Field trip in October/November 2016

During her research trip in China, Jessica Dheskali met former students who had spent their semester abroad in Chemnitz, interviewed professors and lecturers as well as Bachelor and Master students about Academic Writing, did research in the library and attended presentations, e.g. by the former dean of the School of Foreign Languages:

A former student who is now working on her PhD as well, invited her to her home town and the impressive ancient town of Fenghuang. They also visited a local radio station where her cousin works and looked behind the scenes:

The cultural highlight for Jessica was the wedding of the student's sister that she was invited to join. She could also watch all relatives play the famous Chinese game Mahjong all night.

She had furthermore the opportunity to visit Beijing and one of her former Chinese students whom she had taught during her internship at SYSU in 2013 and who is currently doing her Master at the Beijing University of Foreign Studies. Together, they explored the city and her campus.

Especially the library and its wonderful building fascinated her. The Beijing University was also on her list as another friend of hers studies there now. Even though the campus has amazing spots and great ancient buildings, it is way too big for Jessica's taste. But even bigger was the giant head of Mao Zedong which is located in Changsha.

Another highlight of her research trip was an afternoon in the ancient town of Pushi. Jessica could experience at first hand what a typical tea house looks like. Tea houses are a place of social interaction where mostly elderly people meet, drink tea, chat and play card games as well as Mahjong. She furthermore visited a Lotus-Park and saw various different kinds of Tofu at a local market.