For Your Information

It has been quite a while since I last blogged! I guess I didn't really do much that pertained to studying abroad. I felt like it was too early to do anything, but it's only four months away now!

My spring quarter at UCR has gone by very quickly. Week 5 / midterms week is already over. :) Five more weeks until summer! Actually, that's really nothing to be happy about. I'm going to be taking summer school because I want to finish a few more upper division courses before I head to Hong Kong.

Anyway, let me give you a quick update.

I applied to study abroad through the UC Education Abroad Program at CUHK in February. There hasn't been any real updates since then. I had some pre-departure things to take care of in March, but that was the last thing that actually had a due date on it.

The next thing that I have to turn in is the UCEAP Health Clearance Form. CUHK also requires a health form of their own, so do be mindful of that. The first thing that I had to do was make an appointment for the Travel Clinic at UCR Campus Center. When you pick up your EAP Selection Letter, you will receive a Confidential Health History Form that you must fill out prior to seeing the nurse at the Travel Clinic (I almost forgot about it). Also, make sure you bring your immunization record. For about an hour, you're just going to sit there and listen to the nurse talk about diseases, dirty water, etc. You might even get a little paranoid about traveling after the consultation, but I'm sure you'll eventually get over it. :)

Apparently, I have to take three shots and take some sort of medicine. All of that amounts to about... $250. I do have private insurance, so I don't really know if the prices would be different if you have USHIP (UCR insurance). I did check with my doctor back home to see if it might be cheaper getting it done there, but nope... no luck. :( I have to pay at least $300. Insurance doesn't cover any of it. Ugh! Oh yeah, the consultation is $25. You're going to have to go back a few times until you're completely done with the UCEAP health stuff, so you're probably going to have to pay for those follow-ups. I'll keep you posted. The paycheck that I received just a few days ago is going to go towards funding all these darn immunization vaccines. -__-

According to an email from a UCEAP advisor, CUHK applicants are going to have to wait until June to receive an official acceptance packet that contains housing and visa information. You're going to have about a week to turn in everything, so you might want to do some early preparations. Here's the link to a website with the important forms that you're going to have to fill out.

It would be a good idea to take some 2 x 2 inches passport/visa photos right now. I took mine last week.. I paid about $18 for four photos, which is EXTREMELY overpriced. Anyway, I realized that I would probably need more than four photos. I'm not about to go pay for more, so I did it my own way. :)

You can take your own photo at home, but make sure you meet all the photo requirements. I already had some photos, so I just scanned that. I proceeded to upload it to http://www.123passportphoto.com/. That website will help you generate a 4 x 6 inches image that contains 6 of your visa photos. From there, you can either print your own at home on glossy paper or get it printed at CVS, Target, etc. I found glossy photo paper lying around, so I just did it at home. The quality was good enough. My face turned a little more orange compared to the original photo, but I think I'll be okay. After I cut all the pictures, I realized that each individual photo was slightly bigger than 2 x 2 inches. It was more like... 2 1/16 x 2 1/16 inches. I now have 12 more visa photos.

CUHK applicants... you're going to need at least six photos. One for your Hong Kong visa application, one for the CUHK health history form, and four photos... just because they want it. The photo you send in will most likely be your CUHK ID picture! Take a look at the CUHK IASP Checklist for more information. FYI, IASP stands for International Asian Studies Programme, which is the program that UCEAP applicants are admitted to in CUHK.

I plan to apply for a multiple entry visa for China, so that'll require one photo as well. That is something that you apply for in America. You would go to your nearest Chinese Consulate and fill out some paperwork. After you turn that in, you should be able to pick up visa stuff within a week. It will cost you $140.

Oh my goodness. I did not expect to spend this much money on pre-departure things! I still need to buy my plane ticket!!

Well, that's all for now. As you can see the title of this entry is "For Your Information".. I hope you find this helpful! :) This will probably be some sort of a series, so look out for part two! :D

Jenn

Introduction

Hello everyone!

I realized that I forgot to properly introduce myself in my first post.. so here it is!

Most people call me Jenn. I'm currently of senior standing as a third year at UC Riverside. I wanted to prolong my college experience (read: I don't want to start looking for a job yet), so I decided to apply to study abroad through UCEAP. I chose CUHK because of its Yale-Chinese Language Center. I'm going to take Cantonese and Mandarin. I might look into translation and interpretation classes too. I'm focusing on improving my language skills there because I don't really have the opportunity to do that in California.. and I figured it would be a good thing to talk about during my job interviews.

