In early September last year, Quint (25, Data Science student), Emiliano (23, Economics student) and Bas (25, Economics student) landed in the middle of China. The upcoming months would be dedicated to Tilburg University’s Talent Outreach Program. The program consists of a project at a multinational company and taking a number of courses at Zhejiang University, in Hangzhou. From the first communication in April until landing, not much more had been filled in than this.
The first few days were particularly challenging. The language barrier was of course the biggest challenge, but this was not the only obstacle. Understanding and using AliPay and WeChat and finding a good working VPN connection were a day job for the first few weeks. In addition, much of the university’s bureaucracy still consists of paperwork. Extraordinary for an otherwise highly digitized country.
All three of us rented a room in the international student complex. Quite coincidentally, we are currently on their website illustrating the international student. [PHOTO1]
The campus is huge, with about 80,000 students and staff, where, by the way, in the first two weeks thousands of new students marched in military costume; an extraordinary sight.
After the first two weeks, when all obstacles had been overcome, we were left with a well-organized and modernized country. China’s edge quickly stands out, from its modern and ultra-fast trains and good subway systems to its use of smartphones for just about everything. The image you get from the Netherlands of China, which is often negative in tone, changes greatly once you get there. Besides the often justified and serious criticism of abuses and geo-political power struggles, you also see a country with hospitable and friendly people. You become impressed by the size of the country, by its history. And of its meteoric growth.
During the first few weeks, it became increasingly clear what the semester would look like. We started taking the courses we had signed up for on a paper form. In one of the newest, most modern buildings on campus, we mainly took courses on management, but we decided to take courses at other faculties as well. In many ways, a Chinese college is similar to those from the Netherlands. They just take a little longer and the Chinese English is sometimes a little harder to follow than the Dutch English.
After a while, it also became clear that we could do a project at DingTalk [PHOTO2], a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group. Together with other international students, we advised on expansion strategies. Unfortunately, we received little guidance and information from DingTalk, so we mainly worked with our project group on the university campus. Fortunately, the client was very satisfied with the results.
The subjects and the project were interesting and educational, but what we will remember most are the contacts you make. New friends from China [PHOTO3], Korea, Singapore and Tajikistan, from Sweden, Belgium and Italy. Going out together, traveling. Sometimes it was not quite clear whether we were in China or France [PHOTO 4]. Thanks to affordable high-speed rail, we discovered together the nightlife and cultural treasures of Guangzhou and Shanghai, an infamous market in Wuhan [PHOTO5], and nature around Guilin and Zhangjiajie. Experiences you won’t soon forget.
During one of the lectures, we were told that the Chinese government has scholarships for tens of thousands of students from the United States. A form of “citizen diplomacy. Such a program, like ours, seems very important to us. Unknown makes unloved and through this kind of program you get both a much broader, richer picture of the host country and of the position of the Netherlands in the world. Once back in the Netherlands, you see much better thatl we only live on a very small postage stamp and still make an impact. They know us there. It’s important to get to know them too.
