Program dates: 08/30/2015 – 12/05/2015
7 students participated on this program in Jinan, China. Through immersion in Chinese society, students have the opportunity to learn first-hand about many aspects of Chinese culture, and do in-depth research on significant issues in contemporary Chinese society, ranging from Chinese language, education, economics, politics and labor migration to family values, gender roles and people’s sense of well-being. Jinan is the capital city of Shandong Province, and excursion include Beijing and independent travel.
Recent posts [display all posts]
Academics Blog - When we are not travelling our weekly schedule is fairly consistent. Every morning we have class from 8am to around 10 or 11 am. Then we take a break until 2pm, during which time we eat lunch. We have our second class of the day at 2pm and it usually lasts until around 4pm. All […]
Field Note for Independent Project - For followers of Islam, Friday is the day when one should come to the mosque to receive a sermon and worship with other members of the community. For Muslim men this is a requirement, but women may come as they please. In Jinan, there are three mosques that are all located within the Muslim district, […]
Confucius says… - Disclaimer: I meant to publish this more than three weeks ago, but thanks to shoddy Internet, it reaches you now. “Isn’t it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn’t it also great when friends visit from distant places? If one remains not annoyed when he is not understood by people around […]
Pre-Qufu weekend - The weekend before we went to Qufu – Saturday the 31st of October and Sunday the 1st of November – I had the beginnings of a horrible cold, so our schedule was a little miserable for me. Saturday we went to a mall to watch a new movie, “Mountains May Depart,” in the morning. Don’t […]
Jiu Ding Ta - Friday October 30th we went on a field trip with the other international students – one of the first times we’ve gotten to interact with them at length, actually! – and some of the Chinese students to Jiu Ding Ta, which is a… “cultural amusement park” about an hour out of Jinan. The park’s attractions […]
SDNU’s 65th Anniversary - The last week of October was a very, very busy week – honestly, the last month and a half of the program was packed, much more so than the rest of it. We had activities pretty much every day of the week in addition to classes and preparing for our week in Qufu. On […]
Jinan Museums… - Just accept that all of my blog posts happen well-after-the-fact, and your life will be much easier (though I’m sure the Overseas department and my professors are ridiculously frustrated with me for this, oops). In late October we visited a few of Jinan’s museums. On the 21st, Half the group went to the Shandong Art […]
Tai’erzhuang - While equally late as my previous post, this post shall not be as wordy. This one will mostly be picture post, because that’s really the only way to do it justice. The last two days of the week we visited Qufu, we stayed at a hotel in the Tai’erzhuang Ancient Town of southern Shandong province. […]
Thanksgiving in China - During the week of Thanksgiving, we are in Beijing. Before this though, I thought our Thanksgiving was going to be eating duck (not turkey) and not desserts-in my mind, it was pretty much another dinner in China on Thanksgiving day. Luckily, that was not the case and I celebrated my first Thanksgiving outside of the […]
再见,济南 (Goodbye, Jinan) - We are in our final week here in Jinan. The weather has turned blustery and the air pollution has reached all time highs. On Sunday I returned from our final group trip to Beijing, which was so incredible. The city is bursting with history, politics, and a distinct international feel to it as well. Today […]