Moving into the dorm

Well my program has officially started. I am all moved into my room and am currently waiting for my water heater to warm up so that I can take a shower and go to bed. In total there are 41 students attending the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics program. I think I have for the most part met everyone, but I can only remember a select few names at this point.

Here are some of my first impressions: It’s cold. There are very few girls here. Why are all the guys so tall? And is there anyone who has studied more Chinese then me? 

While Shanghai’s weather has been close to 60 degrees over the past few days, it’s gone down to about 40 degrees now. While this is not that bad for Chicago in the winter, it definitely seems a lot colder when the building you are staying in lacks central heating. Each room has a small heating/ air conditioning unit, but it barely heats up the room. I have had it on for the past 8 hours and the room is still quite freezing. I am going to be sleeping tonight bundled in lots of layers! 

As far as my fellow classmates, it seems like it will be a good variety of students. It almost feels like freshman year all over again where everyone is trying to get to know one another and see who they’ll end up being friends with. After dinner we went to a grocery store where pretty much everyone bought some type of alcohol to drink. There was also a group who wanted to go out to a club on the first night. Luckily, many people stayed behind so I didn’t feel left out at all since I was already kind of tired. It was nice to just hang around and talk with the other students, finding out why they had chosen China to study abroad. 

 

 

My next observation is about the number of guys in the program. They must number at least 2/3 of the entire group. I don’t have the exact numbers yet, but girls are definitely in the minority.  

Another thing that I am noticing is that there aren’t that many people with high levels of Chinese. In fact, as far as I know I may be the most advanced person here. I really hope not, but we shall have to wait and see. There are quite a few students here who haven’t even taken Chinese at all! I’m slightly worried that this will hurt my practice of Chinese, but then again we will have Chinese roommates, plenty of Chinese language classes, and *fingers crossed* an internship. 

  

My room itself is pretty nice for Chinese standards. There is a TV, fridge, water cooler, and even a balcony. While the bathroom leaves much to be desired, I think it will be just fine once I get used to it. Only problem I can see that may come from my bed is that the comforter may not be warm enough. Luckily that is an easy fix.