Favorite book: "The Art of War" by Sun-Tzu
Favorite song: "Hotel California"
Favorite food: Hong Shao fish
Favorite sport: volleyball
Favorite game: bridge
Favorite place in the NL: Maastricht
Best part about living in the NL: friendly people
Worst part about living in the NL: not seeing his seven-year-old son in four years
Since 1997, there are more than six times as many Chinese students and scholars at the UT. Talk about internationalization! If the trend continues, they have the potential to become a powerful minority at the University.
Why the UT? According to Yi Wei, a PhD candidate in Technology and Management who specializes in European-Chinese business relations, marketing higher education to foreign students has become a lucrative business for the Netherlands. Current temporary-residence policies make the Netherlands very attractive to Chinese students and scholars. The UT competes with American and British universities for international students, who often choose this university because of its friendly, personable atmosphere and for its relatively reasonable fees. Most Chinese students come to the UT to study with the hope of honing professional skills in the Netherlands after they've completed their degree, and ultimately to return to China to capitalize on their European experience.
Yi is pleased with all that the UT has to offer; he nonetheless expresses some concerns. Currently International Master's programs are limited to just a few departments; Yi hopes they will expand in the future. While he is pleased that so many of his compatriots also study at the UT, he considers it cause for concern when one nationality composes more than half of a program; the UT needs to maintain the diversity it so vociferously espouses. In addition, Dutch courses are only available for AIOs, not for Master's students. Why not offer at least basic, survival Dutch? Finally, employment counseling is virtually non-existent at the UT. Many Chinese students want to work in the Netherlands, but they need guidance. Surely a centralized Career Services Center, such as one finds at American universities, would benefit the entire UT community.
Currently 140 Master's students, AIOs, post-docs, visiting scholars, and alumni comprise the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in University of Twente (ACSS-UT), a branch of the Dutch ACSS. The organization is led by a five-member board of whom YiWei is the lead spokesperson.
Yi explains that ACSS-UT is vital to Chinese population at the UT in that it offers a support network, especially for newcomers who arrive without the slightest idea of how to establish themselves in this startlingly new community. Yi in particular has faced heartbreaking obstacles with the Dutch embassy as he has tried in vain for several years to obtain a tourist visa for his mother and young son, Zhiqui. One of the ACSS-UT's goals is to help newly arrived Chinese students avoid the same bureaucratic pitfalls. On the social front, among other activities, the ACSS-UT hosts an annual Chinese New Year celebration.
Yi maintains that the group seeks increased interaction with other on-campus organizations. He stresses the importance for Chinese students not to focus exclusively on socializing with Chinese expatriates, but also with Dutch and international peers. He would also like to set up an Internet hosting program between current students and incoming Chinese students. Furthermore, Yi hopes the Chinese Embassy will help subsidize Chinese films on campus. For more information, on the ACSS-UT, contact Yi Wei at [email protected]
