Friday, April 20, 2007

Total Care for My Academic and Living Conditions



I'll be living and studying here for the month of May. Kunming has lots of options for studying Mandarin, including two universities. I tried researching and contacting the universities, but they were extremely hard to get through to and their Web sites were dauntingly spare.

Then I stumbled on Keats School. Sometimes you have to judge a book by its cover because you have nothing else to go on. That's what I did here. It looks comfy and cozy, and the site was full of photos of happy westerners on their China adventure. Just the easy start I was looking for. I was especially encouraged by sentences like this on their site:

If you choose to come here to study, you would be a member of the family. Don't worry about the foreign, strange country and totally different language. We will provide total care for your academic and living conditions. . . You will feel warm in the school. At your birthday day, you will receive the present from the school.When you get sick, the school will send you to hospital.. . .once you enroll with Kuming Keats School you will have no other worries or concerns. Too bad I won't be there on my birthday.

They're also turning out to be very helpful and professional. When I e-mail, I always hear back within 24 hours. They shared contact information with me for two former students so I could do a little background checking, and helped with my visa. They will pick me up at the airport in Kunming, and are also letting me stay a few extra days before my course starts.

I'll be living in a dorm room, with my own (Western) bathroom andin-room internet access. My study will be one-on-one, eight hours a day. After a month, my Chinese should be better than my French.

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