Stories from Abroad

The internship allowed me to learn a lot of knowledge outside the course, experience the college life of Chinese college students, master different learning methods given by different teachers, learn more detailed knowledge and experience, and make new friends.

In the exchange study, I found that the learning methods of Chinese students were different from those of Russia in the further study, which allowed me to spend a lot of time in understanding knowledge. I also needed to communicate with classmates and ask questions of teachers to solve problems in different ways. In the future exchange study, I hope I can give answers to different problem solving methods and understand different solutions, and allow students to answer questions in a variety of ways.

I have not encountered any special difficulties in exchange learning, because the current exchange learning is convenient and fast, and many problems can be solved with the help of many classmates and friends. As an exchange student in China, I don't need a visa.

I listen to teachers' teaching methods more in my study, consult classmates and teachers when I don't know how to solve problems, and even seek solutions from Chinese students. I interact with teachers more in the course, which can increase my language knowledge

There is no additional tuition fee for the exchange study, and accommodation fee of 1200 RMB is required. The cost of living is about 1500 yuan per month, which depends on personal consumption habits. On the way, the air ticket is about 800 yuan, and there is 50 yuan online car to get to the school.

Being an exchange student at Tianjin University of Technology (TUT) has been a very valuable and unique experience in my life. This year, I experienced a brand new teaching system, constantly adapted to and overcame difficulties, and finally handed in a satisfactory answer paper to myself. This year, I made a lot of new friends, both in study and life are of great help to me.
The biggest achievement is that I learned the skills of paper writing by following the footsteps of my professional course teachers. The school provided me with the latest official channel of data review, and conducted research on the degradation performance of C3N4 dye under photocatalysis in team cooperation. I also understand and understand the application of professional knowledge in practice through the other side. This exchange experience has enabled me to have a deeper thinking about the next stage of development and a more systematic plan for my future study and work.

Difficulties before my internship
Since Chinese is my mother tongue, my language and life in this academic mobility program are very smooth and there are no problems. Just at the beginning of each semester, we choose courses. I chose this course according to my teaching syllabus, but I don't know much about the course content and classroom setting of TUT, and I can't find equivalent replacement courses for individual courses in the teaching syllabus, so it was a little difficult at the beginning.
However, with the careful help of the teachers in the academic affairs Office, the counselor and the monitor, the problem was quickly solved and the study got on the right track. Therefore, we should learn more about the helpful courses in addition to the courses corresponding to the outline. We can choose to study later and enrich our exchange life.

My visa process
Since I am Chinese, I do not need to apply for valid documents such as visa during this exchange study, and I am not familiar with this process. If you need to know, you can go to the study abroad service center, the embassy, the international office of the school to understand and prepare.

Difficulties after arrival
I didn't encounter any major difficulties when I came to China. It was just that China had not lifted the COVID-19 control measures when I was studying as an exchange student, so there were restrictions on where students could come from before the start of the semester. If there are cases in the residence, the return to school must be postponed or quarantined in a separate room upon return; If there are no cases in the residence, they can return to school normally. Now that controls have been lifted, the road back to school is easier.

Main expenses
Generally speaking, the cost of overseas internship is not high this year. Because I am a Chinese, I do not need to apply for any visa. As long as you need to travel or go home in each holiday, you can buy air tickets, etc. The demand for this cost is determined by the individual, and the ticket price is also real-time price, slightly variable. The fixed consumption during the school period is basically only dormitory fees and living expenses, which are 1200 yuan (about 12,000 Roubles)/year for four rooms and 800 yuan (about 8,000 roubles)/year for six rooms.
Three meals a day in the canteen, about 30-40 yuan/day. In addition, I may ride a shared bike every day for 2 yuan per ride, depending on my needs and distance. Most off-campus trips are made by subways, buses, taxis and shared bikes. Subways charge according to the distance taken, and buses charge according to different routes. In case of emergency, online car booking can also be used. Subway and bus are the cheapest, most comprehensive and safest way to travel, which I personally recommend more.

Although there were a few hiccups in the middle of the internship, the impression of the training was great. I gained not only a unique university experience at Beijing Jiaotong University, but I also gained like-minded teachers and classmates. For me, this internship was like a social lesson. I learned a lot fr om it, such as how to get along with professors at a Chinese university, how to adapt to a different learning experience, and of course how to brainstorm with my fellow students at BJTU and how we ended up presenting a group work together.

All these experiences have made me a better version of myself and a better job. During this internship, through the academic discussions with professors and fellow students, I have a clearer idea of my future research direction, a clear framework of what I want to do in the future, a new goal for myself, and of course a new challenge, but I am not afraid of challenges I will meet them.

About difficulties before departure
It is inevitable that you will encounter new challenges and difficulties in a new place. I think the main problem I had at BJTU was that I could not get accurate first-hand information, and some of the information I needed to get was through my classmates' classmates. For example, when I was taking some classes, some teachers changed their teachers' information or changed their hours, and we were not able to get it first, which led to missing or wasting a trip.

I think my suggestion for this is that we would like to be matched with a teacher at the university wh ere we are doing our internship who would be responsible for the exchange of students so that it would save us a lot of time and increase our efficiency.

Also, the teacher in charge of our school did not take care of the costs of the exchange university, which caused us to miss the right start time and of course caused us financial losses, which I would not like to see. I believe that an exchange is an exchange program between students from different schools and that a 'student exchange' is a program that aims to improve mutual understanding and respect between people from different regions and countries and to develop a world view among young people.

