12/9/13

Our Finnish-Chinese Love Story

finnish chinese love story

Yesterday, one year ago, I met my boyfriend Alan.

It was 8th of December 2012 and I was invited to a Finnish pre-Christmas party in Foshan. It was held in a luxurious expat home of a Finnish family and I brought my Finnish classmate with me as well. It was amazing to get to eat those familiar Christmas dishes again, chat with fellow countrymen and listen to Christmas songs.

Then we got the bad news that our Japanese friend had broken up with his girlfriend. They had been together quite a long time, but for some reason it didn’t work out. He was feeling down, wanted some company and invited my classmate to the Perry’s near our university. So after Santa Claus shared his small gifts to the kids and adults, me and my classmate head back to Guangzhou.

We found our Japanese friend in a table with another Japanese Guy, a Chinese guy (Alan!) and a Chinese girl. We introduced ourselves and I just couldn’t help but to ask the Chinese, as they were sitting next to each other, if they were in a relationship. They laughed and said they were just friends.

We ordered food and drinks while chatting away and trying to cheer our friend up. In the end he wasn’t really on the party mood and was the first one to go home. The Chinese girl also went home quite early, my classmates disappeared in the crowd and so me, Alan and the another Japanese guy were left at our table.

The three of us continued discussing random topics that I can’t even remember anymore, but me and Alan started to talk more and more with each other. The Japanese guy was a real party animal and wanted to head to a club and convinced us to go too. We took a taxi to the party pier and the boys paid 150RMB each to get into the Wave.

In the noisy club with flashing lights and people surrounding us from every ankle, Alan saw his chances, took my hand and kissed me.

Few days later our common friend, the heart-broken Japanese, even offered to introduce other people to us as he wasn’t convinced we would be a good match. I remember he asked me if I had considered Alan’s family background, so Asian of him!

Luckily we didn’t listen to his advice and have been together ever since.

This blog post was inspired by Linda’s love story. Please share your own in the comments, I would love to hear it.

12/5/13

Life of a China Fanatic

berlizchinesephrasebookMy first phrasebook in middle school was my dad’s Berliz from the 1980′s

I was a huge China fan back in middle school and even more so in high school. I found my Chinese name online and let everyone know they could call me by that name if they wanted to. I read massive amounts of books about China that I could find from the local library or bought cheap as second-hand. I surfed the Finnish version of eBay at night to find China related items or clothing. My friends and family all knew that I was really into China.

I took my first one week Summer course in Chinese in 2005, studying the Mandarin Chinese with other students of my parents’ age. We learned travel Chinese and practiced taiji at the school’s park in the afternoons. I roamed bookstores to find those few Chinese textbooks and study material that were available between 2005 and 2010.

After I had read a few books about the Empress Dowager Cixi, and even bought a movie about her, I changed to the history books describing the life in China between 1950′s and 1970′s. I read and bought many autobiographies and tried to imagine what daily life really was like during those though times. It almost became an obsession to find out as much as possible.

Finally in 2008 I started my university studies in Finland and my first semester of Chinese begun. I was a diligent student in love with the Chinese language who wrote characters into tiny boxed on paper over and over again. My book collection started getting bigger and bigger so I didn’t even have time to read all the books I bought.

The big change on my journey happened in Autumn 2009 when I made the decision to move to China. First three semesters I was just a normal exchange student having half day classes. It was a big jump from two hours a week to four hours per day, but I loved it. My Chinese learning destiny was sealed when I applied for the undergraduate program in 2011. Chinese officially transformed from a hobby to my major.

After moving to China, almost four years ago, I noticed a slow change in my fan behavior. First it was mesmerizing to be able to see everything first hand, jump to the reality from books and documents. Then slowly life in China started to become more ordinary. Get up, go to school, eat, meet friends, surf the net, do homework, all those things that are done no matter where you are.

Finally in the beginning of 2013 I moved in with my boyfriend and his parents. Suddenly Chinese culture wasn’t something out there behind my door, it was all around me all the time. I used to think it was funny when expats said they needed a break from China, but slowly I started to understand their reasons. When I get overwhelmed by all of this, and it still happens after four years, I just build a temporary bubble around me and watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

I do still see my self as a China fan and I have this huge passion towards the culture and the language, but right now I feel like I need a break. I haven’t been home for two and a half years,  I have only left China a few times briefly to go to Hong Kong. As I needed to come to China to appreciate Finland, now I need to leave China for almost four weeks in order to find my passion again.

I’m very eager to find out what kind of feeling I have when I get to Finland in January and how it feels like to come back to Guangzhou before the Chinese new year.

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12/2/13

Thesis defence in Chinese and on the doorstep of graduation

It’s been a hectic week here in Guangzhou, can’t believe it’s Monday again! Those days last week before Friday all let to my thesis defence on the 29th. It was one of the most nervous days of my life, making me almost faint at the classroom!

