Arriving back campus was an extraordinary experience. TUC students starting to flood the campus streets, warm weather, and excitement in the air as freshmen arrive for their first year. But before the beginning of classes, you can see the military training of Chinese students all around campus in full swing. (Picture below)
Classes started and I got to meet my professors and fellow classmates for the second semester! Each class I chose has different professors than last time, so I was extra enthusiastic. I found the materials very interesting and also that a lot of the seniors graduated and I’m in classes with more juniors this semester. Slowly but surely they’re warming up to me *Wink*, and if not, I approach them and ask for their WeChat (Juniors especially are more shy, because they believe that they have poor English). Once we add each other and I speak to them, the ice is broken for the most part. I look forward to working with many of them in group projects or asking them for suggestions of restaurants.
Walking down the campus streets you can easily get amazed by the amount of students in their own world but subsequently intertwined to one purpose. A sole purpose to obtain knowledge and gain experience of living away from home to better themselves — from physical exercises such as soccer, basketball, ping pong, riding bikes, or simply walking around the track course; or buying fruits at the local produce store, to printing at the corner shop, picking up or sending packages from the postal service station, and lastly buying snacks and essentials from the numerous corner stores. It’s a campus full of life, curiosity and potential!
One of my favorite places is the humongous library placed in the heart of the campus. You can find me, for the most part, at the 5th floor in a private room (Newspaper room) in the evening on weekdays and early afternoon on weekends. (Pictures below)
GPT (Golden Panthers Tianjin) host several events during the semester and their first one was held recently. It was a lovely tea party with international students, freshmen, sophomores (getting involved), and juniors that have entered the FIU program. The topic was garbage certification (reduce, reuse and recycle), an emphasis on the importance of keeping the earth safe from improper use of rubbish.
Interacting with the Chinese students is always very fun for me. Their efforts to understand and speak English is admirable. Our curiosity for each others’ culture keeps the environment spicy, I don’t know how else to describe it. I’ve experienced incredible bonding moments, and I even played games where International students (me) had to speak Chinese, translate ecosystem, recycle, etc. in Chinese. My group was very helpful, and surprisingly, I did well as a matter of fact. Hmmm… we ranked 4th of 4 groups (hey! don’t judge). I made like 10 new friends that day, tasted black tea and green tea with fruits — definitely a day to remember! I look forward for the upcoming events!
Stay tuned for an insight to campus life in my upcoming post!