Timothy Jackson

The University of Queensland, Australia
Exchange to Shandong University, China

My time on exchange to Shandong University has provided me with many wondrous insights into many aspects of life that words cannot do justice to. However, all I can do is to describe my time on exchange and hope it challenges others to do the same.

My exchange programme began in July 2007 with a month at the Shandong University Summer School. During the summer school, we (me and another 15 international students) visited many places and came across many new faces from many corners of the globe. We all had many tales to tell of lives lived and new directions, of lives so similar but yet so different. Towards the end of the Summer School as things began to slow down, I had the opportunity to make friends amongst the local students and prepare for the approaching start of semester. This I found to be extremely rewarding as it gave me an insight into the lives that Chinese students are faced with and it also gave me the chance to give some of my time to teach English to young primary school students at a local school for peasant children and them in turn to help me with my Chinese.

Also during this time of preparation for the beginning of semester, I decided to take time and see a bit of China. My goal was to climb a few of the 5 most holy of Taoist mountains, being Heng Shan Bei, Heng Shan Nan, Tai Shan Hua Shan, Song Shan, representing north, south, east, west and centre respectively. I was lucky enough to be able to visit Hua Shan, Tai Shan and Song Shan during this trip and a few places in between, returning right in time for the beginning of semester. The start of semester was rather hectic as over 400 international students from all walks of life descended on Shandong University to partake in the language programme. This gave me a chance to meet many new people and many more local Chinese students who had given their time to help the international students get acquainted with the new surroundings. However, regardless of the initial sense of being overwhelmed at beginning studies in a different place and culture, the semester began without incident and everyone seemed to fit in quite smoothly. I was able to return to continue my exchange of teaching and learning with my little friends soon after for a few nights each week.

At this stage I began to seek out a Taiji teacher to continue my study of Taiji, which I was lucky enough to have begun a few years earlier. After much searching and much confusion (at this stage my Chinese was still rather limited) I chanced upon an elderly gentleman whom I called “Zhang Laoshi” (teacher Zhang), an 84 year-old master of Taiji, who very kindly accepted me as a student. However it came with the condition that I meet him for practice at 5am every morning, even in the middle of winter, which in -12°c proved to be rather challenging. I have shared many moments and insights with Zhang Laoshi and he has helped guide me and encourage me in all aspects of my life, in and out of Chinese culture. One aspect which can be communicated was his kindness and patience with our communication, particularly becoming accustomed to the multitude of differing dialects of China, which to students of the Chinese language often lead to confusion and many entertaining moments, as the subtle differences can be very misleading.

Unfortunately my time in China was cut short after the first semester and I had to return to Australia, however my time in Jinan was one of rapid growth and learning and I thank the Cheung Kong Scholarship for the opportunity it provided.

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