在上過中國大學的外國學生眼裡，外國大學和中國大學之間有哪些突出的不同？

01-05

引用知友 @Brian 答《出生在美國並且長大的華人真實的生活情況是怎樣的？》——

There"s so many differences between American and Chinese colleges that the topic deserves it"s own question.

Here comes the question: In the eyes of American students who have studied in China, what are the most significant differences between American and Chinese colleges?

(中文翻譯: http://zhi.hu/Pgos - Thank you so much, @洪李斐軒, for taking the time to do that!)

Thanks to @黃繼新 for asking and inviting me to answer this question!

I"ve thought about how to answer this question for a while, and I don"t think there are many generalizations that can be made about the differences between American and Chinese colleges. That"s because just among the schools in America there are differences in size, funding, infrastructure and student culture, and I assume similar differences exist among Chinese schools. So the differences I encountered in China are not the differences between American and Chinese universities, but really only the differences between my alma mater and the Chinese school I studied at.

I"ve also decided not to name the universities I attended. By doing this, I hope to make the discussion general, rather than personal for the readers. I"ll say that the school I studied at in China is one of the famous top 5 schools.

So here are my observations and experiences from studying abroad in China from September 2009 to July 2010,

Studying

English

I saw some amazingly diligent students at my Chinese university. And nowhere was this more evident than among the students studying English. There were those that stood on the bleachers reciting English essays before first period gym; those who listened to playlists of GRE vocabulary as they walked to the cafeteria; those who ate dinner in less than twenty minutes so that they could rush to the library and save the best seats. The energy that these students applied to their studying and the strength of will that they possessed to memorize ten thousands of abstruse words, day after day, simply left me in awe.

And from what I could tell, it paid off. Whenever I needed to express something complicated, I would fall back to English and there would invariably be someone who could translate what I would say. And that was the real test of somebody who understands a foreign language.

In comparison, at my university in America, studying was a way to get the grades and get by. The passionate students focused on their personal projects. We share a strong belief that doing is more impressive than knowing.

My Americans classmates also rarely prepared for the standardized tests as thoroughly as Chinese students. For some reason, many American students treat standardized tests, such as the SAT and GRE as aptitude test. They "review" material, but the grade they get is a reflection of their general knowledge. There isn"t an strong emphasis on studying the test and figuring out how to take advantage of its patterns. In fact, that"s generally looked down upon because it"s not contributing to a student"s overall education.

On the other hand, while I was in China, I also heard rumors of students who didn"t study at all. Apparently, since the 高考 had weeded out so many potential students, there was an idea that just graduating from a prestigious was enough to secure yourself a job. I heard that these students spent all day watching TV shows, or reading novels or playing Dota. I didn"t meet any students like that, but if it"s a problem in China, then it"s equally a problem in America.

Math

I think anybody who"s looked at an SAT math question will understand: American math education in middle and high school is substandard. I took undergraduate engineering classes the whole year I was in China, and after 4 months, it wasn"t the Chinese I was struggling with, but the algebra and the calculus. My classmates were calculating partial fractions and trigonometric transformations as if it was 2 digit addition and subtraction. They did it by hand (or in their heads, which always made me gawk) and they did it faster than I could with a TI-89 calculator.

Yes, we used these in high school. Yes, that"s a 3D-plot. It can differentiate, integrate and calculate any statistical measure. You can even program games onto it.

Since engineering classes all over the world teach basically the same material, American professors teach students to write programs for numerical analysis software (usually in Matlab) to make up for our lack of basic math fundamentals.

So the way I like to explain the difference is, if a Chinese student and I had to race to solve 10 of the same type of math problems, she or he would win every time (hey, I"m not even done writing the code yet!). But if we had to solve 1 million of the same type of math problems, then I"ll probably win.

Dormitories

Hot Water

What left the greatest impression on me was the limited availability of hot water. Hot water was a simple element of life that I had taken for granted everyday before I lived in China. In America, I can turn on the faucet in my bathroom and within 10 seconds enjoy steaming water. I could also let the hot water run all day and all night, as long I had a large enough boiler and was will to pay the utility bills.

