Charms of UK
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   By MAO JiaLu

    Many words I can use to express my feelings for the life in UK, though, at the moment I can only think of one or two word, impassioned and unforgettable. It’s only mere three years, however, it is fruitful and will be a quite significant stage of my life. Of this tense but fulfilling days, I’ve gradually known the burden of responsibility, the ability to learn as well as a sense of optimism about life.

    I took part in the 2+2 exchange program of JUFE in year 2012 and I started my two-year journey in University of Southampton majoring in Economics and Finance, two years with laughter and sorrow. I was lucky to have many peers as my company and therefore, that sort of isolation is not belong to me, neither my friend. Instead, we feel extremely excited for totally brand-new culture and scenery. At first, everything is fun: studies are easy to cope with and I quite enjoy the lifestyle of independence. And that’s biggest difference I believe between the British and Chinese culture, the freedom seems like true while actually it’s not. In UK, it looks like you have the opportunity to choose whatever you like so that to live your life. When I say “looks like”, I mean sometimes they just know what their interests are. This lifestyle makes sense only when you have a firm goal about yourself.

    After two-month time, life becomes difficult. The project from Applied Microeconomics from my favorite Greek teacher, the growing pressure for my fist examination in UK and the obscure knowledge from Statistics that I did not ever read before all exploded in the first semester. Unbelievably, we were at that time making plan about the trip to London. After all, it’s the first Christmas for us, and we decided to have fun.

    For undergraduate study in UK, you will only have 2-4 hours of study every day; the left hours are for your own interest. Depending on the complexity of study, some will choose to study in library, some will exercise in gym and some will decide to do some activities, which are rich and colorful. Like campus life in China, they also have student union sort of things in UK, and it has bigger range since some regional professional voluntary groups are run by students themselves in campus and I was really lucky to be a member of it for two years. The president of the group held lots of charity events to attract entrepreneurs to give speech. Apart from the official work, I was also attended activities like BBQ on the lawn, one-day trip to Winchester, group games etc.

Except boring studies and rich activities, I was also involved in many small group discussions, bigger seminars and was lucky to attend some international conferences, especially during my postgraduate time. I have more chances to explore the fields of economics. These precious opportunities widen my mind and bestow me with a better understanding of what I am learning now. And continuous group discussions from different courses help me do conversations with others. Thanks to these little course work, I have chances to do communications from people worldwide.

    After two-year happy life as undergraduate in Southampton, I was lucky to successfully apply for University of Cambridge for my master degree majoring in Finance and Economics.

    When referred to Cambridge, I believe people will think of the famous contemporary poet and essayist, XU ZhiMo. And the poem, “Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again”.

Very quietly I take my leave
As quietly as I came here;
Quietly I wave good-bye
To the rosy clouds in the western sky.
I walked through the bridges and went through them when punting, and everything is awesome, the gentle breeze, the blue sky and the green grass.
 

    Although it sounds like the same major with Southampton, the difference is not small. I started to study in Cambridge as a student from Department of Economics, which means the study focusing more on Economics and for the financial part.Compared with knowledge from the book, it’s more practical. Although keeping studying in Cambridge is compulsory, I still choose to enjoy my own entertainment at the same time. I joined international conference as I said before, I attended the JAZZ class twice a week, and I took my friend union once a week. And this one-year time is really unforgettable; it’s tougher than I thought, and it’s shorter but it’s full meaningful. The responsibility of independence is huge, every single thing is depend on your own. And I was really proud to have so many excellent classmates around the world. The discussions with them no matter in coursework or in life always stimulate the way I think and the way to behave. The other thing which impressed me most is that I have other 8 roommates and we all come from different countries, and it’s not amazing when we get along quite well since there is a French girl who is really good at making muffins. The girl who lived next door to me, Diana, always said that it is muffin that brings us together.

    In Cambridge, there are many ways to relax and to throw studies away for the moment, punting, hiking, shopping and traveling. It’s a world-class scenic spot. Take formal dinner for example, there are total 32 colleges in Cambridge, and each one have their own cooking style. And to attend formal dinner is one of Cambridge students’ favorite thing, to enjoy various delicious food! And after dinner, everyone would joke about which college produces the best or worst. Some colleges are so popular that even students from that college cannot get a ticket for it. According to their words, the minute when college website started to sell, the tickets are gone!

    After a whole year of study, the most exciting moment for Cambridge student is the May Ball. “Study hard, play harder”, that’s what I believe for Cambridge students. Everyone will dress like prince and princess to enjoy a big wonderful party till the next morning. And for students there, there is a kind of custom said, if you stay up successfully until the next day morning, you can say you “survive”.

    Thanks to this three-year journey and I’ve chosen this way with no regret. The old movie “Roman Holiday” said, “You can either travel or read, but either your body or soul must be on the way”. And now I am fully equipped for the next journey.