I looked into studying abroad in the fall of 2010. I was actually going through the process of applying for it, then I started to change my mind because it was kind of costly to me at the time. I just continued on with life at UCR. However, during my winter break in 2011, I considered it again. I really didn't want to graduate yet. :( If I didn't decide to study abroad, I would be done this summer! I don't want to look for a job yet. I mean.. I'm going to be working for the rest of my life after graduation, so what's the hurry right?

I probably looked into studying about two weeks before the application due date. I got the paperwork done really quickly (I love filling out forms), but the hardest part was finding a letter of recommendation. :( I emailed my Chinese professor from last year to see if she would help me out... and she said yes! I am so thankful for that because I gave her such a short notice. I got the application completed a few days before the deadline. Then... I had to patiently wait to find out if I would be accepted into the program.

I thought I was an applicant with pretty strong stats, so I didn't even really worry about not getting in. BUT, about a month later, I got a call from the EAP advisor, and he told me that was I was wait-listed for HKU. There were only four spots, and I was the fifth person. My initial reaction was that it must have been some sort of sick joke. -_- I was given the choice of either staying on the wait-list or applying for another program or doing both (I think). I just told him that I would just stay on the wait-list (I was kind of in HKU-or-nothing mode at that time), but I changed my mind after a few hours. Why? Because I would still have to go through all the pre-departure paperwork, meetings, etc. even though I'm not guaranteed a spot. I was like.. well, i'm not trying to waste my time, so I decided that as long as I'm in Hong Kong, it's all good.

HKU was really appealing because it's in the city and it's really prestigious in Asia. CUHK is also a prestigious university, but it's in a region called the New Territories (新界). I think that was why I never really considered it. It's in a rural area with a lot of hills and trees. There's going to be so much walking up and down hills, which is something that UCR does not have (thankfully). It's definitely going to take some getting used to. I'm also allergic to pollen, so if CUHK is really surrounded by mother nature... then hello allergies! My main concern is the mosquitoes though.. I went to China in third or fifth grade and came back to America with a million scars from mosquito bites! Actually, I still have those a few of those scars.. -_-

Anyway, CUHK ended up being a better fit for me because of the extensive language classes that it offers. That was also what inspired my essay for my Gilman Scholarship essay. I also changed my plans to stay there for a year rather than a semester. It just worked out better for me when it came to financial aid and what not. :) I might be a tad far from the city, but HK is known for its super efficient transportation. I'm not too worried about getting around. It might take half an hour or so to get to Mong Kok or Causeway Bay from CUHK, but that's really not too bad. I'm just sitting on a train or bus or whatever it is. I didn't end up with my original choice (although a spot for HKU did eventually open up), but I was presented with a better path.. And.. no, this is not a cases of sweet lemons. I am genuinely happy with my decision!

The moral of the story is.. don't dismiss other opportunities just because you didn't get what you originally wanted. Even if things don't work out as planned, you can always change it to make it work out for yourself. Always seek alternatives. The last thing you want is to be stuck not knowing what to do next. It's a little dramatic, but it's certainly food for thought.

There's a Chinese saying.. "船到橋頭自然直" which means things will eventually work out in the end, and it did for me. Not that this is the end... it's really just the beginning.. :)

On a brighter note.. I will be sending in the portion of the pre-departure checklist that is due March 20th this weekend. One step closer to going to HK!

Jenn

Preparing for Hong Kong

Hello everybody!

In about six months, I will be off to study abroad in Hong Kong through the University of California Education Abroad Program. I have been accepted to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where I will stay for one academic year (September 2012 until May 2013). From now until September, I will be dealing with pre-departure preparations. It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but it has to be done. 

This blog will serve as my planner for the time being. I love planning ahead. I'm going to find places to eat, sightsee, shop, etc. My posts will probably be more interesting as the days tick down to departure. Should you become a frequent visitor of this blog, please bear with the mundane material that I may cover.. for now. :)

Can't wait!

Jenn

P.S. I realized that I didn't really introduce myself. Well, you'll learn more about me as the days progress. :)