Wonderful Journey of Wang Xinuo to HSE

Xinuo

Xinuo, a student from China, shared her priceless experience with us when doing her exchange programme in HSE university.

– Could you introduce yourself and your major to the readers?

– Hello, everyone! My name is Wang Xinuo, I come from China and I am studying for my master degree in law. My home university is China University of Political Science and Law, which is located near the Great Wall in Beijing.

– Well, we can't wait to hear your story. Why did you decide to take an exchange programme in the HSE university?

– Actually, my home university has many exchange programs with all kinds of universities around the world, including Russia. The special thing is that I studied Russian when I was in my Bachelor degree, so I prefer to come to Russia to cultivate my Russian language and immerse myself in the new environment.

Last year, the opportunity came. I noticed the announcement of cooperation between my home university and HSE university, which said that students had the opportunity to come to Russia as an exchange student for half a year in the spring semester of 2022. I am fond of Moscow, and I am really into an international learning environment with high-quality education from HSE university, that is the reason why I came here.

– Great! When you study at HSE university, what do you think about the school? Does it look like what you expected? And how are the classes there different from those in your country?

– I immensely love this university. The teachers are very responsible and the students are friendly to others. For instance, they are willing to do you a favor when you are in trouble. I would like to thank everyone who helped me before, especially thanks to Tatiana Gremiakina, the teacher from SIMO, who really helped us a lot to solve the Visa problems.

Moreover, at HSE university, I have chances to interact with many excellent students from diverse universities around the world, which help me broaden my horizon, and gain unforgettable experiences. I gotta say that everything I have been through are good memories here, and this journey was beyond all my expectations.

As for courses, there is a difference in this aspect as well. It surprised me the most that there are many seminars in the course in Russia; however, in China, there are only once or twice during the whole course. Although the study program was difficult, I did my best to pursue the program and received useful knowledge and experiences to develop my career path later down the road. And I wanna say that I am so grateful for what I learned from HSE university.

– What language did you study at HSE?

– Russian language, but it is truly difficult for me to learn. From time to time, I use English to interact with my classmates and teachers.

– When immersing yourself in a new language, do you encounter any obstacles? If yes, how did you overcome it?

– I gotta say that everyone knows that the Russian language is really hard to learn, especially its complex grammar and different forms of Russian words. When I study Russian, the Russian language teachers really help me a lot. They helped us to find language rules to remember, and also they helped us to practice spoken Russian.

Thanks to teachers' help, I improved my Russian a lot. Furthermore, I always believe that “Practice makes improvement", so every single day I spend most of the time on remembering the new words and doing homework carefully, which I found to be really helpful to enhance my Russian.

Although the study program was difficult, I did my best to pursue the program and received useful knowledge and experiences to develop my career path later down the road

– Do you dedicate your time to discovering Russia during your journey? What is most impressive to you?

– Yeah, of course! I am a big fan of traveling, so in the last semester, I had some delightful trips. I have been to St. Petersburg twice. I also went to Kazan, Rostov and other places.

And I really love St.Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, I experienced the White Nights and saw an Open bridge on the Neva River. In addition, I have been to the State Hermitage Museum twice. I enjoyed the statue of Michelangelo and saw the original work of Raphael, and I learned about Egyptian mummies, Greek statues, and some ancient Chinese paintings. The State Hermitage Museum is an amazing place. Although I have been here twice, I do not think it is enough for this museum. St. Petersburg is an art city, it will appeal to anyone. I hope that I can go there to travel again later on.

– What do you think are the 5 must-do things for exchange students when they come to HSE university?

– First of all, I think that we should know the system and the culture of HSE university. In addition, I have to grasp the study program of the subjects, which are related to my study. Secondly, it is better for us to study the local language, compare the differences between two countries. Thirdly, we can also enroll ourselves in a cultural activity or club. This way, exchange students are able to get to know students from different faculties. Besides courses, we are supposed to acquire information about the background and the condition of the country. Finally, the main building of HSE is fantastic and combines modern architecture with a classic style. We need to go there to see.