But In China, I either encountered,

No hot water faucet
A hot water faucet downstairs for people to gather hot water using thermoses
A tiny electric hot water tank that would provide 10 minutes of running hot water

Luckily, I had the tiny electric hot water tank in my dorm room because we were international students. But this was still a huge lifestyle adjustment. I reflected on how such a small aspect of my day could make me realize my spoiled upbringing.

Resident Assistants

A Resident Assistant (RA) is a student leader in the dorms. The RA is the one who greets the new students as they move in and answers their questions. The RA plans social events, decorates the hall and collects paperwork. The RA listens to students problems and offers advice as an upperclassman. And, stereotypically, the RA enforces the rules.

I was an RA for two years in college. It was one of the most valuable experiences of my college career (right up there with studying abroad in China). I was taught how to build a community and to handle uncomfortable, sometimes emergency, situations. And most importantly, I met a diverse community of people, my residents, who I normally wouldn"t have met otherwise.

I was disappointed to discover that the Chinese student dorms had adults who enforce the rules. I was even more disappointed to discover that the international student building had no RA"s at all. I think Chinese universities are foregoing a great opportunity for motivated upperclassman to act as role models in the dorms.

Professors

Questions in Class

For me, the sign of a good teacher is when she or he interacts with the students. The easiest way to interact is to ask students questions. And the biggest benefit is that the teacher can gauge how many students understood what was taught in the last ten minutes.

During the classes at my Chinese university, the teacher would go through the whole powerpoint lecture, as if he or she was talking to a mirror.

Office Hours

At universities in America, professors are require to have office hours. Office hours are a set time of week, such as Monday at 4 pm or Wednesday at 11 am, set aside by the professor for students to come to the professor"s office and ask questions. Every week.

At my Chinese university, office hours didn"t exist. The students who had questions had to catch the professor during the lecture break or as the professor was walking out the door; and they would be lucky if they got a thorough explanation. Of course, that didn"t stop me.

Since I was used to the idea of office hours, I tracked down my professors" offices and phone numbers from the department office. Every week, I would go in with questions about the lecture, the homework or the upcoming exam. Sometimes, the professors seemed bewildered to see me. More often than not, they simply weren"t there. But the professors that took the time to answer my questions taught very well - as well as any professor I"ve had in America - and they taught me Chinese at the same time.

Classes

Schedule

When I registered for classes, the first thing I noticed was that the classes were scheduled by periods. This meant that my morning classes started at the same time everyday; lunch was the same time everyday; my afternoon classes started at the same time everyday; dinner was at the same time everyday. Even though the classes varied each day, it still felt like a high school schedule.

In contrast, my schedule in America looked like this,

Classes sometimes start on the hour, sometimes halfway in-between. The classes can last for any multiple of 15 minutes. (The long blocks of purple were lab time for my independent senior research project.)

A result of this fluid schedule is that there"s no set time for lunch or dinner. The cafeterias have long meals hours; lunch could be from 11 am - 2 pm and dinner from 7 pm to 9 pm. And the restaurants around campus are open from 10 am - 10 pm.

Curriculum

Nothing about the curriculum surprised me. I just wanted to note that the curriculums were organized differently; so much so that the classes I would"ve taken in my major in America were offered in completely different departments in China.

Registration

My Chinese university had online registration, but not for international students. This seemed quizzical to me (in addition to inconvenient). Since all students in American universities, including international students, are registered in the same database for the convenience of the school, it seemed like a needless complication to keep foreign students in a separate system. I also had a different student ID. This prevented me from

Registering for classes online
Borrowing books from the library
Using the computer labs
Paying for lunch with my student ID

Putting me on a separate system also meant that I didn"t have a school-wide student record. No department took responsibility for me and no department turned me away either. I was free to register for any classes by directly asking the professors for permissions. I often thought that there were probably easy ways for me to abuse the system by causing confusion between department offices.

