How Internationalized Fudan is (2)

Given all these opportunities to get in touch with the world outside, many of my classmates are very eager to study abroad after graduating from Fudan. I believe this is the same for most of the Fudan students as well. One example is that when you enter any bookstore on or nearby the campus, you can easily spot the different kinds of studying aids for GRE and TOEFL tests. Students also sign up for courses in preparation for gaining different kinds of foreign language qualifications (e.g. College English Test).

Studying and living in such a competitive environment, many students can now speak and write good English. They are trying hard to “internationalize” themselves in order to become more competitive in the future.

**********

But to say Fudan is “completely internationalized” (like U of T) might be a stretch. (Due to time constraints, I can only talk about the students at Fudan.) I consider U of T as a highly internationalized university in which the student body is comprised of individuals from different countries. Students coming from other parts of the world are able to integrate themselves into the local students’ community.

At U of T, the term “foreign/international students” only exists when it comes to tuition fees. At Fudan, you are labeled as a “foreign student” everyday, by both the school and the fellow students. It’s true that U of T has its International Student Centre, but unlike the Foreign Students Office at Fudan, ISC does not deal with the admission process or any academic issues.

There are other examples as well. On the attendance list of a class, the names of foreign students all appear after that of local students, regardless of one’s student number, or the year he or she is in. Also the local and foreign students live in different areas on the campus. In addition, as I mentioned last time, the degree requirements for local and foreign students are different.

Due to cultural barriers, students from the same country form their own social networks. Therefore, it is very amusing to see that whenever the class is asked to divide itself into groups, you will always end up seeing a fixed group of foreign students.

I am trying to argue that there is still a long way to go before Fudan literally becomes “internationalized”, i.e. the local and foreign students receive the same treatments. What I wrote may sound a little bit too trivial, but this is how I feel having been in Fudan for over half a year: There is still an invisible barrier between foreign and local students.