My brother has been to RISH Chinese summer camp two years ago. He liked this camp very much and he said that this summer camp was very helpful to improve his Chinese grades. Since my second language is also Chinese in the school, so he recommended our parents to send me to this summer camp this year.
Alumni Spotlight: Riley Jerome
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Jerome is studying in the Hong Kong Interntional School. His home country is Deutschland. His second Language is Chinese Mandarin.
Why did you choose this program?
What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?
The RISH staff Tina assisted a lot of things after we applied this program. For example: tuition payment guide, visa application, flight organization. Since my brother has been there one time, we did not have big problems. I just needed to pack my luggage according to the packing checklist that Tina sent to me.
When I arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport, the staff was already there. They had my picture so they did not have difficulty to find me.
What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?
This summer camp is a collective life. Almost all activities are collective activities. And you will live with your roommate because two students share one room. In addition, in China, people eat very early; for example, they eat lunch at 11:30, and some people have finished their dinner at 6 o'clock, which I think needs one to adapt.
What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?
We eat buffet breakfast at 8:00 at the hotel's dining hall. At 8:30, we go to the classroom for the intensive Chinese course in the morning. At 12:00, we have lunch and then we can go back to room for break.
In the afternoon, we have language workshop, traditional culture courses, and sports. Sometimes we go out for city tour.
After dinner, we have 1-on-1 tutoring for one hour. Then we have to finish homework. After 20:00, we have free time. I like having walking or jogging in the evening. In the campus there are standard tracks and field, soccer field, basketball courts, etc.
We have room check at 22:15. At that time, everyone has to be in his own room and go to bed.
Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?
I've been to China before and my brother has told me about his summer camp experience, so I didn't have any fear before joining this camp. Maybe the only fear is to meet new classmates? I was not sure what kind of people they are. Fortunately, these students are very friendly, and we soon became good friends. I enjoyed the arrangement of this summer camp.