Hi! My name is Lisa, and I’m about to be a second year Games Art and Design student.
I would normally ignore emails that the school sends about exchange opportunities; truthfully because it seems like a lot of effort, money, and not to mention way out of my comfort zone.
Though, this changed when my boyfriend saw an email about an opportunity to attend a summer school in China, where we would be learning about Artificial Intelligence at the School of Arts, Nanjing University. At first I was extremely skeptical, I’ve never travelled so far before, not to mention I really couldn’t care for AI. But, alas, after having a chat with his parents as they talked to me about how this was a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ and that we’re ‘young with nothing to lose’, I was convinced.
With my mind made up, next step was to apply. People who showed interest were asked to write a 200 word email explaining why they think they should be chosen to go.
I did as asked, but to be honest, I didn’t have high hopes that I would get in. I was honest in my email about my thoughts on AI, as I disagreed with many aspects of it. Nevertheless, a few weeks later, both me and my boyfriend received emails that we had been accepted!
A few contracts and risk assessments later, we had our plane/train tickets booked and were ready for our two week trip to Nanjing!
Arrival
We arrived in Shanghai at 7am on a Sunday morning, ready to be picked up at the airport by one of my boyfriend’s flatmates who so happened to live nearby.
It was pretty awesome to be shown around the city by someone who lived there, though admittedly I was half-asleep for most of it.
First Week
First week of summer school; lots of early mornings, late evenings, and many lectures to be had. Though most of this week was spent doing schoolwork, don’t think it wasn’t enjoyable! As much as I didn’t care for the course, having specialists from all kinds of fields speak so passionately about what they studied made me as interested as everyone else! And the evenings after school was always awesome, going out to eat with a bunch of new people everyday to try out a variety of different Chinese cuisines.
Weekend
This weekend was the reason I was excited to come in the first place.
On the Saturday, the University had organised for us to not only go and explore the Nanjing Museum (one of the largest and oldest museums in China), but also go and visit Nanjing’s famous Porcelain Tower!
Then on Sunday, all of us were given the freedom to do whatever we wanted, and so me and my boyfriend had planned on properly exploring Shanghai; but this time, without the jet-lag!
Unfortunately, neither day went particularly as I expected it too.
The Saturday was a little chaotic, as having so much to do in just a few hours became very unrealistic! We unfortunately had to skip much of the museum, and unbeknownst to me, the Porcelain Tower was in fact not Porcelain anymore since its destruction in 1856, and is now made entirely out of glass and steel.
Having said this, you really can’t deny the view at the top of that tower. Definitely worth almost missing the coach back to the hotel!
And Shanghai? Prevented by a rather inconveniently timed typhoon. Instead, me and a new friend I’d made decided to explore some of the older parts of Nanjing, which I have to say was truly the highlight of my trip. The old Chinese architecture is unbelievably gorgeous, no matter where you are in the country.
Second Week
This was a hardcore study week for everyone! We were all put into groups and tasked to use AI to meet a creative brief we had been given. Sounds easy enough, but believe me, not many people wanted to join for chill dinners this week! Thankfully I still managed to scout out some people who would explore with me, but it tended to be the same group of Southampton students I had made friends with… we were certainly less stressed than the local students! Likely due to how strict China is academically, as we had learnt on our many dinners with our Chinese classmates.
Of course we all still worked very hard (everyone’s final products were super cool), but when in China, exploring must always be had!
Departure
I’ll be honest, I was incredibly excited to go home. There was many ups of course but also many downs, as it is with travelling.
But this is not to say I regretted going, not at all. I made so many friends and learnt so much about Chinese culture and its people, valuable experience I wouldn’t have gained if I had just gone there on holiday.
Now for a few tips for future students:
- Expect to be jet-lagged. It took me a whole week to for my body clock to adjust. Don’t make the same mistake I did and expect to do a lot the second you land, it’s not good to push yourself and end up feeling worse than you started.
- Don’t study too hard! It’s a summer school, not your finals. This is not to say you should be a slacker, that’s unfair for everyone else, but you’re half way across the world! Go enjoy yourself!
- Expect plans to go wrong. If you expect things to go wrong you won’t be nearly as disappointed as you would be if you had everything planned out perfectly. It’s good to have a plan of course, but don’t count on them. Have a plan B.
- Don’t be afraid to talk to everyone, and I mean everyone, not just the fellow international students. The local Chinese students are just as fun and lovely, there’s nothing a translation app can’t fix! Trust me, they know all the best food places!