caffeineaddict Posted August 14, 2009 at 02:32 PM Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 at 02:32 PM Wow, so many Londoners! London is one of my favorite cities in the world, I could certainly see myself living there.A chinese-forums meet up sounds great, I'll be arriving in Beijing the 14th of September. We should all get a bite together. When's everybody flying in? it's great . But I notice you're from San Francisco? I heard it's really nice as well - I have relatives who live there. I'm flying in on the 10th and staying in the eastern side of Beijing, by Sanlitun. I want to move into dorms asap but of course that's if I get allocated a room, fingers crossed. How about for the meet up, once you arrive you PN me your cell phone number and when everyone's there we'll meet! I'm having a summer term starting next week so I'll be quite busy during the day but evening should be fine! Looking forward yea I'm up for it! I forgot my mobile number but I'll PM you and barron009 (and anyone else who wants to meet up) once I remember...which I will...soon.... Naturegirl thanks so much for the informative post. The campus/dorms sound fine.What course are you doing at Tsinghua? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Su-ey21 Posted August 14, 2009 at 07:50 PM Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 at 07:50 PM Naturegirl, thanks for the very very informative post! It was extremely helpful... especially the hot water part... i shall prepare myself for that! One question - Are the kitchens well stocked with appliances to cook meals? Quote: How about for the meet up, once you arrive you PN me your cell phone number and when everyone's there we'll meet! I'm having a summer term starting next week so I'll be quite busy during the day but evening should be fine! Looking forward yea I'm up for it! I forgot my mobile number but I'll PM you and barron009 (and anyone else who wants to meet up) once I remember...which I will...soon.... I am up for it! Will be flying in on the 10th September too. I booked to move into the dorms on that day itself so hopefully i should be in campus asap! *cross fingers* Hmm i hope it's easy to get a China hp number... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturegirl Posted August 15, 2009 at 06:54 AM Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 at 06:54 AM The kitchen's are ok, they are pretty big, but there are only induction cookers. Aah, this reminds me I was cooking spaghetti yesterday (it's really hard to get and expensive in China ) Do you guys know the bolognese powder that you can buy in little packages? I'm pretty sure they have it in other countries exept Germany too. Could someone who's coming to Tsinghua be a life saver and bring me some of them? Of course I'll pay you back then, but it's so difficult to get it in China! I have a picture here (http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/gdcom_2063_148949880) Thanks a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barron009 Posted August 16, 2009 at 05:30 AM Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 at 05:30 AM it's great . But I notice you're from San Francisco? I heard it's really nice as well - I have relatives who live there. Yep, San Francisco is great and I am going to miss it. The food, weather, culture and scenery make it an awesome place to live. You should visit SF some time. For those arriving early: If you they don't let you into the dorms right away, I'd recommend staying at the Beijing Downtown Backpackers Hostel. The people who run it are great and so helpful. It's also cheap and in a great location in the middle of Nanluogu Xiang. It isn't near the campus but if you're looking to do some sightseeing the first few days, the location is excellent. Does anyone have experience setting up an unlocked phone in China? I am planning to unlock my phone before leaving and hope I can just pop in a Chinese sim card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeineaddict Posted August 17, 2009 at 04:50 PM Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 at 04:50 PM ^ Sorry, I can't help you out but I'm sure it'll be easy. Last time I changed phones was 4 years ago and I basically change UK/China sim cards when I fly back and forth....I don't remember having to "unlock" it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco-polo Posted August 17, 2009 at 07:38 PM Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 at 07:38 PM barron009 - if you have a phone from one of the US carriers that use GSM (i.e. T-Mobile, AT&T and a few smaller carriers but not Verizon, which is on CDMA, a different standard) and are out of contract (i.e. two years or whatever length of time you agreed to when you signed up for service and received your cell phone), you should be able to go into a carrier store and get them to unlock the phone. You may also be able to get a SIM unlock code by phoning the carrier and asking for it. If you're still in contract, try an independent cell phone store - they may be able to unlock it for you. In theory, once the phone is unlocked you should be able to pop in a new SIM card in China and get on the network. But there's a catch - even though the US and China are both on GSM, the frequencies used are different (900Mhz in China, 850Mhz / 1900Mhz in the US), so you'll need to find out whether your phone can operate at different frequencies (which may not be the case if it was intended for use in the US only). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malgnohp Posted August 17, 2009 at 08:50 PM Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 at 08:50 PM (edited) I’ve been searching Facebook for people attending Tsinghua Fall 2009 and no luck. Today I decided to shorten my search and I found this! Thank god too! I’m 22 I just graduated with my BA in Business Finance Management. I’ll be arriving on September 11th coming from California. I heard that you can arrive at the dorms early and its not biggie? I applied early at thutraining but I got the AB rooms, thought it would be neat to share a room with someone. I’m definitely looking to make friends or meet up with people at the university. Edited August 18, 2009 at 02:52 AM by roddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kopfan Posted August 17, 2009 at 09:02 PM Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 at 09:02 PM Hi everyone! I'm also going to be doing a year in Tsinghua and my mandarin is pretty much nonexistent, I expect to totally be starting from scratch. And I'm glad to see that there's a lot of londoners seeing as I'm a massive football fan and this way I won't have to watch matches alone Naturegirl, thanks for all the awesome info!