China Week is an exciting festival for Chinese students at the University. The vacancies for
Gao is one of the volunteers for China Week. She taught students how to use a writing brush (an
Gao also did voluntary service for the New International Student Orientation. She likes being a
It depends on what you want; I prefer to be a volunteer for I can make friends with people from
This semester, there are 267 Chinese students studying at The University of Akron, most in science
and engineering majors. They are from diverse areas of China, yet they share similar lifestyles and
Chao Zhang is a new graduate student who arrived in Akron this fall. Before he came, he rented
an apartment with two other Chinese students with the help of the Chinese Students and Scholar
Association (CSSA). The CSSA can help new students to arrange their lives when they first enter
We are all far from home; we surely know it’s not easy, a student who rented an apartment for
Zhang contacted him through the BBS of CSSA. President of CSSA Hui Cheng said that the goal of
CSSA is to help new students to arrange their life in the States and help them to build confidence in
Many Chinese students have experienced this kind of difficulty in their first year. Though most of
them are good at English, compared to their classmates in China, they cannot understand all speech
They speak very fast, and there is a cultural background in their utterance, I am not familiar with
This is not the most annoying part. Bo Liu, a Chinese graduate student in Electronic Engineering,
has a class on Imaging System Engineering. Her professor has an accent and his writing is hard for
I can only understand 5% of his talking. The only way to study is to learn by myself, Bo said.
Zhang doesn’t have as much difficulty with the language barrier, yet he still spends about 10 hours
a day on his studies. Every day he wakes up at 8 a.m. and cooks his meals for the day. He goes to
The most important recreational activity for the Chinese students is to get together with friends on
weekends. Every weekend, Zhang goes boating and plays soccer with some senior students. They
I’ve never been to a native American’s party because I don’t have such kind of friends, …, Zhang
Compared to Zhang, Bo Liu’s friendships are rather international. She spent a weekend listening to
music in EJ Thomas Hall with a Korean, went to a barbeque with her American landlord and visited
I am a sociable person, I cannot bear to spend a day at home, said Bo. But still, she agrees that it
Sometimes I don’t know what can be talked about and what cannot, Zhang said, Say, when we
Chinese first meet each other, we will ask ‘how old are you?’ or ‘how is your family?’ But non-
Bo holds the same idea; she knows words can have different meanings when the listener holds a
different view than she. I just want to be polite, don’t want to be offensive, for I am representing
It’s a valuable experience in life, Danyang Wu, a student in Civil Engineering said. America is a
Danyang is planning to go to San Francisco and Las Vegas with a French classmate during the
coming Christmas vacation. Another student is planning to obtain a part-time job on campus for the
month off. Though this is their first year here, they have many plans. They are enjoying their busy
UA is just like what I imagine it when I am in China. I will love the life where I am in, I won’t
” #1.1777041:897597271.JPG:chin1:Chinese student Bo Liu holds a birthday party where she invited both her Chinese and American friends to celebrate.:”
“#1.1777043:4154630520.jpg:chin2:Chinese student volunteers make dumplings at the dumpling party, the last event of China Week.:”