China people or foreigners? Who do you live with?
One of the purposes of studying abroad is to practice fluent foreign language, so foreigners are the ideal "cohabitants" when choosing roommates! Presumably, every prospective international student has been told countless times by people around him before going abroad.
Are foreigners ideal cohabitants? Is that really the case? After hearing what happened to my classmate Lisa, you will have an answer in your heart.
Lisa is a girl from the south of China. Besides cooking delicious and authentic Chinese food, she also likes to make some soup to protect her skin. However, the English girl who lives together thinks that Lisa spends too much time in the public kitchen, which affects her life.
In this regard, Lisa has many grievances: every time she cooks, she will carefully avoid the peak hours when others use the kitchen. Why does it cause her roommate's dissatisfaction?
I believe that Lisa's experience is definitely not a case. Living with foreigners, of course, there is a foreign language sparring partner, but conflicts caused by cultural differences are inevitable in daily life contact.
Imagine, when you and your roommate face each other coldly every day, can you still talk to your roommate as planned to improve your oral English? Cohabitation is not as romantic and comfortable as some study abroad forum posts say. Do you still expect to live with foreigners if you are accompanied by the cold war and quarrels caused by various trivial matters all day?
Of course, if you have made up your mind to meet this challenge, knowing the following points in advance will help you and your roommate live in harmony:
First of all, unlike China's implicit philosophy of dealing with others, foreigners' thinking sometimes makes people laugh and cry directly, and their temper is more "impulsive". Especially young people, if you do something that foreigners don't like, they will usually say it directly.
For China people who are used to expressing their unhappiness in a euphemistic way, sometimes they do feel a heavy blow. In fact, as long as we know the cultural characteristics of foreigners in advance and make psychological preparations, we will not be troubled by bad emotions for a long time when facing their "outspoken".
Secondly, the foreign diet is mainly cold food, and the cooking time is generally not long. Especially college students, prefer semi-finished products of fast food. However, students in China are used to frying, so they will spend a relatively long time using the kitchen.
It is human nature to float in a foreign country and cook a hometown meal to comfort the suffering of homesickness. You can introduce the cooking characteristics of Chinese food to foreign roommates in advance, and let them know that you didn't deliberately take up more public resources than they did.
Furthermore, I agree with your initiative to be friendly to foreigners, but don't take it for granted that they should buy it. This is still based on the experience of domestic rumors. It is estimated that many prospective international students have heard about foreigners' love for China cuisine, and made some special cuisines such as China and jiaozi for foreigners to taste.
Then even the emotional tactics are regarded as classic tactics by many people. Therefore, many students, when they first arrive here, will share their own Chinese food with their foreign classmates to gain understanding. Practice has proved that this strategy is not as magical as the legend, and the effect is not as good as expected.
Your foreign roommate may find Chinese food delicious. Thank you for your kindness. But in their view, there is no connection between sharing food and allowing you to use the kitchen often. As for "cannibalism", they don't have this string in their minds.
In addition, not all foreigners appreciate Chinese food, and they may directly refuse the food you send. At this time, they don't have to feel depressed, which can be understood by referring to their attitude towards Chinese medicine. Many foreigners think that Chinese medicine is a witch doctor. How do grass roots, leaves and all kinds of weird bugs treat diseases?
In this case, everyone can laugh it off. The interesting thing about the world lies in the great differences between people, thus creating a splendid civilization. Otherwise, why should we go all the way to a foreign land to broaden our horizons? Remember, tolerance and forbearance are always sharp tools to deal with cultural differences.
Tips: It is suggested that girls and boys with insufficient psychological endurance should honestly find a compatriot to live with. Although it will reduce the chances of speaking a foreign language, when you are new here and have a roommate who is used to cooking rice like you, you will feel that life is not so lonely and difficult.
What's more, if you are interested in improving your language level, having no foreign roommate is definitely not a problem.
In class, who says there is no good voice in China?