If we have to pay for expensive credits during the exchange, it cannot be called an exchange itself. So I hope that the school will pay attention to this and strengthen the communication between the school leaders and the different schools to achieve the best cooperation. I believe that our school is the best school and we are able to improve when there are problems, which is the key to success in a good university.

For future participants in academic mobility, I have a few points to make:
Firstly, in the future, you will encounter challenges and difficulties, large and small, and all you need to do is to rise to the occasion, learn to think calmly, and find solutions to problems. I don't think anyone wants to go through setbacks, but I don't think they are terrible, they give us the opportunity to rethink and give us the strength to grow. A person who has stood the test of time and withstood it, you see they have the resilience in themselves and the experience to deal with tough things.

Secondly, it is definitely not easy to adapt to a new environment, but we should adapt to new life and new things as soon as possible and learn to teach new friends because they will help you to get over the discomfort of a new environment much sooner. Find out more about the beauty of life and develop more of your own interests so that you can make good friends with people who share your interests.

Thirdly, you must be open-minded, take my experience at Beijing Jiaotong University, my classmates at Beijing Jiaotong University are more and more excellent, they are high achievers, we must be open-minded, discuss with them often you will gain a lot but premise is that you must be humble, I gained a lot at Beijing Jiaotong University, also let me know exactly which area I want to work in the future, which area of research, and It's not just anyone who can inspire you.
I think that's all the advice I have, I hope my advice can help you.

Suggestions for future academic mobility program participants on getting a visa
I am in fact a Chinese national, I am on exchange at a Chinese university and I do not need a visa. I'm sorry that I can't advise the university on this. But I can give some visa advice to students who are going on exchange. Remember that no matter what happens we must talk to the teachers in charge of our school, they are our strongest support, and of course, we have a good school behind us to protect us. It is important to get your visa in advance as the requirements vary from country to country and the sooner you do so the better.

My expenses of the overseas internship
I had to pay a lot of fees during my internship, not to mention the money for transport, but the most expensive was the cost of accommodation during my stay at the school and the cost of credits due to the teachers who were not communicating properly.

So I hope that the school will take communication more seriously, or at least not have a situation like this again. The food at my exchange school was not that expensive, the school had a partnership with the local government so the food was very cheap and varied, which was great and gave me a taste of different Chinese regions, which I loved. Public transport is very cheap as China has a complex and convenient transport network and it is very easy and cheap to get around.

As for tips on how to save money, I think we should plan how much money we should spend each month and then break down how much money we need to spend each month.

For example, how much money I need to spend on clothes, food, accommodation, travel, and the fact that there are all kinds of local offers, so we should learn to look at local offers and you will save a lot of money. If the school can let us cook our own meals, that would be another great way to save money on food.

During my study in Beijing Jiaotong University, I worked as an English teacher and a model, which increased my social experience and earned my first bucket of gold in life, which is a very valuable experience.

About challenges
The biggest difficulty I encountered in Beijing Jiaotong University was dealing with local students. They are all excellent people, and I can only become good friends with them by trying to be as good as they are. After arriving there was no suffering. Thank my classmates for helping me a lot. Maybe I need some interpersonal relationships.

Suggestions for future academic mobility program participants
This is simple, just do it. I suggest future students to take part in more exchange programs, so that they can make more good friends and enrich their life experience.

Your tips to reduce costs.
The living cost in Beijing Jiaotong University is not very high. For accommodation, we live in the international student apartment, which is the highest dormitory in Beijing University. The price is 1600 rmb per month for a single room with a bathroom, compared with the price of 5000 rmb per month in Beijing. I didn't want to spend too much money from my family, instead, I will spend my spare time in Beijing Jiaotong University to work and earn money.

Not only learned about the differences between Chinese and Russian education, but also made friends there...

What have you achieved?

I appreciate the exchange experience. It's a great opportunity. Through this chance, I developed more regular learning habits and learned about China's university education system. During the one-year exchange study in Beijing Jiaotong University, I successfully improved my learning ability and had a clearer goal for the future. Through various courses, I have learned a wealth of knowledge. I worked with students from Beijing Jiaotong University to do group work, which enhanced my practice of cooperative learning and improved my communication skills.

Can you provide suggestions for future academic mobility program participants?

In the early stage of exchange study, we first need to adapt to the learning environment there. Secondly, we should get to know the students of Beijing Jiaotong University quickly so that we can do group work together. In addition, we need to master the teaching methods there as soon as possible and adjust the learning style. Although, we ran into some problems. But counselors and teachers helped us solve these problems as quickly as possible and fit us into the college environment. My advice to future participants in academic mobility programs is not to be afraid of questions and obstacles, but to actively engage with teachers who will help you.

Describe your visa process.

Since I am a Chinese national, I do not need to apply for a visa for exchange study in China. However, if necessary, you can find the relevant documents for visa processing on the official website of the embassy.

Difficulties did you encounter when you came to overseas institutions?

I did not encounter any major difficulties in my exchange study at Beijing Jiaotong University. However, due to the pandemic, we delayed the opening of the school and prepared many procedures, such as nucleic acid certificate and vaccine certificate. Also, I suggest you bring some bedding and short-term toiletries, in case you don't have time to pick them up during your first days on campus.

About cost of the overseas internship

I don't need to apply for a visa, so I'm not sure about the fees. I took the high-speed train to Beijing. The ticket cost about 400 yuan. The accommodation is very good and the living expenses are about 2000 yuan a month. Textbooks can be purchased online or in the school second-hand group, which is very convenient. As for the food, I am a little worried about it, but the school provides a halal canteen, which is very convenient for me. Transportation, out of the subway and bus, very convenient. Ticket prices are based mainly on distance. As long as you do not often go out to spend, shopping, will not have too high expenses.