Michelle Wong

The University of Melbourne, Australia
Exchange to Tsinghua University, Mainland China

In September 2007, I decided to go on exchange for a semester at Tsinghua University in Beijing to further my Chinese language skills. I chose to go on exchange because I believed I would significantly improve my language skills by living in a Chinese-speaking environment. I also wanted to experience something new and exciting that would take me out of my comfort zone. In all my life, I had never lived away from home, let alone in a non-English speaking country. It would certainly be a whole new experience for me.

Initially, I had some misgivings for I did not know anyone at Tsinghua University and I experienced some difficulty whilst getting checked into my room. To make matters worse, if that was even possible, I was swindled in my second week by a man fixing my bicycle who charged 40 times the price of the retail bicycle part. These mishaps really made me question the benefits of exchange.

However, exchange proved to be a significant learning experience for me and I soon learnt to laugh at my misfortunes in Beijing. At first, I was absolutely furious with the bicycle swindler. Yet, in time I could laugh at my own stupidity for spending money on a bicycle part that was more than the cost of my bicycle. I learnt that though there were many swindlers around Beijing, there were also kind people, those who helped me pay for a parcel to send at the post office when I was short of cash. Sharing a room with my eccentric roommate who took photographs of all the handsome Korean guys on television showed me how lucky I was in Melbourne to have a room of my own, without having to worry about when to get changed or when to switch off lights or even when to wake up in the morning. Exchange made me appreciate what I used to take for granted in Australia.

It was inevitable, that after spending a considerable time in China, I learnt the ways of the Chinese, eventually adopting them as my own. I learnt, as the Chinese do, to be aggressive and competitive on the roads. Riding a bicycle in Beijing can be a traumatic experience, however, towards the end of my semester in Beijing, I learnt to ring my bell right back at the buses who honked me to get out of the way. I also became aware that gaining weight in Beijing is to be expected as I mastered the art of eating copious amounts of food as the Chinese do, with huge bowls of rice accompanied by meat and vegetables.

Moreover, I found that my Chinese really did improve. Using Chinese everyday was such a new experience for me. Not only were all my classes conducted in Chinese, but I also had to use Chinese a great deal outside of class. Meeting Chinese, French, German, Korean and Japanese friends at Tsinghua where Chinese was our only common language greatly improved my Chinese speaking skills. Little by little, I felt that my Chinese vocabulary was expanding and I even learnt some Chinese slang. I learnt that when a guy says he is an “airport” in Chinese, it means he is probably very sleazy because lots of girls like to land on him. The real indication that my Chinese improved was the fact that Chinese shop owners did not feel quite so inclined to swindle me. It was evident that I was no longer the ignorant international student when the item I had bargained long and hard for was practically thrown at me.

Subsequently, I found studying Chinese in Beijing a truly valuable experience. I made so many friends from all around the world, people who I wish to meet again, and really improved my Chinese language skills. It is ironic that at the beginning of my exchange semester I was counting down the days to when I would return to Melbourne, yet by the end, I was planning the time I could return to Beijing.

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