NYU Shanghai--food heaven.

Hi Ladies!!

Since I am studying abroad again this semester, I will continue to blog about my experiences.  This semester I am in Shanghai; I am taking B-Law and Intro to Marketing.  I'm not sure how B-Law is like in the city but this semester they changed the professor and the course; it is much more difficult and the workload is a bit more.  It's already been a month since I've arrived in Shanghai... I honestly have to say that I'm not in love with this study abroad site but maybe that's because I keep comparing everything to my semester in Prague. As for now, my opinion of Shanghai is mediocre.  The weather is not the best; we rarely get sunshine.  It's either raining everyday or every other day and it's mostly cloudy everyday.  Hopefully the weather will get warmer soon; it's supposed to get to the 50s (Fahrenheit) in late March.  

Shanghai is a huge city and it does take a good 1/2-1 hr to commute from place to place.  If you are a big fan of food, Shanghai is definitely a place you'd want to go to; food is extraordinary in Shanghai.  Food taste good and is extremely cheap.  Here are some pictures:

There are plenty of opportunities in Shanghai.  If you want to travel within China, it's definitely do-able during the weekends; you can simply travel by train or buses to small villages and other provinces outside of Shanghai.  I am currently interning for a food and beverage company, David Laris Creates.  This internship is very interesting; I am doing a lot of marketing and PR work which is great for my major.  During the second week of Shanghai, we had a internship fair and over a dozen companies were present for students to talk to.  A lot of students are interning for these companies now.

I am living off campus and my apartment is beautiful; we all have singles (either three/four rooms) and the rooms are decent sized.  The on campus housing isn't not bad either, it's on campus and thus the commute to the actual building where classes are is only a 5 minute walk.  For off campus students , due to the mandatory chinese classes (either 9:00 or 10:30), NYU provides a shuttle bus that brings us to school every morning.  Commuting back from school is not hard, we can either take the taxi (14RMB... approximately $2) back home. The train and bus system is massive but very easy to learn.

Now the night life... night life in Shanghai is pretty awesome; there are a lot of clubs that "youngsters" go to.  However, of course you should always go in a group to be safe.  If you are looking into studying in Prague or Shanghai and have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at lisa.hu@stern.nyu.edu!

Talk to you soon!

Lisa

Reasons to study abroad in Europe:

London to Stockholm

Hey everyone!!
I'm Stephanie, the webmaster for USWIB, and I'm also studying in London this semester!


This is my first time in Europe, and I know I'm stating the obvious, but definitely take advantage of all of the opportunities to travel if/when you go abroad! Last weekend, I found myself in Stockholm, Sweden. SWEDEN! Of all places. But honestly, sometimes the most interesting adventures come from just going on skyscanner.net or ryanair.com, finding the cheapest tickets, and just going with it. Sure, it's nice to plan trips to Paris, Rome, the French Riviera, and Barcelona, but I found this to be a lot of fun, too, even though it was only about 5 degrees fahrenheit. Some of the things we did in Stockholm included going on a guided tour of the Royal Palace, visiting Skansen (a miniature version of old Sweden), shopping at H&M, and exploring a few of the Stockholm islands. Here are some pictures!!

                                         Royal Palace of Stockholm

            View from the ferry as we traveled to Skansen

A couple of words of advice if you ever find yourself going to sweden. First, try to go in late spring, otherwise, bring LOTS of layers. I brought two pairs of skinny jeans with me, and it was a last minute decision of mine to wear leggings to the airport. Glad I did, otherwise I would be "one unhappy bunny" as the british say, since my legs probably would've been frozen if I didn't wear two layers. Second, make sure you budget correctly, food in Stockholm was more expensive than the food in London!!!!


That's all, I hope everyone is having a great start to the semester!

Some NYUL Basics

If you’re currently sitting in your dorm back in New York contemplating or anticipating studying in London, read on for some helpful information! 

Living 

I live in Nido by King’s Cross station. You might have heard about the long and horrible walk to class. But, buses exist and in my short experience here thus far, it takes around 15 minutes if you’re willing to pay for the ride. The building is modern. The ceilings are high. If you’re in a single room, the kitchenette doesn’t include an oven. On the whole, it’s comfortable and convenient. 

Classes 

I’m currently taking Competitive Advantage from Operations, Politics of Human Rights, Abnormal Psychology, and London’s Global Connections. You’re allowed to do a bit of shopping around for courses here which is nice. For the first week you can try out different classes without enrolling in them so you have a better idea of what you want to drop/add by the deadline. 

The academic admin team will tell you to not book any flights before the first week of classes because make-up days and field trips occur on Fridays. Of course, despite their advice, I decided to book a trip to Verona, Italy for my first long weekend (Thursday afternoon to Sunday evening). What are the chances right? Two days ago, I received an email informing me of a class trip to Greenwich with Seeing London’s Architecture. So, I ended up dropping this sought-after course for my non-refundable ticket. But it’s okay. Now I’m taking Abnormal Psychology instead, which is just as interesting and applicable, if not more. I’m looking forward to professionally psychoanalyzing everyone I meet soon. 

The professors’ bios are all pretty impressive. They’re outsourced from various schools around Bloomsbury to teach for a few hours a week at NYU in London. 

Class sizes are small, ranging from 7 to 30 students in the classes I tried this week. 

Extracurriculars

The selection of clubs and student organizations at the University of London Union is pretty limited and volunteering opportunities presented at the fair have also been insubstantial. SHINE is a popular volunteer program where students get to work with kids in schools around London. Unfortunately, this semester, they were only taking 30 students and by the time I got to the Volunteer Fair 15 minutes after it began, the spaces were filled. 

Other opportunities included cheering for runners at various marathons organized for various causes - all probably great fun with friends but I was expecting some other longer term consistent volunteer position openings at the fair. 

London Spring 2012 Correspondent - Daphne

Hello all!

My name is Daphne and I will be a USWIB Study Abroad Blog contributor for this semester.

For those of you who are thinking of studying in London, I hope you will find my blog posts useful and entertaining. If you have specific questions about NYU in London, feel free to email me at dyx202@nyu.edu. I'm keeping a personal travel blog as well (The Young and the Rootless). Please do take a look!

I'm living in Nido Student Residences at King's Cross. In terms of Stern classes, I'm taking Competitive Advantage of Operations. Other classes I'm registered for include Politics of Human Rights and London's Global Connections. This weekend I am traveling to Verona, Italy. As the semester progresses, I will keep you updated on academic information, extracurricular opportunities, and travel tips from my experience abroad.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Daphne