Classmates

Questions

I noticed that students rarely asked questions in class. Even if the class was called a "discussion" class, the teacher would lecture, and then call on students to ask questions. The students rarely asked questions for explanations or out of curiosity.

Asking questions is expected of students in American colleges. Most professors will stop at intervals in the lecture to give the students chances to ask questions. Some determined professors will even prod students to ask more questions.

In a discussion-based class, asking another student a question is a polite way to challenge that person"s opinion. It also helps move a discussion beyond observations into analysis.

Behavior

Student behavior in class took some getting used to. There were professors that took attendance and I understand why students were forced to show up for class but didn"t pay attention. But in the classes that didn"t take attendance, I was surprised by how many students showed up only to fall asleep, or text, or whisper jokes to each other.

That"s because attendance is usually optional for classes in America. The exceptions are higher-level discussion classes and labs. If an American student was just going to fall asleep every day in lecture, that student wouldn"t bother showing up after the third week of the semester.

Campus

Architectural Scale

I had the fortune (or misfortune) to arrive at my Chinese university just as they finished constructing a new campus in the suburbs. Personally, I liked the old campus in the heart of the city for its history, architecture and vibrant student atmosphere, but since all the undergraduate students were moved to the new campus, I had to take classes there too.

My first impression was that the new campus was designed for giants (and not Harry Potter giants, but mythical-sized giants). The roads inside the campus could have easily passed tanks, but there were rarely even cars. The scale of the campus grounds was also impressive. It could take 45 minutes to walk from one end of campus to the other.

Public Bathrooms

Anything I could complain about the public bathrooms on campus could probably apply to all public bathrooms throughout China. But the new campus was being promoted as an international campus. So I foolishly expected toilets, hot water and soap. What a naive American, I am.

WiFi

I really missed free WiFi in public spaces when I was in China. On an American campus, every square foot of grass is saturated with WiFi networks, and all of them were free for students. In fact, my two favorite places to study was the dining hall and the campus food court. On a sunny day, I would regularly see people sitting under a tree, checking Facebook on their laptops.

When I discovered that I had to pay for campus WiFi in China and, worse, I couldn"t even pay because I didn"t have a normal student ID, I was distraught. Where were we supposed to work on group projects if none of the buildings had accessible internet? How was I supposed to check my email during the day?

Well, I soon discovered that group projects in the Chinese engineering curriculum are rarer than purple elephants (the only time I worked with a partner to set up a new computer). And as the weeks went by, the emails about this and that from the States dried up, and I dropped the habit of checking my mail during the day.

Cafeteria

Most of my Chinese classmates complained about the cafeteria food. But as an American who had eaten American cafeteria food (burgers, fries, pizza, hot dogs) since I was 6, believe me when I say that I thought I was in heaven every day when I walked through the cafeteria doors and smelled the mishmash of Chinese cooking. I ate twice as much as my Chinese friends. They would watch me and ask incredulously, "你真的覺得這個菜好吃?" and I"d nod and reply, "This is fantastic. Wait until you go to America and try a corn dog. You"ll wish you had this cafeteria food." And the amazing thing was that I actually lost weight by eating more. The vegetables, lean meat and rice of Chinese cuisine was much healthier than the buttered bread and fried meat combination of American cafeteria food.

Social

I wish I took more of an initiative to meet more local students. I didn"t get to see much of the social life because I was either studying or with other international students. A couple of factors made it very hard for me to hang out with Chinese students,

