FEATURE: Fresh Perspectives Got in Beijing
FEATURE: Fresh Perspectives Got in Beijing
  • Reporter Kwon Na-eun
  • 승인 2015.02.13 15:20
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>>Interview Peking University’s International Student
The Postech Times visited Beijing, China from Jan. 19 to Jan. 22. While in Beijing, we visited Peking University and interviewed an international student, Yoo Hey Yeung, who is currently an M.S. candidate of Chinese Politics. She graduated from Ewha Womans University, majoring in Political Science & International Relations. After graduation, she applied to Peking University in order to get a master’s degree. She eventually got in with a scholarship from the Chinese government. We asked her few questions about life in China as an international student.
Q. What difficulties have you experienced as an international student?
I sometimes had difficulties with language, but not much. (I lived in China when I was young.) The main problem was whether I had knowledge about the contents of education. It was very frustrating to me when I had no idea what I was learning. For example, when I first came to the school, I had to take classes about the Communist Party and Mao. However, I had never learned these. This made it very hard for me to study.
Q. What are the advantages of studying abroad in Peking University?
I could be in a favorable position as a scholar who studies in Chinese Politics. It is because there are already many scholars who study Chinese Politics with perspective from United States of America or South Korea, but there are few who have perspective from China. Not only in Chinese Politics, but also in other fields of Social Sciences, viewing issues from China’s perspective could be unique and advantageous.
Q. What are the differences between studying in Korea and studying in China?
The biggest difference is how students earn credits for graduation. In Korea, M.S. candidates take 9 credits per semester and spend 4 semesters to take classes and write articles at the same time. In China, the candidates take about 14 to 16 credits per semester. They spend the first 2 semesters focusing on class taking and spend the other 2 semesters focusing on the article(s) for graduation. It is more stressful for Chinese students since they have to take a lot of classes and have to write articles in less time compared to Korean students.
Q. Which place is better to be after graduation? China? Korea? Or any other places?
I want to go to USA to get a Ph.D. after graduation. Peking University only has master’s degree course in Chinese Politics. Therefore, I cannot stay there if I want to study further. I want to study more about Chinese Politics and  it would be better to go to the USA. I am not  sure about my career after graduating, but one of my acquaintances, for example, got a job at the UN office in Beijing.
There were several other questions about being an international student at Peking University. Nonetheless, we extracted core questions for this article. The Postech Times sincerely thanks Yoo Hey Yeung for making time for the interview.