spotlight on honors: study abroad

honors students abroad

Aubrey - China

Junior, Biology major

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Hello all, My name is Aubrey Hancock and I am a senior accounting major  and I am studying abroad and attending Liaoning University in Shenyang, Liaoning, China this fall 2011 semester. I decided to study abroad in China for several reasons. First, this is the first time that Indiana State University has sent students to Liaoning University in China, so I thought it would be an awesome experience to be a part of the first group to go. There are a total of 8 students from ISU this semester. Second, Liaoning University has a great business program, so it corresponds well with my major. The last major reason is that I love to experience new things, and I wanted to travel and experience a culture different from my own.  

My dorm on “Old Campus” Liaoning University has 2 campuses. I have classes on both old and new. It is a 30 minute bus ride to “new campus”.

I live in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. It is the Northeast portion of China.

So far, I have not been disappointed in my many experiences here in China. Yes, there are things in China that are very different than America. But, that just adds to the adventure and my experience. Like Janis Halpern always says, you just have to be flexible! So far this attitude has helped out tremendously!

As for the classes I am taking, I have Chinese language class twice a week, a 3 hour culture class once a week, International Business twice a week, and Management (Cost) Accounting once a week.  It is a nice schedule, which gives me a lot of free time to learn things outside the classroom.

 

I’ve been in China for about 1.5 months so far and feel as if I have been able to go a lot of places. So far I have been on 4 trips outside of Shenyang:

Early September one of our Chinese friends took us on a trip several hours east of Shenyang to go “fluing”. I’m not completely sure if I’m typing it correctly, but basically it is mild white water rafting-- where in addition to that, you also have water guns and buckets to splash people for the 3-4 hour journey down the river. It was so much fun. Below is a picture of a picture of the group that went.

 

Mid-September, 6 other American Students and I decided to take a trip (5 hours away by train) to the coastal city of Dalian. It is about the size of Indianapolis.  We were able to go on this trip because Monday September 12th was the Chinese Moon Cake festival, so we had no classes. The air quality was so nice compared to Shenyang, and the sea was absolutely gorgeous! I think we all wanted to stay a little bit longer. While in Dalian we were able to visit the coast, a Chinese Zoo, a natural history museum, SunAsia Polar Aquarium, and Olympic Square.

Coast in Dalian with the Natural History Museum in the distance

Dan, Ethan, Ryan, Zack, Me. Front Row: Ben and Dylan. All the ISU students in Dalian except Desirea. We are at Olympic Plaza.

I paid 10 Yuan to get a picture with the monkey! It fell asleep on my shoulder!

The llamas and deer just roamed wherever they wanted to. Different from a petting zoo.

Little children could get their picture taken with them holding a baby cub! There was definitely more laid back standards at this zoo than an American Zoo.

An example of us getting our picture taken with random Chinese people. People see foreigners and many times want their picture taken with them.

The tiny dot at the top of the picture is a Chinese lantern that you light the inside on fire and the fire fills the lantern with hot air and floats away. We decided to participate and bought one to let off.

 

Liaoning University paid for all of the ISU students and about 15 other foreigner teachers to take a 2 day culture trip to Shanhaiguan and Xicheng Pass. We stayed at a really nice hotel, and our trip consisted of visiting  Xingcheng ancient city (which is one of four ancient cities in Ming Dynasty Chinese), The Great Wall where it meets the sea, and also the section of the Great Wall called “the first pass under heaven”. Liaoning University paid for all of our meals, hotel, and entrance fees! So generous! The travel time for this trip wasn’t too bad either—it only took about 10 hours by bus round trip.

In the garden entry way before Confusicous temple

Statutes of lions with a stone ball in their mouths seem to be very popular in Chinese history. Everyone is touching the lion here, because it is supposed to give you good health and protect and heal wherever you touch.

Group photo of everyone who went on the culture trip provided by the University.

Me in front of the drum inside the “drum tower” at the center of this ancient city

Ariel and I in front of the sea on our way to the ancient city of Xicheng pass. Ariel works in the office of International Affairs.

The following pictures are from the second day of the Culture trip. We are at two locations very close to each other in Shanhaiguan. 

This is then entrance of one section of the great wall called the “first pass under heaven” Our hotel was within the grounds.

Some American teachers and I dressing up in traditional Chinese dress on top of the great wall.

On the great wall, with the great wall in the distance winding up the mountains as well.

Ariel and I in our 3 Yuan flower hats. They actually work pretty nicely!

The “First Pass Under Heaven” section of the great wall entrance.

