Young and Talented Magazine
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Transcript of Young and Talented Magazine
Chinese talent in Belgium
Univers ity Col lege Thomas
More 2 0 1 2 ‐ 2 0 1 3
A STUDENTLIFE TO BE
REMEMBERED
USEFUL TIPS FOR HER AND HIM
THOMAS MORE?
THE THINGS YOU
SHOULD KNOW.
The
INTERNATIONAL
OFFICE: AT YOUR
SERVICE
ZHANG ZHENG
ALL THE WAY
FROM THE EAST
P a g e 2
Content
Editorial Do you also want to know how to live as a foreigner in Belgium? Are you interested in the experience of Chi‐
nese students in our school? Then you should definitely take a look at this magazine!
First you can read about Yapeng, Zhen, Jingjie, Bijun and Thang. These five Chinese students have come to
Belgium to study. You can find out how they experience this exchange program. They were willing to share
their opinion about the educa on in our school, the teachers and the Belgian culture.
Secondly, there is the story of Thai‐Binh who went from Belgium to Shanghai. If you want to do the same,
you should definitely read about her experience because she gives some useful ps. If you have never heard
of a culture shock before we will tell you all about it.
This magazine also offers you the chance to really dip into the Chinese culture. You can learn to write Chinese
characters and to fold jiaozi. If you have no idea what we’re talking about then quickly jump to page five.
Last but not least, we as undergraduates give you some advice so you’re school experience will be successful.
We, the writers of this magazine invite you to read this “students‐only” magazine. It’s interes ng because it is
wri en by students who have the same expecta ons as you:
To enrol in a school where you can feel good about yourself, learn and experience other cultures. When you’re
graduated you’ll be ready for the job of your dreams.
Sarah Cho radjah, Loni Beckers, Avalon Verrijken and Berthe Maes
C h i n e s e t a l e n t i n B e l g i u m
Spoken by the editors ………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 2
Life in Belgium as a foreigner……………………………………………………………………………. Page 3
Belgium going to China……………………………………………………………………………………… Page 4
Thai‐Binh about culture shock …………………………………………………..…………………….. Page 4
Ni hao…………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 5
Tips for a successful school experience ……………………………………………………..……… Page 6
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…. Page 6
Life in Belgium as a foreigner
P a g e 3
Hello everyone, Yapeng, Zhen, Jingjie, Bijun and I, Thang are exchange students from China. We came to Mechelen to study interior design for a whole year. In this ar cle we are going to share how we experienced our life in Belgium as a foreigner, how we experienced our exchange programme and what we think about the educa on.
It’s 4 pm. We are all very red. We just arrived at Brussels airport. It is our first foreign experience so we are really excited! But at the same me, we are also scared. Our English is not up to scratch so we hope
people in Belgium will understand us.
A er ge ng our luggage we went to buy a cket to Mechelen. Since we didn’t know that there were two train sta ons in Mechelen, we got off the train in ‘Mechelen Nekkerspoel’. We were a li le bit confused so we asked a guy from the sta on how we could go to our room. Thankfully he understood us and replied us that our room is a bit far to walk with all those suitcases. He advised us to buy another cket to go to Mechelen.
The first day at college was a really nice experience. The college of Mechelen has separate campuses spread through‐ out the city, which is very different from our college in China. Our school in China is three or
four mes the size of Thomas More Mechelen. The rela onship between teachers and students is completely different here. Teachers and students are equal here, whereas in China, we have to worship our teachers. Students are so lucky to have teachers like them.
Now we do understand why our teacher in China recommended this college for our exchange program.
At present we have already spent 2 weeks in Mechelen. At first we were scared because one of our friends told us that Belgian people don’t like Asians, but now
we don’t think like that anymore. On the contrary, we think Belgian people are quite friendly.
A thing that s ll really strikes us is that people over here eat a lot of potato chips. We tried it as well at a fes val organized by school, called ‘Fes pal’. The taste was good but we can’t consider it as a meal, but just as a snack. We must admit that we have not adapted to eat Belgium food every day. We need rice! We truly miss our Chinese food. Luckily, we have our own kitchen, so we can easily cook Chinese food there. We recommend other Chinese students to bring a rice cooker with them. It doesn’t mean that we don’t like Belgian food. I love Belgian ice cream. Zehn just loves the bague e. We all adore Brussels waffles. We don’t have this kind of food in China.
In less than 3 weeks we have already visited the big ci es such as Leuven, Antwerp, Brussels and Bruges. We had lots of fun. Students ask us why we don’t spend our me in the bar. To be honest, we don’t like that kind of lifestyle. We need sleep at night! During our spare me we really enjoy the fact that we are allowed to use Facebook and Youtube. In China these web‐sites are forbidden.
Of course, we all miss our family. If we want to talk to them we use QQ messenger. Our family told us to enjoy each and every minute in Mechelen. They are so proud of us because we are studying here. We really love Mechelen and when we are back in China, we will definitely recommend other Chinese students to do an ex‐change program here in Mechelen.
C h i n e s e t a l e n t i n B e l g i u m
P a g e 4
C h i n e s e t a l e n t i n B e l g i u m
From Belgium to China Thai‐Binh Ho Van is a former student who graduated from Lessius Mechelen – IRM Asian Rela ons last year, in 2012. To complete her educa on program, she decided to go on an interna onal in‐ternship, and she chose China. She went to the Hutong School in Shanghai, where she was a marke ng intern. In the interview we spoke about a culture shock, her future, her rela onship with Tho‐mas More and other things.