I lived in the international student dorms - When I first registered for housing, I had the idea to apply for the normal undergraduate housing, so I could live with Chinese students. But that idea was quickly shot down by the secretary in the registration office. She said that only "normal" students working towards a diploma could stay in "normal" housing. In hindsight, I realize that the rule allowed the school to make more money; my rent and utilities was five times the cost of that for local students (although my room was much nicer).
All the undergraduate students lived at a different campus - International students lived at the old campus in the heart of the city because the language classes were taught there and life in general was more convenient. But the new campus was over an hour away from the old campus. Although I made the journey everyday (2? hours back and forth) to attend class, it always deterred me from attending sports or social events.
I picked my classes from different departments - There was a complication with my class registrations. The teachers in the International Student Department felt that my Chinese speaking (especially my pronunciation) was too good for the language classes provided for foreign students. They didn"t want me in the classes because they were afraid my presence would put too much pressure on the other students. That was a big misunderstanding, because I had learned 拼音 at a young age and always followed the dictionary pronunciation, but didn"t mean I could read or write! So I was forced to register for normal undergraduate classes, which were all taught in Chinese. I thought, since I have to take undergraduate classes, I might as well take engineering classes in my major. But because the curriculums at the Chinese university was different, I ended up registering for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year classes across three different departments. Since the students in each department took almost all the same classes together, I never met the same students in two different classes. It felt like we were all aboard a train and everybody else had their assigned seats next to their friends, but I was the only one wandering back and forth between the compartments.
I didn"t know any Chinese pop culture - This just made it hard for me to have a casual conversation. When people talked about celebrities or music or used internet slang, I was left a mile behind.

- - - - -

That"s all I can think of for now. Please feel free to ask questions or share a different opinion in the comments!

As always, if you have the courage and patience to translate this into Chinese, then go for it! =P

以下是Brain回答的翻譯：

謝邀。

我看著這個問題想了一會，覺得在中美大學之間有太少概括性的東西可說了。這是因為美國的學校有不同規模：資金水平,基礎設施，學生文化等等。我猜在中國的學校也有這樣的差別。所以我在中國大學遇到的這些不同並不能代表真正意義上的中美大學的區別，但卻是我親身經歷的，一個是我的母校，一個是我在中國就讀的大學之間的區別。

我決定不寫出來我就讀的學校名稱。因為我想讓我所闡述的更具有普遍性，而不至於過於特殊。只能說我讀的中國大學是排行前五的學校。

嗯，那下面就是我從2009年9月到2010年七月間留學中國的觀察和經歷。

學習

英語

我能在中國的大學裡看到很多勤奮得令人吃驚的孩子，學英語的人無處不在：有第一節課之前在看台上背英文文章的，有在去餐廳路上聽GRE辭彙的，還有吃飯只花20分鐘不到之後得以殺進圖書館搶位的。這些學生們在英語上花費的精力和毅力會使他們記住成千個牛逼的單詞，日復一日，令我望而生畏。

某種程度上，我的英語優勢會被抵消掉。每當我想表達點複雜的東西，我就不得不用英語來說，而總會有人能幫我翻譯出來我想說的話。我覺得這種口譯對一門外語最真實牢靠的檢測了，而他們做到了。

與之相比，在我的美國大學裡，學習就是一種得到分數的方式。那些天賦異稟的孩子會專註於他們自己的研究項目，我們都認同[做比認識更深刻]

我的美國同學很少為標準化考試做準備，哪兒跟中國學生似的。多數美國學生把標準化測試，比如SAT，GRE，只是當作一個能力測驗。他們會「複習」，但他們得到的分數是對一般性知識的反映。在美國不存在著重學習某種考試然後想著怎麼利用考試的特點來提高分數的情況。實際上這麼做的人會被鄙視，因為這樣對提高一個學生的綜合水平毫無益處。

嗯，另一方面，我在中國的時候，聽到有人說中國大學生壓根不怎麼學習。很明顯，因為高考已經幹掉了太多有潛力的學生，所以出現了[只要從名校畢業就有工作保障]的這種觀念。我聽說這些學生整天看電視，或者看網路小說或者打DOTA……我沒碰到這樣的學生，但，如果中國有這樣的問題，同樣，美國大學同樣面臨著這樣的問題。

數學

誰去看看SAT數學部分的題就知道美國的初高中數學有多簡單了。我讀本科工程學，在中國的一整年裡面，從第四個月開始，我發現語言的困難在代數和微積分面前壓根不算事。我同學能把部分分式和三角函數當兩位數的加減乘除算，他們可以筆算（甚至心算，靠）然後比我用這個TI-89計算器還快.

