Experience report
ANR: 736493
Name:Wei Zhong
E-mail:zhongweihere@gmail.com
Exchange semester:Fall semester
Academic year:3rd year
Host University:University of Washington
Country:United States of America
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
How was your arrival organized? Did someone pick you up from the airport/station? Was an
orientation or introduction activity organized? How was accommodation organized? Does the
university provide you with accommodation? What kind of accommodation does the university
provide? Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a place
to live after you arrived?
I booked my flight to Seattle myself. After I arrived at the Seattle airport I took the light rail and
then a cab to get to the campus. An orientation was organized in a very casual way. Even
though I received very limited help after I reached the campus, I still managed every necessary
procedure to settle down since there was a very detailed instruction sent to me by mail before
I departed. I lived in the dorm for the whole semester, sharing the room with another American
student. The dorm room was decent. For the students demanding a dorm room, they have to
book the room in advance. The information concerning the application of dorm rooms can be
found easily on their university website.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Please describe the city you lived in. Where is the university located in the city? What is the best
place to go to eat/drink/dance/do sports/etc.? What are interesting things to see and do in your host
city? What was different than in Tilburg?
University of Washington is in Seattle, a pretty and peaceful place. This city located by the sea.
Mountains filled in the rest of the city’s periphery. The famous space needle and Columbia
Center marked the modern development of Seattle. The whole city’s traffic system was built on
multiple steep slopes, which formed Seattle’s unique ladder-like roads.
The University is at the north side of the city, about thirty-minute ride from the downtown
Seattle. The campus is very beautiful, maybe the most beautiful campus I have evern seen.
Inside the campus the best part of its facility is its sport center, called IMA building. You can
practice almost every kind of the sport in its sport center, such as tennis, racquetball, fence
and even Judo. You name it and they have it. Another place that is worth mentioning is a
building called HUB. That is where the orientation activity started and all their student
associations locate. There is a big cafeteria at the base level of that building. I believe that
cafeteria is the biggest in the campus. Even though the food provided there was not very tasty,
the variety of food there could still receive my commend.
The Microsoft Co. headquarter is very close to the campus. It is definitely worth a visit. If you
are fond of coffee, the first Starbucks in history is in the downtown Seattle, waiting for your
curiosity. The space needle and the Columbia Center that I mentioned above are the city’s
landmarks so do not miss it if you are in Seattle.
Seattle seems to be much more modernized and crowded than Tilburg. You can hardly find a
quiet corner in the city center. The business and commercial activities are much more frequent
as well. The stores and restaurants stay opened till very late. And unlike most stores in Europe
most stores in Seattle keep running during weekends. Due to which, life there is more
convenient.
TOPIC: Academics
Which courses did you take and why? Which courses would you recommend? What did the courses
add to your program at Tilburg University? How does the university compare to Tilburg University
concerning the level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English, workload, etc.? Overall,
were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange? Please describe the
campus of your host university.
I took three courses there, namely Financial Crisis, International Trade and Monetary policy.
Actually I just randomly picked those three courses since I was not interested in any of the
courses they provided, to be frank. I major in IBA in Tilburg. However, in this exchange I was
assigned to their Economic school. All courses that I can pick were all concerning pure
economics. No matter whether I was interested or not, the semester spent there undoubtfully
increased my knowledge regarding to economic. The studying in that university was more
intensive than I expected. I had to do more reading compared to my studying experience in
Tilburg. In General, I gained pretty amazing experience from my exchange there.
The main structure of the campus was designed by a French architecture. Most buildings
inside the campus are in classical European style. The fountain the meadow and the roads
decorate the campus in a middle-age manner. Walking within the campus is like strolling in a
manor. If all the modern facilities are removed from the campus, you will find yourself
travelling back through time.
TOPIC: Social life
Which social activities organized by the university or students? Did you have contact with local
students? Did you have contact with other exchange students? How did you get along with the local
students and other exchange students? Did you travel to other places/countries during your
exchange?
Since the University of Washington is a very internationalized university, students can easily
find groups from their corresponding countries. For example, I as a Chinese, run straight into
the Chinese Student Association without any difficulties. I seldom contacted my fellow
exchange students even though I had their contact address. American students were mostly
very easygoing. I got along very well with my American roommates. As long as you speak
English, those American always consider you as one of their kind. It is probably due to the fact
that US is an immigrant country.
I did not travel to other counry during my exchange. Because I do not have time and chance
to travel outside the US. Furthermore, US is such a huge country that you can barely browse it
even with one year so there is no motives for me to travel abroad.
TOPIC: Living costs
How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from Tilburg University?
What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg? What did you spend most of your
money on? What would you advice future students to spend their money on? Please outline your
approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange: housing, food, textbooks, etc.
My family afforded all the living fee there. My whole staying there cost roughly 9000 dollars. I
spent most of my budget on food, shopping and accommodation. If you go really frugal, I think
8000 dollars is sufficient for the exchange there. The overall living fee in US is not very high.
So my advice on money spending would be to enjoy your life, never mind the budget. It won’t
be too much anyway.
TOPIC: Culture
Did you experience culture shock while on exchange? How would you compare your host culture to
your own culture? What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange? What was different
about your host culture than you expected? What did you like and not like about your host culture? Do
you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what would you like to learn more? How
would you describe your host countries culture? If you travelled to other cities/countries during your
exchange, were they different than your host city/country, and how?
I did not experience any sorts of culture shocks during my whole exchange. Culture did not
make such a difference in my exchange. US culture is not very unique since US exported their
culture to other countries, substantially influencing other countries. China, even with its great
history and distinctive culture, still absorbed some elements from US culture. Therefore I was
not really a stranger to US culture. Besides all the people I met in US were quite understanding
in terms of culture background discrepancy. Even if I accidentally did some stupid things, they
understood and forgave me quite easily. So I did not go through any difficulties in cultural
terms.
I am emotionally neautral to different culture. As long as the culture is not so unusual that it
may influence my life, I don’t really care about how the culture is manifested.
TOPIC: Personal development
What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange? Would you do things differently if
you had the chance, and what would you do differently? What was your best experience, and what
was your worst experience? What will you remember for ever about your exchange period? What was
the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange period?
The people I got in touch with during the exchange are mainly my roommates, some
classmates and some Chinese friends I made there. My time spent with them is considerably
little since my total staying in US is only 3 months. Hence, I don’t think I have learned much
from them. But one thing for sure is that I am now much more familiar with the way American
get along with others, which might turn out to be beneficial to my future posibble contact with
American. If I ever come to talk to American in the future again, I could more easily find some
commom topics to talk about.
My whole exchange there is quite normal. Nothing unexpected or surprising ever happened
within my stay there. For me life does not seem to change too surprisingly, so perhaps even if
I did not attend this exchange, my life would not be too much different.
The most important lesson I learned is that no matter what kind of situation you fall in, just
keep calm and cool. Things will always go to the way it should be eventually.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Would you recommend an exchange period? Would you recommend your host university? What
should prospective students bring with them/leave behind? What preparation is required for going on
exchange to this destination? Was there anything you should have done in preparation that you didn’t
do?
I would highly recommend attending an exchange at University of Washington. Their high quality
education and beautiful campus would make this exchange unforgettable. But one thing that has to be
kept in mind is that the exchange at UW can only provide you 24 ECTS. There are still 6 ECTS
missing for a standard semester, which is why students will have to register an additional course after
this exchange to compensate for that loss.
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words
If you took any pictures or made any videos that you would like to share with future exchange
students, please include them (or e-mail them separately). Pictures that show your daily life or
symbolize your exchange period are especially interesting for future exchange students.