This is a widely circulated image of China students, who want to be invisible in the classroom. Only by studying hard can they get high marks-they are conservative and obedient, but they never have their own clear views. However, in my student days, this cognition was completely subverted.
The Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield ranks third in Britain, second only to Cambridge University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, so it not only attracts outstanding students from Britain, but also brings together university elites from the European Union and the United States.
Therefore, whenever the political department discusses political topics in class, the atmosphere will be extremely intense. However, in such an environment, China students in the classroom did not act as invisible people, but actively participated in the debate and bravely expressed their views.
Young people in China dare to express their temperament because they have their own unique religious culture. With the rise of China, the probability that China is mentioned in political lessons is almost 100%. Once in class, Japanese students suddenly mentioned the issue of Tibetan independence and thought that Tibet should be treated as an independent country.
At this moment, China boy Li from Beijing stood up. Starting from the historical inheritance of Tibet, the current social reality and the policy of religious freedom and ethnic minorities implemented in China, he refuted the view that Japanese students believe that Tibet should be independent.
Although Li is not fluent in English and his arguments are not watertight, I believe every young person in China will be very proud, because this is the unyielding response of the new generation in China to national dignity in international occasions!
After class, in conversations with students majoring in human resource management and international cultural exchange, I found that China students born after 1980s are more confident. They don't want to study silently, but let China speak in communication!
Tips: Only when you are abroad can you truly feel the meaning of your motherland. Always remember that representing China is not a slogan. It is suggested that every prospective international student should take the initiative to care about state affairs and study historical and political knowledge in a down-to-earth manner when he is in China.
Only by arming ourselves and perfecting our knowledge reserves can we convince others by reasoning when encountering the above things, safeguard our motherland and safeguard our dignity on the international stage!
Part-time job or party?
Open some blogs of international students in China. Their life is really wonderful! All kinds of wonderful parties, full shopping activities, busy and full travel schedule … But I need to remind you that what you see is only a one-sided image of studying abroad.
Studying abroad is not a holiday abroad, and more international students have plans to "wash dishes" before going abroad. They either want to relieve their parents' financial pressure, exercise their viability, or learn more about local customs.
But I think every part-time international student needs to think clearly about one question, that is, what do you want from your job?
Working part-time, even part-time, will take up your time. Can you balance study and work? If your course is very stressful and you need a lot of spare time to complete your study progress, then working is not a good choice.
After all, your parents didn't invest a lot of money to study abroad to make you wash dishes. As for those parties, I can only say that you can do as the Romans do, but don't think that the more the better.
In fact, since 2008, the global economic crisis has worsened, and the unemployment rate in Britain has reached a new high, making it difficult for international students to find part-time jobs. According to my observation, being a volunteer or a volunteer is a good choice.
During my study abroad, I participated in the volunteer activities of Sheffield Weekend Center. This center is a charitable organization under the church. It mainly helps the homeless in Sheffield with the money donated by people to the church, and provides them with a special venue for lunch, rest, entertainment and exchange activities every weekend.
As an international volunteer, I participated in almost every job, from pouring coffee in the water bar, distributing food, chatting with the homeless, to building a site and cleaning up afterwards.
Because the main force of volunteers is local college students, with high mobility, I have contacted my colleagues from Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Nigeria and other countries in the process of volunteering.
Working together and chatting together not only increase our knowledge and exercise our English expression ability, but also gain a deeper understanding of each other's culture in communication. In addition, I will also observe how such activities are organized in Britain and compare them with those in China in terms of processes and rules. ...
These findings and insights make every participant feel happy, surprised and satisfied. This kind of charitable organization, especially the related organizations under the church, exists in almost every city and village in Britain.
Compared with part-time jobs, volunteers have more opportunities and more flexible time, which is more suitable for students who want to get close to the local society after studying. And when you give your love to those in need, you will feel happy and valuable.
This will also play a positive role in the mental health construction of students studying alone abroad. Although we have talked about British students countless times, we will always experience different lives, so international students should pay more attention to the study life of British students and make our study life in Britain more fulfilling.