A comparison between Zhejiang University and the University of York

After talking about the differences between UK and China, I want to make a comparison between Zhejiang University and the University of  York.


Similarities

Both Zhejiang University and the University of York have a good reputation and rank top 10 of  all the universities in their own country. What' more, they both have large and beautiful campuses, and attract many exellent teachers and students. At last, either of them lies in a historic and beautiful city.
York is the second most atrractive city in UK, while Hangzhou is called Heaven in China.

Differences

First, Zhejiang Universuty has a much larger population than the University of  York. Our university maybe the second largest university in China and has more than 30,000 students. Secondly, we have very huge and tall teaching buldings and there aren't any kitchen or chatting rooms in them. While, the buildings here are not more than 5 levels higjh and have kitchens or  relaxing places.

to be continued... = =

Culture Differences between UK and China

It has been three and a half weeks since we came to York and I've noticed that there are many culture differences between UK and China.

Living habitats

Most of the people in York live in an independent house and have thier own garden. While in China, we usually live in flats and only have a very small balcony.  I think it may be caused by the different population. In fact, in the past, our country didn't have such a large population, many people could have their own house and garden in the countryside.

Food

People here like to drink cold water, while in China, people think that cold food will do harm to our stomach, so we prefer to boil the water and eat hot food.
Secondly, British people like sweet food very much, such as cookies, cracks, brownies, chocolates and so on.   They are relly delicious but our parents don't permit us to eat a lot in China. In most Chinese parents' opinion, stweet food will cause fatness and some illness, so we'd better not eat them or  just taste a little as snacks.
Thirdly, cooking tools or equipments are quite different   between  UK and China. My host family usually use the oven and microwave to cook.  What's more, they have a lot of folks, spoons and bowls. They don't wash the dishes immediately but just put them into the dishes washing machine and clean them later. While in China, we usually use pans to cook and clean our dishes immediately after the dinner by hand.

traditinal British food

                                                           traditinal Chines noodles


Night life

As I've mentoned in one blog, pub culture is very important in British people's life. In China, we don't go to pubs or clubs, because many people will link these places with drugs and crimes. Instead of pubs, we usually go to KTV to sing with our friends or family. Beside this, we also like to find a place to play board games or majiang ( a traditional and popular Chinese game). If old people don't like these kinds of games, they can just have a walk with their family members or pets.

                                                       People are playing majiang. ^ ^

Of course there're many other differences between UK and China, such as education, women's position and son on. I may need more time to find and compare them.

That's interesting!

Work VS Family

Yesterday we talked about the effects of globalazation to women in developing and developed countries. Through the discussion I found that the contradiction between work and family is a commom problem in both deveping and developed countries, but may be more serious in developing countries.

In China, as the economy develops, the way people live is changing greatly. In the past, women belong to the property of men and the most important thing of a woman is to get married and have many children. Nowadays women are becoming more and more independent. They can also go to school, find a job and make a living by themselves. However, this dosen't mean that women have a easier life now than whom in the past. Many women find that they have to face pressure from both the work and the family. Even though women and men have equal rights in the law, but in real life men are prior than women. They can find jods more easily and get higher salaries. In order to be treated equally as men, women must study and work harder than men. On the other hand,  many women still plays a traditional role in the family and they have to spend a lot of time doing the housework and taking care of children. It's quite difficult to find a balance piont between the work and the family.

After coming to York, I found that my host mother did almost all of the housework and still worked everyday. She liked her job very much and lived a colorful life.

In my opinion, every woman should face the truth that the contradiction really exists, but they should also  balance work and life in an optimistic and effective way.

      

Endless Dreams

This morning I went to school as usual. Walking along the familiar road, I enjoyed the blue sky and clear air, while I suddenly realized that next week I would be sitting in the classroom of Zhejiang University and would never walk along this road again. A little sadness came to me and reminded me of the similar feeling when I left Guizhou last summer.

In 2009, I went to a remote mountain village in Guizhou Province and taught in a primary school as a volunteer during my summer holiday. People there were friendly, simple and honest. They treated us as their important guests or their own children. I loved my little students very much and developed a deep feeling with them. When the summer holiday ended, I had to go back to Zhejiang. My little friends made many gifts for me and cried sadly when we said goodbye.

After I came back to the school, I missed the village very much. Sometimes, I felt it was just a beautiful dream but I never wanted to wake up.
While I was taking this program here, I was fascinated by the beautiful nature and moved by the friendly people. Sometimes, I felt my life in the past was just a dream. Everyday I was busy studying and improving different skills, but I couldn't find their meaning. In my opinion, the nature and people's true love are the greatest things in the world. However, we couldn't get them just through learning from the schools or books and experiencing might be a better way for us to understand the world around us.

Partly because of this, I took the chance to get here. Through the short three weeks, I have learned a lot about the culture, the language and the people. People in York are very kind and they live in harmony with the nature. Even pets and wild birds can get respect here. I really love this atmosphere and want to live longer to learn more about it. However, it’s time to say goodbye again and I’m sure that I will miss the lovely city and the lovely people here.

Dreams will continue...

Endless

Oxford & Cambridge Shelley & Bronte

Last weekends we went to Oxford and Cambridge and had two really nice days. They are both university cities and have many colleges in them. Different colleges have different symbols, different regulations and different cultures. Although, colleges have many individual rights, they are all in the control of the university. It’s quite different in China. We don’t have university cities and all universities are in control of the Education Department. Our universities don’t have such a long history like Oxford, but we’re trying our best to learn from western countries and improve the quality of our universities.

