Rebecca Johnston

The University of Adelaide, Australia
Exchange to Tsinghua University, China

When beginning my exchange to Tsinghua University in Beijing, I didn’t know what to expect. Although I’d been learning Chinese language since the age of 11, I’d never been to China before or experienced traditional Chinese culture, so I had absolutely no idea about what was waiting for me in Beijing. It was the most exciting, rewarding and life-changing experience of my life so far.

I arrived in Beijing during the noise and excitement of the Spring Festival, which is something I had never experienced back home in Adelaide. During my first night in Beijing I heard fireworks going off outside and it sounded like there was a battle going on outside of my hotel. With my incredibly worried mother on the phone hearing these noises in the background, it took quite some time to convince her that it really was a traditional Chinese festival taking place outside and not a gun fight! I soon became accustomed to hearing nothing but noise 24 hours a day and it’s something I miss now that I’m home in Adelaide; there’s nothing like blaring car horns that are being honked by irritated Beijing cab drivers, blending in with the excessively loud conversations of people passing you by.

When beginning at Tsinghua, I was offered the option to move into dormitory accommodation, but I decided to find my own apartment outside of the campus. I’m incredibly glad I chose to find an apartment because having a home outside of the university grounds meant that I had more freedom. Although I had a few issues adjusting to sharing an apartment with 2 incredibly “unique” fellow international students, overall it was a great experience. Our apartment was even in a fantastic location: only 15 minutes away from the university by bike, right around the corner from a market selling fresh produce and only a block away from the apartment of a friend who hosted many a legendary party during my time in Beijing.

My first 2 weeks studying at Tsinghua were definitely an eye-opening experience. None of my teachers spoke English (or if they did, they definitely weren’t letting us in on that little secret), which made for interesting lessons. When you couldn’t remember how to say a particular word, you would have to get your point across using interpretive movement and/or drawings and a result I now have quite the knack for playing charades. Another challenging factor was listening to and speaking in Chinese for a rather intensive and fastly-spoken 4 hours straight per day in class, then doing your daily activities using Chinese as well. In Australia I wouldn’t speak or listen to 4 hours of Chinese in a week, let alone in one sitting of lessons. This was definitely a steep learning curve but it’s something you become accustomed to after a short period of time. Classes were interactive and were mostly fun but that depended on which teacher we had at the time. To this day I still don’t know my “Ting Li” (listening practice) teacher’s name, as I only knew her as “Scary Ting Li Lady” since she scared the hell out of me. Now I have friends still studying at Tsinghua who have the same Ting Li teacher, and the tradition of Scary Ting Li Lady continues.

During my exchange I had to become very familiar with riding a “pushie” everywhere I went. I very quickly learnt that your bicycle is not just a form of transportation – it’s practically an extension of yourself since you’re constantly riding it all day long. I became very attached to my beloved pushie but, alas, it was stolen during my final week in Beijing. I can say its all part of the experience; afterall, you can’t say you’ve truly lived in Beijing until someone has stolen your bicycle.

You also can’t say you’ve lived in Beijing unless you see all of the tourist sights! There are a million and one things to do and see in Beijing, and I did and saw a fair amount of them. I visited Tiananmen Square and Tiananmen Gate on multiple occasions, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs, two different sections of the Great Wall (and I can now tell people that not only have I visited the Great Wall of China, but I’ve also tobogganed down it) and I also did more than my fair share of shopping around the city. I also managed to fit in a little bit of travel and got to see Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

It wasn’t all good times and shopping though; during my time in Beijing I also volunteered with an orphanage called Blue Sky Healing Home that cares for orphans who have severe medical complications. I only spent a short time volunteering with Blue Sky but my time there was incredibly rewarding. I also volunteered with Magic Hospital, which is an organisation that helps give children in hospitals all over Beijing a morale boost by sending in volunteers with “entertainment packs” filled with items to eat and drink, as well as a plain tshirt and fabric markers which the children then draw on. This was a very fun exercise as the children were keen artists, and most of them drew Olympic-themed designs on their shirts!

My time in China has given me some long-lasting memories, abilities and friendships, and if I had to say something to anyone even just thinking about applying for an Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship I would say this: you should most definitely apply, and be prepared for the experience to change you for the better. Thanks to the help of the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship I’ve achieved something I most likely would not have been able to without the extra help. I also wish to offer my thanks and heartfelt appreciation to the organisers of this Programme, as I have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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