A.V.: Why China? Why not another Asian country? Thai‐Binh Ho Van: “To be honest, I don’t really know why I chose China. I think I chose China because Chinese is a part of my educa ‐on, but also because in a few years, China is going to be the most important country in the world for business. Everyone wants to go to China to have the opportunity to have a successful career. Plus, it is a once in a life me experience!”
A.V.: Did you choose Thomas More because of the interna onal internship? T‐B H.V.: “I chose to study at Thomas More both for the educa on provided – IRM Asian studies, plus the interna onal internship. IRM appealed to me because of the mix between languages, computer skills and Chinese. I wanted to study only Chinese at first but figu‐red I would miss out on the other languages and computer skills. So I decided to go for IRM.”
A.V.: And what do you miss about China? T‐B H.V.: “I do miss the food, but I also miss my apartment, my friends and the interna onal contacts I had at the Hutong School. Plus, I do miss the exci ng lifestyle that Shanghai has to offer. As I was born and raised in Mechelen, I was not used to that lively life‐style. But I have to say, it was really fun! Shanghai is in no way com‐parable to any city we have here in Belgium.”
Thank you very much Thai‐Binh for your me !
“I can’t say I suffered from a real culture shock. Since I was a child, I have been used to travelling to my family in Vietnam. I think I did not suffer from a culture shock because the cultures between China and Vietnam have a lot in common. I am used to the “Asian” culture! There are o en two sides. Even though technology is very pre‐sent in Asia, that does not prevent them of being much a ached to the tradi ons. So even in a very modern city as Shanghai, the tradi ons remains.”
A rule of thumb to keep in mind while in Asia:
“In Asian families, the children need to be very respec ul to their parents. You don’t consider your parents as friends, but as older and wiser persons. You usually ad‐dress your parents in a formal tone. The same applies to Asian business culture. Always be very respec ul with people who are higher up in the hierarchy. You don’t want to look impolite and rude!”
Thai-Binh about culture shock
P a g e 5
Ni hao 你好
Ni Hao means: Hi, how are you? in Chinese. If you are good at learning languages, then why not try studying Chi‐nese? It’s not as hard as it seems. You’ll quickly master the four tones in which they speak and you’ll also learn how to write in characters. You can try wri ng Ni Hao in the grid below, this is the way you’ll learn how to write Chinese characters in class.
Ms Verstegen teaches you how to write, read and speak Chinese. A er three years of studying Chinese you’ll be an advanced starter in the Chinese language. Of course you’ll be able to do an internship in China which will be a great boost for your language knowledge and skills. According to Ms Verstegen the students in her class are very mo vated. She wants to keep it this way by giving fun and interac ve courses. She uses a lot of footage, audio files, and texts. She also invites Chinese exchange students to her class so they can tell the students about their lives in China. Ms Verstegen is up to date with the technology. That’s why she explains how to write Chinese on a computer and she lets the students do their homework on Edmodo, a Facebook look‐a‐like. As you can see, the courses are very diversified thanks to the different wri ng and speaking exercises. “I’m very glad some of my student travel to Shanghai to do their internship. They will experience what the Chi-nese language and culture is really like. I want my students to become really aware of the Chinese culture. That is the reason why I organise a cooking event every year, during Chinese New Year. The students can come and fold dumplings, or jiaozi, together with my Chinese friends.”, Ms verstegen, teacher Chinese language and culture. Want to taste the real dumplings; take a look at this recepy: h p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=513av58P9y4
C h i n e s e t a l e n t i n B e l g i u m
Here are some ps for those of you who’ll take the next big step: going to college or abroad. The fact that you’ll go somewhere totally different, where you will meet new people, can all be very in mida ng. Even if you’ll speak in another language! Here are some ps that can help you adjust to this new environment:
Be prepared!
It’s crucial to do some research before you start to become the next super student. Take a long hard look, not in the mirror, but on the Thomas More website. Maybe you’ll find an interes ng study programme which you haven’t even thought about. h p://www.lessius.eu/
Enjoy your student life
If you are one of those who don’t just go to class to expand their knowledge but also to have some fun and meet new people, then you will love being a member of one of the student associa ons.. Oh and don’t for‐get: never stop being yourself.
No Worries
If you have plans to go abroad, but you don’t know where to begin this process. Then there is the Interna‐onal office. They will help you with all the different stages of your enrolment, for example, comple on of
paper work, finding an internship company and a place to live. You can all the informa on you need here: h p://www.lessius.eu/english/about‐us/interna onal‐office‐lessius‐mechelen
Get a degree
It’s not all about fun and games. Be eager to learn and be mo vated during school projects. In the end you will be proud of what you have achieved. You’ll also find out soon enough that what you learned at Thomas More is not just theory; you will have learned how to work hard and how to do what you do best. So a er you graduate you will be ready to start working.
Tips for a successful school experience
C h i n e s e t a l e n t i n B e l g i u m
We would like to thank our readers and hope they liked our Intercultural magazine at Thomas More! If you’d like to
go abroad, don’t hesitate! All the persons we have interviewed are posi ve about it: it was a once in a life me ex‐
perience. Don’t be scared, and take your future a step further: come to Thomas More, the school where you’re not
a number, but a person. Want More? Come to a school with fabulous interna onal internship and educa on op‐
portuni es!
Conclusion
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