Evaluating and responding to culture-shock can best be done in community. CSP emphasizes life together. You'll be speaking a new language, exposed to different traditions, the center of more attention than you've ever been before. But you're not doing this alone. You connect with the group through Bible study, worship and discussion. You talk about your faith, living in China and what this means for life back home. Camaraderie can mean the difference between toughing it out on your own and coming to terms with the local culture with the support of friends.
You'll also be interacting with citizens of the host country: teachers and students. Many CSP students make deep friendships with Chinese students and maintain those friendships long after returning to the U.S.
You. Living in a foreign culture. Speaking a new language. Exposed to different traditions. The center of more attention than you've ever been before. But you're not doing this alone. Evaluating and responding to culture-shock can best be done in community. That's why the CSP emphasizes life together. You connect with the group through Bible study, worship and discussion. You talk about your faith, living in China and what this means for life back home. Camaraderie can mean the difference between toughing it out on your own and coming to terms with the local culture with the support of friends.
Interaction with the Chinese
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. The China Studies Program includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Chinese, especially teachers and students. Many CSP students make deep friendships with Chinese students and maintain those friendships long after returning to the U.S.
Accommodations
For the first several days of the program, we will be in Hong Kong, staying in camp facilities. These include rooms with six beds, air-conditioning, and fairly basic bathroom and shower facilities. During the rest of the program, you will usually be staying in either university dormitory rooms built especially for international students, or at tourist-class hotels: each room usually has two beds, a bathroom & shower, a T.V., and air-conditioning. (On short excursions, there may occasionally be three students per room). These rooms usually do not have Internet hook-up, but relatively inexpensive Internet "cafés" are normally within easy walking distance. Clean bedding is provided, so don't bring sheets, pillows, blankets, etc. However, note that mattresses in China are almost always "Extra Firm" (They're good for you back!).
Food
CSP students receive a food allowance to get meals on their own. Their living quarters are almost always within easy walking distance of local shops, bookstores, restaurants and cafeterias, and Internet cafés (or, in Hong Kong, "hotspots").
CSP Community Life
The China Studies Program emphasizes life together by providing both formal and informal opportunities for participants to come together for Bible study, worship and discussion of issues concerning the integration of faith, living and learning in the context of China. The director coordinates visits to local churches when and where appropriate.
Safety
Although safety cannot be absolutely guaranteed anywhere, the China Studies Program will not invite students for a semester of study in China if we do not believe it is safe to do so. If the security of students is ever seriously in question, precautions will be taken to insure that they are kept out of danger. Our Chinese hosts are, if anything, even more concerned about the safety of CSP students, and they work with the staff and faculty to insure a study experience that is as problem-free as possible.
Medical Services
Instant, full-bore emergency care (by U.S. standards) are simply not to be found in China. Adequate health care and emergency services are available in the major cities in which the China Studies Program students reside. In the two cases of serious medical conditions we've had in the past nine years, each student was evacuated to Adventist Hospital (40 Stubbs Road, Hong Kong), where American-level care and technology are available. Both students were very satisfied with the care they received there.
PLEASE NOTE: Participants are expected to cover any medical expenses that might be incurred and so must be covered by a suitable family or institutional health insurance policy that covers them while they are living abroad. This includes their own policy as well as supplemental health insurance provided through the required International Student Identification Card, which covers certain insurance needs unique to international situations (such as emergency evacuations).
HOWEVER, IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE WHICH WILL COVER YOU SHOULD YOU NEED TREATMENT IN HONG KONG. While Adventist Hospital has American-level care, it also has American-level prices.
Transportation
BestSemester makes available an optional roundtrip group travel opportunity to/from the US gateway airport (currently LAX in Los Angeles, CA) and the program. Accepted students receive an International Travel Memo that outlines the group flight opportunity, itinerary and payment details.
Students electing the group flight are responsible for travel to/from the gateway airport. Students waiving the group flight are responsible for their complete itinerary and for prompt arrival/departure. (NB: CSP itinerary may require an extended layover [2-4 weeks] in Hong Kong on the way to and/or from Xiamen; subject to change).
All group transportation inside China is arranged by the director in cooperation with Chinese authorities. These costs are included in the tuition. Students are generally responsible for any other public transportation costs for their personal travel.