I arrived early to the campus as printed out two pages of my thesis that had a terrible error on them. I wanted to show the teachers, that I had noticed the mistake my self which is better than wait for them to point it out. Of course I have noticed several small typos as well, wondering how tired my eyes were when I checked my thesis before printing it out.

We had our presentations in small groups, with me I had a Korean girl, Indonesian girl and an Italian guy, last two being ethnic Chinese. We were seated at one of the sides in the classroom, we would be speaking in front of the room and the teachers were seated at the back. There was also chairs for classmates to come in and listen to our presentations.

While I waited my turn, I was third, I started getting more and more nervous. Would I be able to finish my presentation in the 7 minutes allowed or would it be too short? Could I answer all the questions asked my teacher? Heck, could I even stand on my two feet?

Finally it was my time to take the spotlight. I had prepared a nice Power Point slide show about my thesis, but probably it didn’t really matter much. After I was done, I sat on the chair in front of the teachers. I had a desk in front of me and I placed my thesis on the desk. I had read it over a few times, making careful notes on mistakes and questions the teachers might ask.

I have no idea how long they asked me questions, and can’t remember all of them, but somehow I lost my nervousness and was able to be calm. I answered everything the best I could, but wasn’t given enough time to defend my thesis as much as I would have liked to.

Three of us received a grade good, one received average. It was a relief that I was able to get a good grade, but I would be lying if I said I was happy with it. Not being able to get the highest grade, excellent, was bitter.

There won’t be a change to do it all over again, but if everything goes well, I will be writing my master’s thesis in two years. What I have learned during these months is that it’s crucial to choose the best teacher to help you and start as soon as possible. Don’t leave anything at the last-minute and check your work numerous times before printing.

Writing a thesis in Chinese was nerve-wracking at times, but I learned a lot too. I’m happy to get it finally of my hands very soon and head for new challenges.

11/26/13

Chinese Corner: How to pass HSK test

As many of you know, this Autumn I have started working at a Chinese language center where we train Chinese teachers and offer tutoring for foreigners in Mandarin Chinese. Tomorrow night will be the first event I’m organizing and I wanted to let everyone living in Guangzhou to know about it.

onlineversionClick to view larger flyer

This event is all about the HSK test. Introducing the different levels of HSK, sharing tips on how to prepare, what to do on the exam and answer your questions about learning Chinese and testing your level. I will share how I learned Chinese and passed HSK6 and other students will share their own experiences.

You can register for the even on Guangzhou Stuff or sending me an email to sara (a) sarajaaksola.com. If you forget to register now problem, you are still more than welcome to join us!

p.s. I’m preparing a new blog post about cultural challenges you encounter even after several years in China. Please subscribe to my blog on the right sidebar to get new posts delivered to your email.

11/22/13

How To Apply For The Confucius Institute Scholarships

studyinchina

Today’s guest post comes from Emily who shares her experience and tips on how to apply for the Confucius Institute Scholarships and study in China for free.

I started taking Chinese classes at the Confucius Institute last fall, and after finishing graduate school and moving back to my hometown, Portland, OR, United States. I was already planning a trip to China, but hadn’t decided when to go when I learned about the Confucius Institute Scholarships almost by accident. Although it meant going to China later than I had originally planned, I decided to apply, and was of course very happy that I got the scholarship to study Chinese at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing for a semester.

Applying for the scholarship was confusing and frustrating. In this post, I am going to give some advice for how to apply for the Confucius Institute Scholarships, based on my experience.

Keep in mind this is based on my experience applying for the scholarship in 2013. Things might have changed for this year.

What are the Confucius Institute Scholarships?

confucious_institute-logo2These scholarships are sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (so, indirectly, the Chinese government). There are three scholarships: for one semester, two semesters or for a two-year Master’s degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The scholarship webpage is cis.chinese.cn.

The scholarships cover tuition, materials, on-campus accommodation, health care and insurance and a monthly allowance of CNY 1,400 for semester and year students, CNY 1,700 for the Master’s degree students.

When you apply, you can choose which university you would like to study at. Click here for the list of possible universities.

What are the requirements?

The requirements vary based on the study length.

For one semester of study, applicants have to have either taken and passed at least level 2 of the written HSK exam with a score of at least 120 and scored at least 40 on the elementary level oral HSK exam. Alternatively, people who have taken at least 60 hours of classes at a Confucius Institute are eligible. People aged 16-35 qualify.

For one academic year, applicants have to pass the level 3 written HSK exam with a score of at least 180 and score at least 60 on the elementary HSK oral exam, or have taken 120 hours or more of classes at a Confucius Institute. People aged 16-35 qualify.

The scholarship requirements for those who wish to get a Master’s in teaching Chinese are a little more stringent. These students have to pass the HSK level 5 with a score of at least 180 and pass the intermediate oral HSK with a score of at least 50. Also, you have to commit to teaching Chinese for 5 years after graduation, and you must have a letter of support from the school that you will be teaching in. People aged up to 45 are eligible.