（沒錯我們在高中就用這玩意。嗯它是3D繪圖的，它可以做微分，積分，以及計算任何統計類估算，你甚至可以編程出一個遊戲玩載入到上面玩。）

因為工科的課程全世界都教差不多的內容，所以美國的教授教學生們用數字分析軟體（通常是Matlab）編程來彌補我們的悲劇數學基礎。

但是我想說，如果一個中國學生和我比賽計算10道題，他（她）肯定比我快，這沒商量（洒家還沒編好程序呢喂！！）可要是我們同樣處理一百萬道題的時候，我應該會贏。

宿舍

熱水

給我留下最深刻印象的就是有限的熱水供給。我一直認為熱水是人們生活中必不可缺的東西，來到中國，我發現自己真傻…在美國的時候，我可以打開浴室得熱水龍頭，然後等上不到十秒鐘就可以享受熱騰騰的水啦。我也可以讓熱水一直流啊流只要我有足夠大的熱水器並且樂意付水費。

但是在中國，我遇到了如下情況：

1.
沒有熱水龍頭

2.
樓下的熱水龍頭是用來給學生們往暖瓶里接熱水用的（譯者註：咱這叫開水房）

3.
一個小型的熱水器只夠提供十分鐘的熱水。

幸運的是，我就有這麼一個小型的熱水器，因為我們是國際生。但即使這樣，也確實需要適應。這麼一件小事讓我意識到自己原來被寵壞了。

生活輔導員

生活輔導員是一個宿舍里的學生幹部。生活輔導員會歡迎新搬來的學生，回答他們的問題，組織活動，裝飾大廳，收集證件等等。他們傾聽學生的困難，然後提供建議，像學長一樣。同樣令人印象深刻的是，生活輔導員可以施行規定的權力。

我原來就是一生活輔導員，幹了兩年，這期間是我大學生涯中最有價值的一段經歷（在我來中國之前）。我當時學會了如何與人溝通，如何處理突發事件等等。最重要的是，我認識了各種各樣的人們，那些跟我一棟樓住的人——否則我就沒機會認識他們了。

來到中國後我失望地發現，中國的生活輔導員都是些只會使用權力的成年人，而非學生。我更失望的是，國際生的宿舍樓壓根就沒生活輔導員。我覺得中國的大學放棄了一個讓高年級學生在宿舍樹立模範的機會。

教授

在課堂上的問題

對我來說，一個教授的優與劣區別在於她（他）能否和學生互動。最簡單的互動的方法就是問學生問題唄。這樣一來，最大的益處就是老師們可以了解在過去的十分鐘里，有多少學生聽懂了。

在中國大學的課堂上，老師會一個人照著幻燈片講課從頭講到尾，就跟他面對著鏡子跟自己說話似的。

會面時間

在美國大學裡，教授通常會被要求有一個與學生溝通的會面時間。會面時間是一系列的時間段，比如周一下午四點或者周三上午十一點，這時間是為了讓學生能來找教授問問題。注意，每周都有。

中國的大學裡，這東西也壓根不存在。誰要是想提出個問題，就必須在課間逮住教授或者在教授走出門外的時候攔住他，然後才能幸運地得到一個詳盡的解釋。當然，這難不倒我。

因為我習慣了會面時間的存在，所以我會從系辦公室記下教授的辦公室位置，電話號碼。每周，我都會去問教授問題，或者是關於課上的內容，或者是作業，再或者是考試什麼的。有時候，教授會一臉困惑地看著我。更多的時候，他們直接就不在辦公室。但只要教授肯花時間回答我的問題，他們都解決的非常好——跟我在美國的教授一樣——與此同時還能教我點中文。

課程

課程安排

選課的時候，我發現的第一件事就是，課程被安排的一段一段的。這就是說，每天早上的課開始時間都一樣；每天的午飯時間都一樣；每天下午的課開始時間都一樣；晚飯時間都一樣……就跟在上高中似的。

