Photo: Mark Ehlers
Summer School in China - Tongji Universität in Shanghai
How can I experience an international environment and improve my language skills? A semester abroad might be the first thing that comes to mind. But wait a minute – maybe you have to work or cannot spare an entire semester. That was my situation. So instead I decided to take part in an international summer school.
A report by Mark Ehlers, bachelor student of business administration, Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences.
A summer school – the perfect opportunity to experience an international environment
In February 2015, I heard about the summer school in Shanghai through my Faculty’s student association. As a student of business administration, the Asian market is certainly among the more interesting ones. So I decided to apply – as an alternative to a semester abroad. All I needed was a letter of motivation to apply. Then I had to wait and hope for a positive reply. In April, I got the go-ahead and started to prepare. Besides the costs of visa and flight, I had to plan my accommodation and costs for field trips. In contrast to a stay in a European country, however, the 2.000 euros I had to spend on all these things was a relatively low total. I had to organize my visa in advance on my own, which I did through a visa service. That was marginally more expensive. And I bought a clothesline and some washing paste so that I could do my own laundry. In retrospect, that was a very good decision.
Learning to communicate in China – Tai Chi and Baidu
The summer school in Shanghai started with a dinner for all the participants. That way, we got to know each other as well as our lecturers and tandem partners. For the next three weeks, we went to language classes, cultural events and on field trips together. Chinese grammar is pretty simple, but pronunciation is very difficult. We only got a cursory impression of the characters during the three weeks, but we learned to communicate on a very basic level. Besides the language course, the cultural programme offered valuable insights into Chinese calligraphy and Tai Chi. Moreover, German companies gave us tours of their local branches. Besides Siemens Healthcare Shanghai, which produces CAT scanners and other medical imaging devices, we found out more about BMW’s autonomous driving project. In China, BMW is forced to cooperate with the map service provider BaiDu. Google Services are only accessible through a VPN server.
The student who never sleeps
My biggest problem was time. Besides classes, which sometimes lasted until the afternoon, of course I wanted to see a lot of Shanghai. Most days we were on our feet from 7:30 in the morning until just before midnight. Time to study Chinese vocabulary? No way, I still had my laundry to do. Thank God for the clothesline! Outside the regular programme, we could also book individual tours. And of course there was plenty to discover in Shanghai. With more than 24 million inhabitants, its size is beyond anything we Europeans can imagine. Especially at night, the Shanghai skyline is a spectacular, uniquely illuminated motif.
Typical Chinese culinary art, tourist visa and the next summer school
You can get the most authentic impressions if you are open towards Chinese students and avoid the more touristy shops and restaurants. That way, we got to know typical Chinese cuisine in what became our favourite restaurant and even visited a Karaoke bar with separate booths. That made it much easier for me to overcome my shyness and sing.
After the three-week summer school, I did not return home right away. I went to Peking for one more week. A tourist visa for a maximum of 30 days is relatively easy to get. Those who want to stay longer have to provide a detailed travel schedule.
I spent a total of one month in China. In retrospect, I can say that taking part in the summer school at Tongji University was the perfect choice to experience an international environment. If you want a rich cultural programme at an international university, contact the International Office to find out about the summer schools it offers in 2016.
International summer schools are short-term programmes offered by the University of Cologne in cooperation with its international partner universities. They offer UoC students the opportunity to get an impression of a different subject or a different culture during the semester holidays. You can find an offer of summer schools in India, the USA and China here: Summer Schools abroad.
Apply now for 2016!