My Impression of Sheffield and the University
Zhao Haiqing, China
I had no idea of this city before I reached Sheffield only a few nice photos of the campus were there on the prospectus, which I received from the University of Sheffield.
After graduation from my University in China, I had been practicing with a law firm for 3 years in Guangzhou, a city situated in South China. Some of my classmates and friends had married, some had become rich, and some had gone abroad. I lived my ordinary way without any new change. But I often considered what I should do in the future. Some friends suggested me to go abroad to study and get a Master Degree of Law. My parents also supported that idea. I thought that the idea was not too bad because in China, one who has good English skills and a good degree of education obtained from U.K. or U.S.A will more easily get a job with good salary. I was told that to obtain a visa to go U.S.A. was very difficult to get in China so I did not try at all. Britain was my only choice.
The biggest problem for me to study in the U.K. was my state of finance because I would have to pay my entire tuition fee and living expenses myself. Many told me the living in London was very expensive, so I could not choose the Universities in London even if they are very excellent. Cambridge? Oxford? They were a good daydream. Nevertheless a good University would have an important influence on my future career, I had to be very prudent about choosing one. I even logged on the website of the Times newspaper to look into the ranking of Universities in U.K. I found out that several universities outside London in Britain were suitable for me, namely the University of Sheffield, Birmingham, Durham, and Liverpool. I only had to wait about two weeks to receive the prospectus of these universities after I asked for the information through the website of those Universities.
It could be said that I had a panic in deciding which university I should apply for, because I had no idea about any one of them. Someone advised me to go to Sheffield, some said Birmingham was very nice, some told me Liverpool was a very good city, and even some said any university was right for me only if I could go to England. In that period, there was an English lawyer in Liverpool who visited China and the Law firm with which I practiced. He highlighted the law department of University of Sheffield when we had a good chat.I also found out that the cost of living in Sheffield was much less than in London by talking to him. I had checked the situation of Sheffield, which was placed in the middle of England, where I should be able to learn Standard English. Although Sheffield is a large city in U.K., it looked very nice in some photos. I thought it should be suitable for my life of study. Eventually I decided to go to Sheffield.
After having lived here for six months I now feel very comfortable, although sometimes loneliness inevitably comes, as I stay in my room alone at night. The room I am living is in very good condition. A drawback though is its location, far away from the Law department of the University. So I have to walk at least 30 minutes everyday to my department. This city is just like a hill and the road is up and down, so sometimes I walked breathlessly like climbing a hill. When I walk on the road in the morning, the air is very fresh; there are lots of green trees and small lawns as well as the nice houses on the both sides of the road. Occasionally one or two squirrels appear in the middle of the trees. The birds sometimes sing a song above. In fact I do feel not bored and tired of having such a long walk outside so long as my mind is relaxed on the road due to the beautiful environment of this city.
The largest population in this city is the students of the University of Sheffield. There are quite a lot of international students who are happily studying and living here. Once I took part in a banquet hold by International Office of University. After we had devoured the traditional English food, some international students, coming from more than ten different countries, stood on a row, dressed their own countries' traditional folk costumes. India, Malaysia, the countries of Africa, etc. That special scenery structured by them was so grand and attractive. In the faculty of LLM degree of International, Commercial and European Law, it is more international. Most of my classmates come from outside Britain. They speak all kinds of English with very strange or interesting accents. Sometimes it was really hard for me to understand what they meant. But now it is better than before because I have got used to them and been able to communicate with them after having taken courses with them for some time.
I have lived in several different cities in China, such as Beijing in North China, Shanghai in East China, Canton in South China. Compared to Sheffield, there are quite lots of differences. The most special point of China is that it has largest population of people in the world. In any large city of China, people crowd and make noise on every street, shop and square all day and night. Tianan Men Square in Beijing is the largest square in the world. But because of too many tourists in it, the space left for people seems to become very narrow, even narrower than the very small city square in the city center of Sheffield where there are much less people than Beijing. In the evening when I walked home, I felt very quiet and a little cold because there are not many people on the road walking like me. But there are many pubs here. On every weekend, lots of happy young guys and girls crowd into pubs where the air always seems very hot. A big glass of tasty beer costs you only £1.50. Someone can drink and chat as much as they like there.
