Georgina Day

University of Adelaide, Australia
Exchange to Tsinghua University, China

THINK 1.3 billion people, THINK 22% of the world’s population, THINK 56 ethnic groups, THINK 800 million mobile phones, THINK 253 million internet users, THINK 3rd biggest country in the world… THINK CHINA! Think BEIJING! THINK Tsinghua University, THINK EXCHANGE!

I was ecstatic when I first found out that I had been given the opportunity to go on exchange to China! At first I thought, fantastic! Bring on the prawn crackers, fortune cookies, lemon chicken and dim sum! When I arrived in China though, (and for the whole time that I was there), I got a shock because none of my favourite foods were to be found! Everything turned out OK though, because amongst other delicious culinary delights, I did have the opportunity to try a chicken head, some chicken feet, eyeballs, brain, a scorpion, animal intestines and a lot of other things I didn’t know about. They all kind of taste like dim sum, I guess.

Going to China on exchange improved my Chinese a lot! All of the classes were conducted in Chinese, which was both an adventure and a challenge, to say the least! Tsinghua University also has students from more than 100 different countries, so it was a great time to develop new friendships with people from all over the world. I absolutely loved it and one of the huge highlights was going to the cafeteria with my classmates. For just A$2, we got ourselves an amazingly delicious meal and a soft drink to wash it down as well.

I hadn’t dreamed that going to China would give me the opportunity to parade through the desert on a camel, to keep an eye out for wild tigers in the forest, to perform on television, to say G’day to an elephant and a panda bear, to go white water rafting, to hang out with kids from the local orphanage, or to “chill out” in the minus 30 degree ice and snow city, but I got to do all these things, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

I am extremely grateful for the scholarship that I received from the Cheung Kong Group and the Australian Government, which made all of my adventures in China possible! Thank you so much! It is through your generosity that students from all around Australia can be exposed to a whole new world. The scholarship money that I received was enough to buy me 5,000 bowls of noodles.

I would be lying if I said I never missed Australia whilst in China, but going on exchange has been one of the best experiences of my life! If you would like to go overseas and are considering going on exchange, my advice to you is don’t keep thinking about it… just go! You won’t regret it! If you love food, you’ll love Tsinghua, which has a reputation for having some very fine food. You can also find everything you need within a 10-15 minute ride away from Tsinghua, and you’ll have no trouble finding places to go and hang out with your friends.

If you would like to take my advice, I suggest that as soon as you arrive in Beijing you get yourself a bike, a Tsinghua University food card, a SIM card and an extra mattress/soft blanket for the bed! All of these things (except the subway card) are available right there on campus. The shopping is also great in China, and it’s so cheap. Going to China on exchange was an amazing experience and if you can stomach anything, try eating local delicacies, such as scorpion, sea horse, chicken feet or chicken head! From lush rainforests to dry deserts to snow and ice festivals in minus 30 degree weather, China has it all.

Going on exchange has been one of the best experiences of my life! Don’t keep thinking about going on The University of Adelaide’s exchange program to China – just go! You won’t regret it. However, if you are trying to find a place where there are very few foreigners and no other English speakers, Tsinghua and Beijing are not the places for you.

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