Learn From My Mistakessara at sunyatsen university

1.    The Confucius Institute in Portland told me that I did not need to take the oral HSK to qualify for the scholarships. So I didn’t take it at the time I took the written HSK, and ended up having to scramble and take the oral HSK right before the scholarship deadline. I think the Portland Confucius Institute gave this misinformation to many people, because they added an extra HSK exam at the last minute.

I would recommend taking the HSK as early as possible, because it took two months longer to get the results than I was originally told.

2.    I had a lot of trouble with the essay – trouble that had nothing to do with the difficulty of writing a coherent, let alone eloquent, essay in Chinese.

First of all, I didn’t realize that I needed to write an essay at all until I started the online application process, which I should have started sooner. The instructions on the first page of the application very clearly said, in Chinese and English, that the essay had to be no less than 800 words. When I got to the box to input the essay, I got an error saying that the essay had to be between 100 and 800 words. I trimmed it and got it to 780 words and continued getting the same error.

Then I went to the Confucius Institute Office and they tried for me – and I discovered that Chinese computers count words differently than my Mac does, even when I’ve written using Chinese characters.The on-line application would not accept my essay until it had been whacked down to under 500 words, due to what I can only assume is a technical error. I was a little sad, because I was quite proud of my original essay.

3.    The first page of the on-line application provides an extensive list of the documents you will need to fill out the application – scanned copies of your passport, your transcripts, your signature (to sign the application digitally), your HSK results and your essay.

It made no mention of a recommendation, so when I got to the last page of the application, the day before it was due, and discovered that I needed a recommendation letter from my Chinese teacher, I was extremely dismayed – especially because my Chinese teacher was on vacation in China at that moment. Luckily the Portland Confucius Institute helped me enormously and wrote me a quick recommendation – otherwise my application would have been doomed.

4.    If you have ever studied in China before, you have to submit a scanned ‘proof’ of that study. I did a five-week course in Chinese in Beijing in 2007, and miraculously I had my certificate from that program handy. If I hadn’t, I’m not sure what I would have done.

Although my Chinese is good enough that this wasn’t a problem, keep in mind that the application’s drop-down menus (to choose things like the Confucius Institute you are applying through or which university in China you want to study at) are in Chinese only.

sunyatsen university

Things You Need To Know If You Are Applying

Based on my experiences, to apply for the Confucius Institute Scholarships you need the following documents scanned into a digital format:

  1. Your passport
  2. Your HSK results – written and oral!
  3. Your transcripts or diploma from your highest-level degree.
  4. If you have every studied in China, some sort of document or certificate to prove it.
  5. An essay about your experiences learning Chinese and why you want to study in China
  6. A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION from your Chinese teacher – I got the impression that if this letter of recommendation carries a bit more weight if it comes from a teacher at a Confucius Institute.
  7. Two letters of recommendation / support from the place you plan to teach Chinese after graduation if you plan to apply for the Master’s Degree program in teaching Chinese as a second language.
  8. A scanned copy of your signature.

The whole process has to be completed fairly quickly, as well. The Confucius Institute in Portland sent out the announcement about the scholarship on March 19th, and the application was due on April 1. That is less than two weeks to get all of your documents, recommendations and essays ready!

My understanding is that you do have to apply for the scholarship through a Confucius Institute. I don’t think you must have taken classes at the Confucius Institute in order to apply for the scholarship, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

The scholarship winners are supposed to be notified by July 1st. I found out that I had been awarded the scholarship when one of the Confucius Institute teachers told me in mid-July, and I got the official notification at the end of July. There was only one problem: I had applied for spring 2014, and I was award the scholarship for the fall of 2013. A couple of frantic e-mails later, the university agreed to change the dates to spring, as I had originally requested. I am still waiting for the new paperwork (which I need to apply for the visa!).

I should also mention that I did not originally apply to study at the Capitol University of Economics and Business – I applied to two other Beijing universities, but not that one. I didn’t really care which university I studied at, and I am very glad that one accepted me. I don’t think there was a limit to the number of universities you could apply for, so if you don’t care, it might be a good idea to apply to a large number of universities.

One last wrinkle to be aware of: My husband is planning on coming with me to China and I was hoping that we would both be able to stay in the on-campus accommodation that the university provides. Unfortunately, I asked the university and they said that is not possible, so we will have to find some other place to live when he is there.

I am hoping that there won’t be any more complications in the process. Now I am just looking forward to going to China next spring!

If you have questions about the scholarship application process, please leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them.

Emily Liedel is a writer, translator and polyglot. She has lived in Switzerland, Russia, Spain and France and speaks German, Russian, Spanish, French and (a little) Chinese. She writes about language learning and living abroad at The Babel Times. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two chickens, and is eagerly preparing to go to China!