OQEANOUS Plus ProgramOversea Quality-assured Education in Asian Nations
for Ocean University Students Plus

OQEANOUS Plus-DDP Report (SHOU 2022/December-2023/July)

2024.01.12

Graduate School of Marine Science and Technology
Course of Marine Resources and Environment
First Year of Master's Program
T. K

【Motivation】
   When I decided to go for student exchange, I was interested in working in foreign countries in the future. So I wanted to have experience foreign culture and improve my language skills.

【Coursework and research activities at SHOU】
Coursework
   I have taken more than 10 courses in the two semesters. Except some courses which open for international students, most of the teachers speak Chinese and the documents are written in Chinese. I often used Google and Baidu translation and asked other students. I also asked teachers whether I can do exam and report in English because I was not good at Chinese. If you will be the similar situation, you need to check with your teacher.
   Additionally, this is a personal feeling, but unlike in Japan, I felt that the distance between the teacher and the students in class was closer. For example, when a teacher asks a question to a student, in Japan there are often only a few students who answer. However, in China, I found that in almost all classes, students were actively responding, presenting, and communicating with each other.

Research activities in the laboratory
   I belonged to a microalgae laboratory. Seminars were basically held once a week, all in Chinese. The first semester was online due to infectious diseases and the second semester was often face-to-face. The content of the seminar was similar to that in many Japanese research labs, with one person each week presenting a paper related to their own research and participants sharing the progress of their research activities. In addition, research activities were not conducted under the direction of a professor in charge of experiments, but rather by discovering research themes on one's own and cooperating with other research students, which I felt was a policy unique to the laboratory to which I was assigned. I not only carried out microalgae cultivation and experiments related to my own work, but also analyzed samples requested by professors from other laboratories in collaboration with my friends in the laboratory.
　    After becoming good friends with the students in the laboratory, we often talked about our career paths after graduation. In China, a master's degree is one year longer than in Japan and lasts for three years. In addition, according to local students, many of them start job hunting after graduating from university, which is very different from Japan. This may be why most of the students who were in their first year of master's studies at the time did not yet have clear goals for their future career paths. My impression was that many of the students who were close to graduation answered that they would either work in research or engineering at a manufacturer or as civil servants. This is similar to the career paths of Japanese science students. According to them, the civil service is particularly popular due to its stability.

【Life in SHOU】
Dormitory
   Each room has a shower and toilet area. I had a roommate from Nepal. We love to sing a song and can play the guitar, so we used to play a session and sang our cultural songs frequently.

Internet environment
   As you may know, in China, we cannot access most of internet services which we usually use like Google, LINE, Instagram and so on. So, if you want to use such a service, you need to use VPN. I recommend you buy a SIM card which can be activated in China and install VPN before the departure. You can get Chinese phone number and reasonable SIM card at the shop in SHOU. I think this is the most economical and reliable way to get them.
   If you want to access free Wi-Fi, you can use school Wi-Fi around the campus. However, I couldn't use it in the dorm for international students (We could use Wi-Fi in the study room in the dorm).

Payment system, bank account
   In many cases, I couldn't use cash in a hotel, taxi, restaurant so you need to use QR code payment service like WeChat pay and Alipay. However, these services require you to open Chinese bank account. Your Chinese teacher may introduce how to open Chinese bank account and I recommend you to open it as soon as possible. As of 2023 now, Alipay has provided QR code payment service for foreign visitors who don't have Chinese bank account. So I had used it until I opened Chinese bank account (As a point of caution, this service is restricted some functions and may change the specification suddenly. I recommend you to open a bank account soon and activate regular service).

Meals in SHOU
   There are three big canteens in the campus, and I could fill my stomach. They are opened from early morning till evening even on holidays so most of students don't cook themselves. You cannot use cash, so you need to use WeChat pay or charge money in your student card.


Example of serving in a canteen (around 15 yuan)

Hospital
   It takes around 10 minutes to get to the nearest hospital by taxi. When I got food poisoning and fever of more than 39 degrees, I called my Chinese friend to accompany me to the hospital.

Environment around SHOU
   Shanghai maritime university is located across the street, and some restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, and barber are between them. You can get most of goods you need in the area, but if you need more things, you can go to the shopping mall by bike. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the nearest metro station, and it will take about 2 hours to get to the city center from there.

Events in SHOU
   I recommend you to join university events. I joined the International festival and sang Peng you (朋友) which is famous in China with my Chinese and international friends and the Dragonboat competition as a member of SHOU international team. In addition, the university held Chinese poem competition, tour to some traditional villages and some activities.
   International students are really close to each other, so we made soccer team and held matches with Chinese team and Shanghai maritime university team.


SHOU International Student Dragon Boat Team


International Student Soccer Team


At the International Student Festival

【About my job-hunting】
   I was in China from November of my first year of master's studies to July of my second year of master's studies, so I was not able to do any face-to-face job hunting during the period when job hunting generally takes place. Therefore, I researched and narrowed down the companies I wanted to work for when I made up my mind to be dispatched in the spring of my first year as a master's student, and actively participated in internships and company information sessions from around summer, aiming for early selection for employment. In the autumn of that year, I was lucky enough to receive an early selection opportunity at a company in my first choice group. By informing the companies which I wanted to work for that I was going to study abroad and getting permission for an online interview, I was able to complete my job search while in Shanghai during my study abroad period.
   If you are considering job hunting while participating in the DDP programme, I think you need to consult with your OQEANOUS coordinator, your host university, professor and the personnel of the company you want to work for, and consider at an early stage whether it is feasible for you to job hunt, including the timing, duration and selection process of your study abroad.
   In any case, the experience gained from studying abroad will be irreplaceable and wonderful, so if you are at all interested, start by consulting your OQEANOUS coordinator.