However, you must be careful when you walk at night because you will probably meet several drunkards suddenly rushing towards you and say 'hello', or ask you, 'Have you got a lighter?' which might scare you for a moment. The pollution of cities is a very serious problem in China. The environment of Sheffield is much better than the large cities in China, I feel the air I breathe is very clean; many local English are used to drink cold water directly flowing from the tap, which makes me think that the quality of water here is very good too. Many local English seems more leisurely than most Chinese because most shops always close very early everyday, they would rather go home than earn money. In the large cities of China, most shops, supermarkets and restaurants in particular, open their business until very late at night. Especially in the holidays, no shop in China will miss a good chance to earn money because many Chinese like to go shopping in the holidays. Most local English people are very polite and friendly. In the bus stops, shops or other public places people queue to wait, without someone keeping order. But in the large cities in China, things are not so ideal, public places are often in a mess when many people do not want to obey the order. Some Chinese nowadays seem to think that they will never get an opportunity to live a better life if they do not scramble for everything with other people. It seems that some Chinese apply Darwinism very well in China.
The price of food in Sheffield is more expensive than that in China. The price of fresh vegetables is several times more than that in China. To be honest, compared with Chinese food, English food is not very delicious. Any kind of Chinese traditional food in any cities or countryside of China is more delicious than English food. Many local English like fish and chips, which I only ate twice and didn't want eat any more unless there is no alternative. Once I was invited to an English family to have a traditional dinner on Christmas day. But I didn't think that the very traditional food, turkey, has any special taste to attract me to eat again. I don't understand why many English still keep this custom of eating turkey, which is so hard and bland. Anyway, the typical English person likes keeping traditional culture, which is worthy of our study. One day several of my Chinese classmates and I cooked some simple traditional Chinese food for our English friends who excitedly shouted 'delicious' when they ate.
The weather in Sheffield is unpredictable. It can be fine sunshine when you go out in the morning, but several hours later, it will rain. I remember an English philosopher said, 'I don't want to change anything in England but its weather.' After my two umbrellas had been destroyed in the wind and rain of Sheffield, I have not used an umbrella any more. Like many local English, I often wetly walk in rain. To my surprise, the snow fluttered in February this year so that this city was made up to be a white fairyland.
The methods of teaching in the University of Sheffield are very different from that in my university in China. In most universities in China, the Professors spend lots of time giving their lecture, and the students only listen to their speaking passively. There is no chance for students to discuss, argue or ask questions. In the Law department of the University of Sheffield, however, it is the students who play a positive role most of the time to give their presentations, argue with one another and discuss with professors in the seminars, while the Professor sometimes give us the right direction and much inspiration. To me, a student whose English skill is not very good, such methods not only make me understand what I am studying, but also improve my English ability of speaking and listening. It's a pity that there are not more seminars arranged by my department. Sometimes I go to ask for help from my personal tutor if I meet any difficulties in my study or life. My tutor always likes to carefully listen to my problems or complaints, and then he gives me many useful instructions, which have made me more self-confident to study and live in this city and university.
I think study is merely a part of our life. I came to Sheffield for not only to gain a higher degree, but also to obtain a totally different experience, that of living in a foreign country. In particular, the language, custom, and cultural tradition here are very different from those in my own country. Such an opportunity of living here means I am able to improve my language skill, enrich my horizons, and make lots of friends from many different countries. It has been very worthwhile for me to come here to study and live. When I return to China, I believe everyday I spent in Sheffield will become my most beautiful memory, which I could never forget, in my short life.
Zhao Haiqing, China