做個比較的話，我在美國的課程表是這個樣子的

課有時候在整點開始，有時候在半點開始。課會上到任何一個15分鐘的倍數(那一大塊紫色是我獨立研究項目的實驗室時間)

這靈活的課程安排的結果就是，沒有設置午飯或者晚飯的時間。我們的自助餐廳都有很長的營業時間，午飯能從中午11點到下午兩點，晚飯能從7點到9點。學校周圍的飯店在早上十點到晚上十點都開門。

課程內容

關於這方面沒啥能讓我吃驚的。我只是想說課程的安排在中美兩方有所不同：差別大到我這個專業在中國和美國居然不是同一個系的。

選課

我在中國上的大學能網上註冊，但國際生不成。這……挺滑稽的（也不方便）。在美國，所有的學生，包括國際生，都註冊在一個資料庫中，這似乎免去了一些將外國學生的資料儲存在另外的一個系統中的麻煩。同樣，我也有一個不同於普通學生的學生證，這導致我不能

1.
網上選課

2.
從圖書館借書

3.
使用計算機實驗室

4.
用學生證在食堂刷卡

把我弄到另一個獨立的系統，這也意味著我沒有一個全校範圍的學生記錄。沒有哪個部門對我負責也沒有哪個部門來把我趕走。我可以自由地直接向教授申請課程。有時候我覺得這也許是個能讓不同系辦公室的人被我的資料弄得暈頭轉向的原因。

同學

問問題

我發現這裡的學生們真的很少在課上問問題。即使這堂課叫[討論課]，老師依然會講課，然後把學生叫起來問問題。。學生們少有因為沒理解或者僅僅是出於好奇心而問問題的。

在美國大學裡，學生是應該問問題的。大多數教授會在講課間歇時給學生提問的機會。有些軸的教授甚至會逼學生問問題。

在基於討論的課堂上，向同學提問是一種禮貌的質疑對方觀點的方法。這對把口頭上的討論轉化為實際的分析也有一定幫助。

言行

學生的言行舉止真的需要適應。我算是明白了為啥點名的時候這麼多學生擠破頭要來卻不真正聽課。而當那些不點名的課上，我又會對這些學生來上課卻只是為了睡覺，發簡訊，互相聊天調侃而感到吃驚。

這是因為來上課與否在美國通常是一個可選項，高水平的研討會和實驗室活動例外。如果一個美國學生在課上只是睡覺，那麼這個學生過幾天就會懶得來了。

校園

建築規模

幸運地（或者不幸地），我剛來中國上大學的時候，這個學校剛剛建成了市郊的新校區。我個人還是喜歡城市中心的老校區，因為它更有歷史風味，建築設計方面我也更喜歡，同時有著更有活力的學習氣氛。但因為所有本科生都搬到了新校區，我也不得不在那兒上課了。

新校區給我的第一印象就是，這貨是給巨人設計的（不是哈利波特裡面的巨人，而是古代神話裡面的巨人）校園裡的路用來開坦克都十分隨意，但是校園裡卻連車都很少見。這學校的土地規模實在是太大了，我從這頭走到另一頭得花上45分鐘。

公共浴室

所有我對這個學校公共浴室的不滿幾乎同樣適用於中國所有的公共浴室。但聽說新校園想要改進成國際化的校園，我就幼稚地期望著廁所，熱水和肥皂。我還是太天真了……

WIFI

在中國，我真想念能在公共場合用WIFI的時光。在美國校園裡，每一寸草地上都覆蓋了無線網路，並且全部對學生免費。事實上，我最喜歡的兩個學習的地方，一個是餐廳，一個是校園裡的食品角。大晴天的時候，我經常能看見有人在樹下坐著，用他們的筆記本刷新Facebook.

