Study Abroad

                                                                                                                        1/5/09

Information on Study Abroad in China, Spring, 2009

"Changing China" program

Students in "Changing China" program will have the opportunity to go to China in spring quarter, led by Evergreen faculty members Rose Jang and Andrew Buchman.  This information page is one of many handouts, documents and forms that you will receive for the planning and preparation of the trip.  So please keep checking on this webpage for continuing updates.  Michael Clifthorne, Coordinator of Internationals Programs, will give an orientation talk on China travel in early winter quarter.

 If you decide to go to China, you need to pay a non-refundable deposit of $150 by Friday, Feb 13.  The account number for you to pay the deposit is 29026-52504  

§ Preliminary Itinerary

Part I: Three-week Intense Study Program from May 4 to May 22 in Beijing

The itinerary of the China travel is basically set with possibly minor changes.  We will fly to Beijing, China toward the end of Week V of Spring quarter.  Starting on Monday, May 4 and ending on Friday, May 22, we will have a three-week short-term intense study program with Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing.  The address of the institution is 2 Jintaili, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China.  Their web address is http://www.cueb.edu.cn/ in Chinese or http://www.cueb.edu.cn/English/index.htm in English.

The exact curriculum schedule of the program is still under construction by the CUEB staff, which will parallel the activities of the last two years but further enrich it.  Please see the curricular calendar of spring, 2007 as a reference.  The bulk and focus of the program remains with intense language study, five days a week, two hours each day.  It is likely that there will be different classes offered, on different levels. Lectures and workshops on historical and current aspects of China form a separate but related portion of the curriculum.  Many field trips, to different cultural, educational, artistic and business/industrial sites around the Capital of China, one of the most economically booming and politically active cities of the world, will be interspersed in between classes. 

You will also interact with the Chinese students at CUEB on various different occasions (probably the best part of the experience-international friendship!).  I have requested the addition of more artistic activities (including martial arts) and the visits to summer Olympic sites will certainly be added this year.  After I receive the new curricular plan, we can continue to look at it and make it better, more suitable for our collective needs and interest.  Beyond the heavy school work, you will still have some free time in the schedule to go explore Chinese social scenes and cultural environments on your own.  There will also be weekly seminar for the whole group, facilitated by Evergreen faculty, to reflect on the experience and discuss texts assigned before the trip.

The living facilities are pleasant and functional.  Students will stay in 2-people dorm rooms provided by the university.  Each room has air conditioning, TV, phone (using a special phone card only available for purchase on campus), bathroom with shower (without bathtub but 24-hour hot water), security box, internet access (so if you want to bring your laptop along, you may), and washing machine by coin or card.  You will also eat in their dinning hall.  Breakfast is buffet style, and both lunch and dinner are served with many dishes in a restaurant style.  (The food is delicious!!!)

Part II: Travel to cultural and scenic areas of our own choice, May 23-30 (or 31)

This part of travel is still undecided in terms of itinerary and locations.  We will definitely leave Beijing and explore different cities of interest for a week, before we head back to US.  This is the section of the study abroad program for relaxation, enjoyment and cultural adventure.  It will have a more fun-filled agenda, with a sincere and academic interest intact with our intention to explore and understand China.

§ Projected Cost:

The exchange rate between American currency and RMB is currently 1 to 6.8225.

The cost for the stay in Beijing has been finalized:

Tuition:  RMB 3310/ person for three weeks including all classes and field trips.  RMB 3310 is about $485 in American dollars.

Registration Fee: RMB 330 / person.  (about $49)

Room: RMB 51 / person / day (a bit over $7)

Board: RMB 80 / person / day (about $12 for three meals)

I will work on the final week's budget projection soon, after working and negotiating with travel agents in China for the final week's tour activities.  But at this point, I will say that the overall price range for the entire study abroad program will fall between $3,000 and $4,000 USD, leaning more toward the lower end.

Here is the more specific itemization:

A. Airfare

Round-trip Airfare between Seattle and Beijing, China-----between USD$700 to $900.00

B. Expenses in Beijing (all listed in RMB first, then added together and changed to USD at the end, using 7.7 to 1 as the current exchange rate)

Tuition for CUEB (textbooks included)----------------------------- RMB¥ 3310 (3 weeks)

Registration Fee for CUEB--------------------------------------------------------¥ 330

Room Fee for 23 days at CUEB (5/1-5/22 + 5/30) ¥51/day ×23--------------- ¥ 1173 (3 wks)

Meal Fee for 3 meals, 23 days at CUEB ¥ 80/day × 23----------------------------¥ 1840 (3 wks)

Total for Beijing ---------------------------------------------¥ 6653 or USD$975.16 (3 wks)

C. 4th Week Travel ------------------------------------------about USD$1,000

D. Visa Fee---------------------------------------------------$150.00

TOTAL--------------------------------------------------------about or a little bit over USD$3000.00

§ Curricular Calendar for Spring, 2007 (as reference)

The Evergreen State College Spring Program

May 4-25, 2007

§ Things to Know and DO: Now!

1. Pay Deposit:

If you are interested in going to China, you need to pay $150.00 non-refundable deposit by Friday, Feb. 13 to the China travel account 29026-52504. 

If you have never had a passport, you need to apply for a passport, in person, as soon as possible.  You may visit the website at www.travel.state.gov to get all the information you need.  Two facilities in your neighborhood will help you process your application:

Thurston County Clerk, 2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW, Olympia, Wa 98502, (360)786-5430

US Post-Office-Olympia, 900 Jefferson St., Olympia, WA 98501, (360)357-2289

If you have a US passport, you need to check the expiration date carefully to see if it is still valid, or whether you need to renew your passport.  The passport needs to be valid at least six months beyond your stay in China, and it has to have blank visa pages (page 22, 23 and 24 are not visa pages).

You may renew your passport by mail.  Check website at www.travel.state.gov to get all the application information.

For both first-time application and renewal, you will need two color passport photos.  Since you will need photos for visa application anyway, it is high time you take these photos. 

The normal processing time for passport is said to be 6 weeks, but the delay has been frequent.  For the last times, we had the nightmarish incidents that one or two students barely made the trip because the passport did not arrive in time.  So you need to act NOW!!!

We will apply for visa as a group through a Chinese travel agent in Seattle.  I will give you more details on that.

3. Apply for Financial Aid:

All of you involved in study-abroad programs can request additional financial aid to cover additional expenses incurred by the travel.  Please go to talk to a financial aid officer as soon as possible.  You will find helps and ideas which can cover part, if not all, of your travel expenses.  Since most of the financial aid will take six weeks to process, the sooner you talk to them, the better!

This is all the information you need to know right now.  I will continue to update this page.