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barron009 Posted August 17, 2009 at 10:26 PM Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 at 10:26 PM Thanks for the advice. I have an iPhone and know how to unlock it so that first step is settled. Getting a Chinese sim card to work in my unlocked iPhone is what I need to figure out. I know it will work as there is a huge underground market for unlocked iPhones in China but I might need to enter some different network address numbers to connect their GPRS/EDGE network. By the way, dorm application results have been posted. Glad I didn't change my application as I successfully reserved an AB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeineaddict Posted August 17, 2009 at 11:07 PM Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 at 11:07 PM I also got an AB room. Fantastic. Mine says Sept 14 after it....does that mean I have to move in on or by that date?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie10216 Posted August 18, 2009 at 02:30 AM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 02:30 AM Hi! Good news! I just checked my room reservation status and my application is successful! Yippee! This is good news, now I don't have to spend the evenings of my holiday searching for Beijing Flats. Whew! What a relief... Hope everyone else got what they wanted! See you in Sept! Susie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie10216 Posted August 18, 2009 at 02:48 AM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 02:48 AM Mine is booked from 8th Sept but I am actually flying int Beijing on 3rd Sept, guess I will have to find a hotel or something for the meanwhile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted August 18, 2009 at 03:04 AM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 03:04 AM Hi new Tsinghua folks, First off, great to see so many Tsinghua students turning up - Tsinghua's a university we haven't had a huge amount of information on in the past, hopefully you all be coming back over the next year and beyond to keep up updated and help out new arrivals. Couple of notes I'd like to make. There's a massive amount of general China info already on here - finding your own accommodation, mobile phones, getting to and from the airport, etc - a browse and a search will turn up a lot of the info you're looking for. Also, in order to get as much of that info in public view as possible, we don't encourage requests for contact off the board - ie to join Facebook groups, get more advice by email, etc. Obviously if you need to swop phone numbers that's a different matter - the private message function becomes available after you've made a few posts - but please keep any discussion that might be of value to future students on site. Looking forward to hearing all your stories over the next year . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luanova Posted August 18, 2009 at 01:59 PM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 01:59 PM Wow, so many 22 year olds attending this program! Here I thought I'd be the oldest one around! I just found out I'm approved for an AB room, and will be moving in 9/16. Until then, I'll be staying with family in Beijing and doing some traveling before classes start. Does anyone have information about picking classes? I'm here studying Sociology, so I'm not in a mandarin program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Su-ey21 Posted August 18, 2009 at 03:07 PM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 03:07 PM Yay! I got my AB room too.. they confirmed it on the 10th of September for me. So that means i should be able to go straight to campus caffeineaddict - i think the date means you have to move in on that date itself? Because i booked to move in on the 10th of Sept and that's basically the date that's after the AB confirmation. It seems everyone is staying in a AB room.. did no one opt for a single? naturegirl - would love to help but unfortunately i am not in London anymore.. Ooh and more new people! Awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted August 18, 2009 at 04:25 PM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 04:25 PM Database glitch meant we lost a post from Kopfan (not sure what happened, never seen it before), but here's the text. Sorry Kopfan! *************** It seems everyone is staying in a AB room.. did no one opt for a single? I think it's more like there weren't single rooms available. I got an AB room as well and will be moving in on the 14th. I'm 18 by the way; excited to be around all you college graduates!! Naturegirl- I was at the supermarket today and looked for your Knorr sauce, they have Knorr sauce but not bologniase...sorry! However, there's a bunch of other brands that have the similar thing, attached is a pic of one of them. Let me know if you want me to bring some for you alright! In the mean time I'll keep an eye out for the one you want . **************** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeineaddict Posted August 18, 2009 at 06:28 PM Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 06:28 PM barron009 susie10216 luanova Su-ey21 Kopfan ...great we all got AB rooms! look forward to seeing you guys around! Su-ey21 - Yea I'm starting to think that's what it means as well. But I'm going to give them a ring to confirm. Naturegirl - I also looked for the cooking sauce but to be honest I haven't heard of such a thing before ( i don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen )....I'll keep an eye out though. luanova - welcome to the thread. I was also a bit nervous about being "old" but hey, looks like we're not alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barron009 Posted August 18, 2009 at 07:40 PM Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 at 07:40 PM I’m 22 I just graduated with my BA in Business Finance Management. I’ll be arriving on September 11th coming from California. I heard that you can arrive at the dorms early and its not biggie? Good to see another Californian, what part are you from? I just graduated myself from Rutgers with a BA in Economics. I'm also going to be doing a year in Tsinghua and my mandarin is pretty much nonexistent, I expect to totally be starting from scratch. Sounds like we'll be in the same classes! I'm a total newbie aside from some self study this summer. I've been working through the Pimsleur audiotapes and a Chinese character textbook. Don't want to be completely useless when I get there haha As for the move in date, the date on thutraining is supposed to be the day you told them you wanted to move in on your housing application. It's likely you can change that date. Naturegirl, I don't recall seeing that brand of bolognese before in the States but I'll check for it next time I'm at the grocer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malgnohp Posted August 19, 2009 at 12:03 AM Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 at 12:03 AM barron009 I'm from SoCal Los Angeles! Wow, Rutgers..congrats...isn't that in New Jersey? naturegirl I already saved the picture in my phone and will try to find it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luanova Posted August 19, 2009 at 12:23 AM Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 at 12:23 AM Barron009: I just graduated from Rutgers with a BA in English and Visual Arts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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