The entrance to the Great Wall meets the sea historical park.

The point where the great wall meets the sea

 

October 2nd- 7th – 2 days after we got back from the culture trip, 5 of the American Students and our Chinese friend Troy set off for Beijing. October 1st is the People’s Republic of China’s national holiday therefore; we had the entire week off from classes. We took a sleeper train through the night there (about 11 hours) and arrived in Beijing on Monday morning.  In Beijing we visited many sites:

 

Monday: The Olympic Park consisting of the Cube, Bird’s Nest, and Ling Long Pagoda or Ling Long Pagoda

Birds Nest and Ling Long Pagoda

At the highest point in the Birds Nest Stadium

The pool where Michael Phelps took home the gold!

Tuesday: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and Temple of Heaven (oh, and an amazing Italian restaurant for dinner)

Forbidden City

The number of animals on the corner of any roof signifies a person’s status and power. More animals/figures equal more power. This was the emperor’s house.

Me with the Forbidden City in the background. Across the street from one side of the Forbidden City was a large hill and temple on top (which is where I am).

Tiananmen Square above and below.

Wednesday : GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!! (Best part of the trip) Quick stops at a Jade, Tea, Silk, and Pearl Museum/Shop. Those stops were included in the tour to the Great Wall

Before the hike up! I started counting steps, but once I got to about 700 and was only a little over halfway I stopped!

On the way to the top

Almost to the top!

At the very top point of the Great Wall!

Me wearing the shirt I bought that says “I have climbed the Great Wall” It took about 1 hour to climb it at a fast pace.

 

Thursday: 798 Art District, Hutong Alley (traditional Chinese houses within Beijing), and “a night market” shopping street. Left Beijing at 11 on a night train; unfortunately because of the national holiday crowds the only train tickets we were able to purchase on the way back were seats, so we did not have the luxury of sleeping in a nice bed for the trip home!

Other places that I have visited in Shenyang or near Shenyang include going to Qi Pan Shan (Qipan Mountain) for the day, Beiling Park several times (the original Forbidden City before it was moved to Beijing), several shopping centers in Shenyang, and many, many restaurants with friends.

 Some interesting things about China (at least the area of China that I am located)

  • Eastern Style toilets in public bathrooms (if you don’t know what this is, Google it!) Our dorm, and people’s individual homes have western style toilets (American) though, which is definitely a plus!

  • Carrying your own toilet paper

  • Traffic. It is hard to even put words to describe the way people drive, pedestrians cross the street, and what belongs on the sidewalk (everything belongs on the sidewalk à bicyclists, moped drivers, people, cars, and lots of stray dogs!)

  • You can eat very nicely, for very cheap! I can have a meal that would cost about 15 dollars in America for 30 Yuan (about $4.75) It’s awesome!

  • Restaurants have giant lazy susan’s where every meal is eaten family style. Everyone grabs food with their own chopsticks out of the main dishes.

  • We (American/Foreign students) get stared at ALL the time. Many times we get asked to have our pictures taken with people. Shenyang is not exactly a very “touristy” area. It’s very funny when I am in a taxi or city bus and you see other cars drive by and do “double takes” and then smile at you.

  • Young children wear split pants (no diapers, because they are unsanitary)

  • Don’t wear your seat belt in the cab because it offends the taxi driver. Although, I have never felt like I needed a seatbelt more in my life than in Shenyang!

  • When I first arrived in Shenyang, the sun rose at 5 am and set at 6:30pm, now it is rising at 6, and setting at 5. All China is on one time zone.

  • Many many more fun facts but I will stop here :)

 

Other Picture from China:

Jun Jun, Me, and Shan Shan

Beijing Park

My first time ever riding a horse. This was the day that I visited the Qi pan Mountain about 20 miles outside of Shenyang.

One of the views from the top of Qipan Mountain. The park was huge and had many things you could do such as a zoo, xiangyang temple, several mountains, a lake, horses, and many other things. It’s a really popular place to visit in the summer.

View from the top. You can see the city of Shenyang in the distance

Zack and I were the only 2 adventurers for this day. The day before our American group had just gotten back from the Culture trip provided by Liaoning University where we visited the Great wall and Xicheng pass. The day after this picture was taken was when we left for Beijing.

 

To read more about Aubrey's experiences in China, you can follow her blog: http://aubreychina.blogspot.com/

For more information about studying abroad, please visit ISU's Study Abroad website or contact Janis Halpern, Study Abroad Program Director, at (812) 237-3427 or Janis.Halpern@indstate.edu.

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