Farewell, My Dear Teachers and Friends in University of Essex

Time:2014-09-01 11:14:59 Clicks:

By Boyang ZHANG from 2010 International Commerce

Having stayed in U.K for almost two years, I’ve gained a lot. The experience abroad is both rewarding and challenging on both of my study and daily life.

Life could not be predicted in advance. At the same as other students abroad, I was forced to study abroad because I wish my dream of entering the university to come true, even though the tuition fee is higher than domestic universities paid by my parents. When I decided to go, I have known that this way is harder than studying in China. My two-year experience in U.K impressed me deeply that no matter the life or study methods, it is totally different from Chinese education ways. The only that I could do is that try my best and work harder.

First of all, the English ability is the most important skill that we need to know as International students. At the beginning of arriving U.K., I took the language classes with other international students from various countries, but it hardly to understand the classmates from other countries, even from Schotland, especially for those who did not give us class notes or PowerPoint. In addition, I could not ask teachers to repeat the points that I did not get in class because it will delay other students’ progress on study and their time. Therefore, I have to self-study English in the dorm day and night. Several months later, I made greater progress on English skills than before, such as writing, reading, and listening.

If English is the first difficulty that I must overcome when I came the U.K. at the beginning, my life abroad is the second one that I have to face to solve. The biggest problem is the food. When I was in China, it is easy to find the delicious food from campus or outside. But in the U.K., we do not have canteen in the campus, we have to eat fries and chicken or takeaway food everyday. Therefore, every one of us has to learn how to cook. It is another challenge to us. But now, almost all of us can cook well, we even cook a banquet at Spring Festival, together. It is a beautiful memory of two years life.

Another problem in my life is loneliness. It is much easier to say than to understand. Fortunately, I have some good friends, when we stay together, it is being a wonderful day.

Although there are a lot of problems and challenges, amazing things also happened in my life. United Kindom is a beautiful country. The people here are quite nice, I have several friends who are from England. They can teach me lots of local culture. And also, it is very convenient to visit other countries in Europe. I have been to Spain, Swissland, Italy and several other countries. I can taste different culture by my own tongue.

Studying abroad is a special experience, and this memory will become one of the biggest treasure of my life.