When I was wandering in a garden of a library in Oxford, I happened to find a little museum in memory of Shelley. In that museum I got a lot of knowledge about Shelly and his wife Mary Shelly. The couple both achieved high in literature, but they lived together just for a short time and their life was misery. That reminded me of the Bronte Sisters. The Bronte family was totally a tragic but the sisters created so excellent novels. Is there a relation between suffering and genius?

Maybe because the genius has unique characteristics—they’re more sensitive and feel more deeply about the life, they have to suffer more than us. However, on the contrary, the genius’ talent may due to their hard life. It may be the hard life that builds up the great characteristics which make a genius different from ordinary people. 

（This is a diary which I wrote one week ago.)

Pub Culture

Long long ago, when I was a little girl, my aunt and her boy friend took me to a disco. It's very dark but has many lights with different colors. Many young people crowded with each other, drunk, talked and danced. In order to make my aunt happy, his boy friend bought a lot of delicious food and drinks for me. Even though I liked the food and drinks very much, I still felt that disco was a chaotic and dangerous place which related with crazy people and crime. So I had never been to another disco any more before I came to York.

It was at night when we arrived in York. My host parents Jacquie and Barry picked us and drove around the city centre. Through the window of the car, I found many young people gathering together and talking outside the bars. Barry told me that there were many pubs and bars in York and young people liked to go there at night. Why did people like to go to that kind of place? This puzzled me and I became curious about pubs and bars here.

Through other people and the Internet, I've konwn that there are differences among pubs, bars and clubs. In a bar, you can have a drink; in a pub, you can also eat some food; in a club, you can even get a place to dance. What's more, different pubs, bars and clubs have different styles and themes. Therefore, people from different tribes may go to differnet places.

The first pub I went is called Revolution. It was quite modern and had many hot songs. Young people here only wore a little just like spending their summer holidays. There were many kinds of beer, whisky, vodka, cocktails and so on. I drunk a little cup of  vodka and a big cup of Guinness. Both of  them tasted good. Besides drinking, we told jokes and played some games. Beyond the window, there was River Ouse and the wind was very cool.

After that, I also went to a few bars when we went to Edinburgh. There happened to be a football game between Scotland and Welsh. Because of this, almost every bar was full of crazy fans. When we walked into a bar, we felt embarrased because we had no idea about football. However, people there were very friendly. They told us friendship was more important than the game and welcomed us to join them, so we talked with them and enjoyed a nice night.

Now I've totally changed my view of pubs or bars. Pub culture is very important in British people's  life. People go to pubs to relax, communicate with others and even do some business. Therefore, pub has played an important role in promoting sociability.

In our country, parents always tell us that bars or clubs are full of bad people and we should never go there. Is it ture? Maybe after coming back to China, I will go and have a look. @_@

About Love

Today is Valentine's Day. When I woke up to prepare my breakfast, I saw two bunches of red roses and a beautiful pink card lying on the table beside the front door. On the cover of  the card, it wrote " To Barry" . I didn't  know what was inside the card, but I guessed that there must be some lovely and gentle words from the bottom of Jacquie's heart.

I felt warm and was moved by these little gifts. Jacquie and Barry both have more than two children and they have got married and been parents for a long time. It is said that passionate love only lasts for 3 years and the lovers finally become relatives. However, Jacquie and Barry still love each other and live a romantic life.

Everyday they call each other Honey or Darling and care about each other after a day's work. One day when we went to Designer Outlet, Jacquie nearly  fell down to the ground because of her bad heels. Barry held her immediately, asked how she was feeling and held her hands tightly. After that, we went to Outlet and Barry went straight to the shoe shop and bought a new pair of shoes for Jacquie. This is only one example and I can feel Jacquie and Barry' love towords each other from many details in our daily life. Maybe their love is not as passinate as that in movies, but it's quite realistic and full of true emotions.

In China, people, especially the old generation, are shy to express their love to the other half. For example, my grandparents have lived together since they got married when they were very young ( traditional chinese tend to get married as early as they can). They konw each other very well and love each other deeply, but they never call each other Honey or Darling, on the contrary, they call each other Paying A Thousand Knives which has the similar meaning with Goddamn.(= =! That's their strange and implicit way to show the love.) 

However, the young generation are quite different with the old generation. They tend to be open minded and show their love in a straightforward or romantic way. Maybe many people want to have perfect and dramatic love, but I think natural and simple love is most beautiful.

Happy valentine's day to everyone!  O(∩_∩)O~

Land & Home

Yesterday, we went to Haworth and visited Bronte Personage Museum.
Through the window of the bus, I was totally fansinated by the beautiful blue sky, the endless green land, the lovely farmhouses and the white fat sheep. It was my first time to see such high and pure sky. Even though I was just a passerby or a traveller, I couldn't help to jumping out of the car to hug with the land. How happy the people here were! Because they had their fertile land and created their sweet home.
Suddenly, fragments which came from the novels (such as GONE WITH THE WIND), movies and history books become an integrated whole-I understood that why people regarded land as their life and the relationship between land and home.
Rooted on the rich land, people worked industriously, created their home and family and live in harmony with the nature. They knew where they came from, who they were and what they belonged to.

But how about us?
We were born in the jungle of cities. Everyday, we have to crowd with each other and compete with each other. We've lost the relation with our great mother-the land and the nature and have to find our way back home  lonely.Who are we? Where do we come from? Many doubts puzzle us and may last through our whole life.

Standing on the land and overlooking the sky above, maybe in this way, we can find our way home.


（It's a picture from the Internet...)