International Student Speaks Out

Ni JunFeng (Lee), Staff Writer

I’m Ni JunFeng (Lee), an international student from China. I came to study at NDA last year. I liked America because of basketball. Everybody knows the NBA is the top international basketball organization in the world, and I dreamed of watching an NBA game in the United States.

So I came over here, and I chose this school because Wisconsin does not have a great number of Chinese students. My parents wanted me to room with Chinese students, but if I stayed with a Chinese student then I could not improve my English, which is why I came to this school (although here it is crazy cold in the winter!).

For every international student, the language is a big problem when we talk to other people, and it is difficult to express ourselves. This is difficult, for we know that human relationships are based on communications.  If I can not go talk to someone else, I can not tell them what I want.  We exchange students need to speak out, to not be shy; if we have some questions, we must go ask for help. This is what I learned last year. This is not only true for studying but also for living with our host family–the same issue with communication. If the host parents or siblings do something you think you can not accept, the way to deal with the problem is to go talk with them. If you won’t or if you don’t, they will not know what you are thinking.  Ultimately, be honest and do not lie.

In China, the educational system is very different from here. We go to school, just stay in one classroom and the teachers all come into the class, but in the U.S. we switch the classroom every class. In China we study very hard, always do about five or more hours of homework , but in the U.S. we do not have so much homework. This homework is hard for international students though.  

At last, one final word, I like America.