Ju Fu DENTON

Student of The University of New England, Australia
Exchange to Shaanxi Normal University, China

Thank you for the opportunity which enables me to further my study at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi’an.

It has been a wonderful experience for me and I cannot put into words how much knowledge and confidence this trip has given me.

I continue my work at UNE and I am in the top 10 percent in the class in results.  What it has also done is to reunite me with my Chinese heritage, and deepen my understanding of Chinese culture and the future of the country. One thing that to me seems odd, is that the students have rights to give notice of motion to remove the teacher from the class. But my classmates are very good and come from all around the globe. I am really glad to mix with them.
 
I’ve been fortunate to meet with Professor Zhang on two occasions and am also fortunate in having him as lecturer. The facilities here are very good. The University has good catering services and the food is excellent.

This Semester commenced from 1 March 2013, but the students are required to register before the 25th of February. We could still hear fire crackers around us because the Chinese New Year holiday period was still in full swing when we arrived at Xi’an Shaanxi Normal University.

When we are overseas on study the most important principle is self-discipline, and we need to develop self-learning ability.  I have been dispatched to level 6 class B and I was excited to see many younger fellow students which come from different countries and diligently study Chinese Language as second language.  They are Americans, Japanese, Russians, Vietnamese, Koreans, Turkish, Kazakhs and Australians.  The average age is around 20. I have observed that the Korean and Japanese students are pretty fluent in speaking Chinese and the Turkish students are very good at making practical sentences.  All of it is dependent on how much effort and hard work students put into study. I love all my classes especially China’s contemporary history, modern history and current affairs.  We are fortunate to have the Dean as our Chinese current affairs lecturer. Every time after his lecture you find yourself learning more about China, and this attracts you to read more articles enriching your knowledge and understanding about China.

Another area I would like to mention is adapting to the Chinese life style while studying in China. The first 2 weeks I have noticed that there is no fresh air, the air was so polluted that people cover themselves with masks when outdoor.  I was awakened almost every night coughing due to the floating dust in the air.  Thank goodness after overnight rain a few days ago, it has improved enormously.  I also noticed that the Spring plants are blooming with beautiful pink, and white, yellow flowers. 

Because we have to write a composition about “the morning exercises in the park”, I went to the nearby park last Saturday; it was an eye opener.   People are everywhere doing Tai Chi, group dance, modern dance, playing Erhu（拉二胡）, Chuixiao （吹箫）, Chinese chess（下象棋） etc, just name it, you can find it in the park. 

People are content with the newly elected Chairman Xi Jin Ping（习近平）. A story told by our lovely teacher Shao（邵）she said:  the Government promoted the “Empty Plate action” （光盘运动）during the Chinese Spring Festival to encourage all the government departments not to waste  money when they celebrate this festival in the restaurants; they should empty all the dishes.  Also they made the new rule prohibiting all the government vehicles from the car park during Spring Festival.

As I said before, I am working hard to achieve my Bachelor of Arts degree and this has been a wonderful experience for me.

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