Hi everyone, and welcome back to your favorite segment Global Village. 欢迎回来你们最喜欢的板块【小酒馆·大世界】.

Today in our studio, we have an old friend.

So far we've talked about your studies, we talked about your interest in your field, but let's move on to something that is more about life in America, or life in academic setting in America.

So first things first, let's talk about academic setting, because this is more specific. So far you have got degrees in British university, Chinese university and now doing a degree in American university. How would you compare these three very different university environment?

Yeah, It's one of those things. Ah, it's a little bit difficult to compare the environments. But I definitely think, one of the things that comes to mind immediately is they definitely look after you more in China.

So in America, they just kind of say here's some money, find somewhere to live, find something to eat and just take care of yourself. Of course, the Americans they think of this is freedom, right? I'm free to live wherever I want and eat and do whatever I want. But I do have to admit that I do like the Chinese system which kind of looks after you, right? Here's your room, the electricity is on this card and the canteen is down the road and it's tasty and it's cheap. Yeah, everything is sorted.

Yeah, I guess it's very beginner friendly, newcomer friendly. Because you don't have to spend all the time feeling disoriented.

Exactly! Right. And they'll usually have some kind of orientation does quite comprehensive and give you a nice map, and of course the professors and other students in America have been very kind to me and very helpful.

But it's a lot more informal. There is some kind of online induction and training, but it's nowhere near as detailed and comprehensive as the things I experienced in China.

What about British university then? Do they do anything like that for newcomers?

Yeah, somewhere in the middle, I think, cause you do have the canteens and they are a little bit more expensive and exclusive than the Chinese ones. And it's different when you're undergraduate as well, actually.

I think the undergraduates here get a little bit more guidance, just like I did in the UK. But I do think the UK, they kind of give you the training wheels a little bit. But they don't do too much to help you either. Yes, it’s closer to America than China, I think.

I see. But what about just this whole work ethics? I don't know if it's the right word to describe it, like in terms of hardworking, how hard, which would you… I know every country, every university has the really, really hardworking people. It has also slackers. But comparatively speaking, which country has the hardest working students?

I think it's interesting cause it's a continuum right? So I think in America they give you the most work, so you in terms of like the readings for the courses and things, they give you way more reading than it's humanly possible to do. And I think the idea is you have to kind of choose the important parts, find the important parts. So it's a kind of literature review every time.

When I was at Fudan, they don't give you as much. Like maybe we just read like two passages of the Laozi, but you've got to know every single character, of course you've got to be able to read them, but the history of that character. And you've got to know what Huangdi said about that character. And you've got to know what He Shan Gong said about that character. And you've got know, like, there's so much more detailed.

I see. This is sort of very two different styles, different focus.

Right! I found the Chinese classes a lot more focused, and the American classes you're supposed to find your own focus, right? They just give you the book and you have to find the themes and things that you think are relevant or interesting in that book.

So it is quite different. And I think the UK is, again, a lot of things, I think the UK is kind of in the middle somewhere between those two, it's very hard to say which one is better.

So what is your relationship with your tutor, with your supervisor? Because like in China or in many other countries, actually, especially for perhaps more science subjects, the doctoral advisers are actually seen more as bosses rather than teachers.

I'm very lucky in many ways, but specifically that for this year I'm on a fellowship. So another big difference with the American system is everybody that gets the funding is expected to teach. And this is seen as an important part of the PhD program is that you teach and that you assist in teaching.

So that you can develop those skills when you go and do something else, if you're a professor you'll need to teach. But if you do any kind of research, you always have to present that research, right, eventually to somebody. It's just giving you this new set of skills, whereas in China, you have some things like that, but it tends to be more... or at least in Fudan, more one on one helping people or maybe helping the professor do some things with their research, and which is also super helpful, right?

Right the time that I spent with my supervisor in Fudan, looking at his research really taught me a lot about how to do high level research.

I see. So now you are expected to… because you are on fellowship, so you actually have to teach.

Right! So fellowship as... scholarships, you teach. Fellowships, you don't teach.

Oh, fellowship, you don't teach. OK!

Right, right. At least here I don't know about other universities.

I see. Okay, so that's enough academic talk. I think this is probably very confusing for people who haven't got, like, super advanced degrees like… you know, yeah, like you are doing, for example, I only got a measly little master's degree, so I don't actually understand the PhD world.

But let's bring it back to life in America in general. Like, you wouldn't expect British people to have that much of a culture shock in America, because you guys speak the same language. Essentially you have the same sort of roots going back.

But you mentioned culture shock really early on in our talk today. So tell us about it. I'm really interested. Was it really bad? They do actually feel like… seriously I'm getting culture shock in America.

Yeah, I mean, I still am you know. I've only been here a very short amount of time so far. So every day you kind of have to question the way that you do things and say things.

And in some ways America is harder than China. Because with China, is very much that you know that things are gonna be very different. Understand the way that people communicate with each other is gonna be different and the food's gonna be different, right? Everything's gonna be completely different. Well, right! Maybe not completely, but at least quite different. You expect that.

And also people... and people take one look at you. They think of you as a foreigner in China. So they sort of give you a little bit more of a leeway. They'll be like he doesn't know our ways... that sort of thing.

But in America you speak the same language, yes, you have an accent, but you do speak English, that is your native tongue. And perhaps there's less of that leniency that you need to understand the culture.

Yeah I think sometimes Chinese people have been too kind to me, sometimes that's too nice. But in America what we call this is like a... like a false friend situation, right.

False friend?

Right.

Ah... I see.