Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Writing from Shanghai!

Hello everyone! Even when this blog is about studying and living in Uppsala, I’m going to write from Shanghai today. I’m currently studying in Tongji University and I will be back to Uppsala next semester. I’m part of a double degree program in Computer Science and, as part of the program, I’m taking some courses in Tongji University. I have to say that I love Shanghai! It’s an amazing city! And more importantly I think Tongji University is a great place to study.

For those of you who might be interested on this program I will say that it is a great opportunity. Uppsala University is, as you probably already know, a renowned University very strong in CS research. On the other hand, Tongji is also an excellent University with tight industry relations. I’m currently taking a Data Warehouse course taught by the DW eBay team. You can see google camp posters everywhere, IBM recruitment posters, contests, etc. You will work with the latest technology.

The hardest part about studying in Tongji is the cultural differences. You might have to double check everything, talk many times to your classmates and the teachers, and be sure you know what to do. On the beginning it might seem like everything is the same as in your home country until you start having misunderstandings. Hopefully you’ll solve them very quickly and I’m sure everyone will try to help you because if I’m sure about something is that all Chinese students and teachers that I have met are nice and friendly and they will try to help you as much as they can.

I’m sorry for being away for so long! I hope you don’t forget about me and about the blog!


10 comments:

  1. Hi there, nice to hear that you are having a good time in China.... I have never been there but I would love to go some day. In Uppsala, it is snowing like crazy. In fact a snow storm is on it's way.

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  2. Thank you! It's my first time in China too :-) and I'm really enjoying it!

    I heard about the snow storm and that there is a lot of snow already! How is that going?

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  3. hi there, it's really nice to read your blog. I was hoping for some description on the chinese visa application process and procedures from sweden. How easy was it? can u please share your experience?

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  4. Hi!

    In my experience it was super easy! I went to the Chinese embassy in Stockholm (I went by car so no clue on how to get by bus). I went around 10 in the morning (I believe they close at 11:30) and there was like only 2 or 3 people waiting there. I took a number and they called me before I even had the chance to fill the visa form. I gave them my passport, a picture and a copy of the papers the university sent me (letter of admission and visa application) and that was pretty much it, 3 days later I had an F visa (I didn't pay extra to get it faster, that was the regular process).

    A friend told me that when he went there he found a long queue and he spent the whole morning there, but then again he got the visa on the same week as well.

    You might need a medical exam depending on the type of you visa but I would ask them personally if I were you.

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  5. hi thanks for your fast response... i am also a student in sino-swedish program. I have still one query, is it possible to apply for the visa early like in june?? i guess, you went to china in late august... when did u get the papers(letter of admission and visa application) from the uppsala university?
    actually i was planning to go to my home country before going to china... so if the visa processing is possible in early june then i can spend july and august in my home country.

    Also, i couldnot understand your point regarding medical exam, can u please explain?

    thanks in advance...

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  6. is there any kind of processing to be done after reaching china?

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  7. Hi!

    I understand what you mean, but sadly it doesn't depend on Uppsala. You have to get the visa application papers from Tongji and they arrived the first week of July (and as a general comment if you don't pick them up quickly, they will be sent back to China!!)

    You can try to apply with copies of the papers (but be really sure before counting on it) because I got a scanned version before they sent the originals.

    The thing is that, if you want to leave Sweden during the summer, why don't you apply for the visa in your home country? I even think you can tell them to send the papers to any address you want, Tongji will send the papers to you, not to Uppsala (or at least that was the case this year).

    About doing things after arriving to China the answer is MANY!!! You have to arrange for a place to live (even if you want to live in the campus), you have to get Internet access, register with the police, get insurance... etc etc etc. At least in my case I did a lot more things here than in Sweden, but they will tell you how to do all that once you arrive.

    The medical exam is one of the requirements for the student visa. There are more specifications on the China's embassy website but I think it's better to ask them personally. The information on the website is quite old and unclear.

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  8. Thanks for the answers, have a great time !!!

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  9. I'm glad that you like my university. :)
    Currently I am studying at Uppsala, and will be back to Tongji on June, 2011. Hope to see you then. (if you hadn't leave there..)
    ^_^

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  10. :-) I'll be back in Uppsala next semester! We can meet there! I'll be in Tongji in June anyway.

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