當我發現我必須花錢來使用校園WIFI的時候，更悲慘的是，我的特殊學生證讓我想花錢買WIFI都買不來的時候，洒家徹底抓狂了……如果沒有可用的網路的話，我們應該在哪完成那些小組作業呢？我每天該怎麼查看郵箱呢？

好吧，我很快就發現，小組作業在中國的工科里比野生奧特曼還稀少（唯一的一次是我和我的夥計裝了一個新電腦）。過了幾個星期之後，郵件也沒了動靜，所以每天要查看郵箱這個習慣也被我廢了。

食堂

大多數中國同學老師抱怨食堂的飯。但作為一個米國人，一個從6歲開始吃米國飯菜的人（包括漢堡包薯條匹薩熱狗和漢堡包薯條披薩熱狗還有漢堡包薯條皮薩熱狗），相信我，我僅是路過食堂然後聞到中式菜肴的香味的時候就已經爽到升天了。我比我中國朋友的食量大兩倍，他們會一臉疑惑地看著我，問「你真的覺得這個菜好吃？」然後我會點頭說：「這東西好吃爆了，你要是去美國嘗嘗玉米熱狗，你就會真心懷念這地方的飯菜。」另一個令我驚喜的事是，儘管吃了那麼多，我事實上在減重。這些中國菜肴里的蔬菜，瘦肉和米飯比那些美國炸肉和黃油麵包組合健康得多。

社交

我是想能更主動地認識當地學生的。但我對這些社交活動了解的並不太多，畢竟我是個國際生。以下因素使我與中國學生玩開十分困難：

1.
我住在國際生的宿舍。當我第一次註冊公寓的時候，我就想住在普通宿舍里，這樣我就能和中國學生住在一起。但這個念頭很快就被註冊辦公室的文秘打消了。她說只有」普通」學生，那些為了得到文憑的學生可以待在「普通」宿舍。後來我明白這個規定只是想賺更多的錢罷了，我的房租和雜費要比當地學生貴五倍。（雖然我的房間要好很多）

2.
所有的本科生住在不同的校區。國際生住在老校區，市中心，因為語言課在那上，因此日常生活要便利一些。但新校區在離老校區一個小時車程以外的地方。儘管我每天花一個半小時在來回的路上，這也總是阻礙我參加體育和社交活動的一個原因。

3.
我選了屬於不同系的課。我的課程註冊很複雜，國際學生部門的老師覺得我的中文能力（口語尤甚）對於提供的語言課程來說過於高，他們不想讓我上語言課，因為他們怕我給其他學生帶來壓力。所以我不得不註冊普通的本科課程，全部用中文教學。我覺得，既然我不得不上本科課程，我也可以同時上我的主修工科課程。可是中國大學的課程劃分與美國不同，我最終跨了三個系選了大二，大三，大四的課程。因為每個系的學生都上差不多的課，我從來沒見過同一個學生上兩門不同的課的。這就好像我們都在一輛火車上，每個人都有自己選定的靠著自己朋友的位置，而我是唯一的那個在過道上左顧右盼的人。

4.
我對中國流行文化一點都不了解。這使我很難和別人聊天。當人家談起名人或者音樂或者網路用語時，我就覺得跟他們隔了十萬八千里。

這就是我現在能想到的。想說點不同觀點的或者有問題想問的請給原帖留言吧~

高中生初次譯作，水平有限，錯誤難免。如有紕漏請留言，十分感謝。

*回答中圖片引自原作者

留學期間，最怕老師期末考試留開放式的題目，比如說：請從本學期學過的文獻中選一篇，解釋你為何同意/反對作者觀點，需結合課外材料，提供足夠的論據。

我兩年的課程，9成科目都是類似論文題（閉卷考試只有一次）。每次花兩三天審題還無從下筆後，我都想：為什麼教授tm不給我們一個限定方向的題目。

再想想，我的無所適從其實是國內教育養成的：從小到大我的考試都是有標準答案的，只需要按照老師設定的方向走就能過關。

今天看到一個ted的視屏，演講者批評美國教育程式話，試圖消除每個學生的個性，以這位老師的觀點來看，中國教育簡直就是一台最精密的篩選器，把想像力和創新力從學生的腦子裡篩走。這台機器還是流水線，待的時間越長篩得越乾淨。

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