An incredible journey!

June 22th 2019 from Jelle Jongsma
Image

Hi, I'm Jelle Jongsma, a 20 year old student from the Netherlands. For the past 5 months I have studied the major "International Economics and Trade" at the Shanghai Institute of Technology, and what a journey it has been. Before I arrived at the campus of the SIT I did not really have a clear image of what I could expect. But after my first impression it became clear to me that there was no need to worry, because everything was had been arranged perfectly. From the first day, the school gave me all the necesarry information about my study, such as how long my courses would be, when I had class, whom I needed to contact if I had questions and what school supplies are and aren't important to have.

Student buddy's

The school provides every foreign student with 2 Chinese student buddy's, who were there for me, day and night, to help me with whatever I needed. They insisted to show me around the campus and gave me a helpfull tour throughout the area. Within a few days I knew my way around the campus. My buddy's also helped me understand the cultural differences between our countries and learned me what the best way is to communicatie with other chinese students.
As a Dutchman, I can be very point-blank, but my buddy's teached me to be a little bit more subtle when it came to talking to Chinese students. Looking back at it, these tips and tricks helped me a lot with being able to make Chinese friends for life, and I'm forever gratefull for that. 

“ As a Dutchman, I can be very point-blank, but my buddy's teached me to be little bit more subbtle when it came to talking to chinese students”
Image
Birthday party with my friends

In total I had 6 different courses I needed to follow for my minor. It was very intersting to learn these courses, form the perspective of Chinese teachers. This learned me to look at subjects from another point of view, which gave me a lot of new insights, about topics I was already familiar with or I didn't know any thing about. All the teachers can speak English very well and the level of education is very good. The teachers were very open for discussion and liked to talk and discuss about contemporary topics. Theoratical lessons, combined with the interaction between students and teachers, made it fun for me to go to class every day.

I have had an awesome, fun and educational time at SIT, and would recomend it to anyone who could get the chance. In all my months of studying and living in this university, I have not met a single Chinese student who has been rude or unhelpfull. Everybody I met, wanted to help in any way they could, to make me feel at home as much as possible, which has added a lot to making this journey one that is unforgetable!