School and Classes in China

For anyone going back to school after co-op, transitioning back to class is always an interesting process. More so especially when doing your classes abroad. So far there have been quite a number of surprising differences between classes at Northeastern and here at East China Normal University. This semester I’m taking 4 classes: Chinese Language, Chinas Economic Reforms, China’s Macroeconomic Impact and Chinese Film & Society. For all of these classes, we were given our textbooks as part of our tuition. Every morning, Monday to Thursday, the day starts with a 2 hour Chinese Language class. For all students on my study abroad program, regardless of language level, we all have language class at the same time. It’s been really rewarding so far having language class everyday and seeing how much you can improve in just one week. There are only 5 students in my Chinese Language class so it’s also been a really great bonding experience for us as we spend so much time together. For all my other classes we meet once a week for 3 hours. Having three 3 hour classes has been definitely a challenging difference, but it’s nice being able to learn so much material in an efficient way. For these classes, there are usually 20-30 students in each. A lot of the curriculum we discuss in class touches upon lots of recent events affecting the US and China. For instance, many professors are excited to discuss how President Trumps policies will affect not only Americas economy, but China’s as well.The most memorable moments in class have definitely been the realizations we made of how impactful each country is to each another. Another interesting aspect of our curriculum is how controversial it was only recently to discuss these topics aloud. A lot of movies we watch in Film class were previously banned in China or almost destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Even just talking about domestic government policies can be a touchy subject so it’s insightful hearing how professors approach these issues. Because many of the events and problems we talk about only recently happen, even our professors do not know the full consequences of everything. China is such a fast changing country and our classes surely have emphasized that.