all my spare time. I urge the teachers of the summer exchange studio to help me modify the documents over and over again, and frequently run to the writing center to find a mentor to provide me with a modification suggestion. I also asked the Chinese classmates of Vancouver's English as a mother tongue. At least five drafts. On the day of the deadline for the application for the summer study project in Oxford, I also ran to the project's office to adjust the font of the application materials to the perfect. A white -haired lady in the office was impressed by my serious attitude and even asked me. Name, remember to sign on paper.

After about a month, in a mediocre afternoon, I received an admission notice from the summer exchange of the University of California Berkeley. A few days later, the notice of the summer study abroad program in Oxford also passed to my mailbox. These two projects complement each other and do not conflict. It not only meets the requirements of my professional credits, but also the project I like very much. My summer adventure story officially started.

Summer exchange of the University of California Berkeley

I was unforgettable for my lifetime in California's Berkeley. I chose two courses from May to June (these courses should have been two months). California in the sun, friendly classmates, the dormitory library opened overnight, classic curriculum settings, 15 minutes of bathing time, and the bells of echoing in the school have become my impression of Berkeley.

I met a young man with all kinds of color: male classmates who are as handsome as the protagonist in the American drama, artists and classmates who hold concerts in the Bay Area, Japanese female classmates who have always dressed up in elevator companies at home. The professor's teachers and hair are grayed in the elite school students from New York, and they will speak at least five languages ​​in New York. These people have a wide range of vision and aware of the possibilities of life, and also make me more tolerant and open to people who are different from me.

Berkeley's clock

I still have an unforgettable birthday here. Being in a foreign country, there are no people around me, I have never thought about spending my 20th birthday, and my heart is inevitable. That day, Su Guan called me to go to him at night. I knocked on his door nervously and sprayed a lot of colorful flowers on the face and fell on my head and body. In the dormitory, there are Japanese classmates who were born on the same year as I was in the same year, Sota Kamitani and his friends. Su Guan came out of a cake. It was said that he had bought a lot from the cake. After eating the cake, the cake introduced the photos in his room. During this time, I didn't know who was jokingly put a orange in my hat. After the brief celebration, I continued to study in the library. After a while, I saw the pushman of the Oshi Tube (Instagram): (here is a Chinese translation) I am very happy to celebrate my favorite two on the 4th floor of the residents tonight /Friend's 20th birthday! I wish them all the best in the future and the remaining time of the University of California Berkeley this summer! After reading it, my heart was warm. I celebrate the 20th birthday in the room where I stayed. From left to right: Mizuki Hirayama, I, Christopher Palacios, SOTA KAMITANI, Soichiro Kondo. Hana KitaWatase.

Suwonfa fast shot

Of course, what Berkeley impressed me was two philosophical courses. A course is contemporary philosophy ethics. The professor reads and discusses many controversial issues of contemporary American society. However, because philosophy is too abstract, there is no way to weigh the results of these decisions from the perspective of science and statistics, so in my opinion, it is not comprehensive to determine that social problems may be considered from the perspective of philosophy. Another course is the philosophy of spiritual spirit. The most impressive is a paper. The main argument is "No matter how well technology develops, we can't know what a bat does feel because we are not bats." Indeed, no matter how developed technology is, we can never experience "how others feel."

Oxford University's summer study abroad

During the summer abroad of the University of Oxford, we lived at Worcester College, and the college was in Oxford. Using my spare time, I also visited other colleges, and what impressed me most was that every college had a small bar. There are more bars in Oxford. The most famous of which may be the 12th -century grass tavern that Oscar Wilde has been to. Oxford also has exquisite dishes around the world.

I went to London to visit the British Museum with my classmates at the University of Toronto. They went to the church where Shakespeare's birthplace, marriage and burial were located according to the itinerary. Shakespeare's repertoire, including "The Winter's Tale", "The Winspeare's Globe", "Macbeth" and other theaters. The most interesting homework is to encourage us to discuss how the theater shows a variety of interpretations of the script before the same script. A seemingly happy ending in the text can be interpreted in different tones and limb movements, which can become a resentment and nervous ending.

The Oxford trip ended with a formal dinner. We drank champagne and socializing next to the college's big lawns. After waiting for the bell, we took a long table like a Harry Potter drama. The dishes, finally there are coffee. After the event, we took a group photo and sang KTV at the bar in the college at night. On the last day, a tense exam was conducted.

▲ On the day I attended the official dinner of Oxford.

Conclusion

In general, the temperament of Berkeley and Oxford is very different. A California coast, friendly classmates, and deep insights on American society; a decent, profound cultural heritage, and the attention of lifestyle (especially wine culture). Just like the temperament of each person, the temperament of each school and every region is different.

After the summer exchange, I finished undergraduate and graduate students went to New York again. These two exchanges are just a small clip of my life, but I also feel that every step and every choice I have continued to write my future life development, leading to the next chapter.

Planning: Shen Yan

Text: Jiang Chuyan (Trainee)

Edit: Zhao Sumeng (Internship)

Editor: Zhu Na

Supervision: Shen Yan

- END -