randall_flagg Posted January 3, 2006 at 09:34 AM Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 at 09:34 AM I recently applied for a scholarship to go to China for a year (or two?) to study. In my application, I stated that I wanted to go to Qingdao’s Ocean University. I just learned that I have been invited for the final round of interviews. Now, I know for a fact that I will be asked why I chose to go to Qingdao (while everyone else wants to go to Beijing or Shanghai). Well, the real reason is simple: the air! I mean of course I could live in Beijing for a year, but I go running lmost on a daily basis and I would just hate to have to inhale all the exhaust fumes that you find in many of China’s bigger cities. So the natural choice for me was Qingdao – where the air is oh so clean and everything is ever so peachy…. Now, I can’t very well tell the commission that will be interviewing me shortly that I chose Qingdao so that I can run…. I need academic reasons to go to Qingdao. Can you come up with any? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcode Posted January 3, 2006 at 12:45 PM Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 at 12:45 PM You can probably say the following 1) I can learn Mandarin more efficiently in Qindao than in Beijing as there are less foreigners in Qindao. How true is this ? 2) I would like to learn a particular sub culture or certain ethnics in Qindao ( do your research) as Beijing is a big city whereby concentration of a particular ethnic is almost non existant. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted January 3, 2006 at 01:04 PM Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 at 01:04 PM The city's trees 雪松 are also very nice. IMVHO, if it is the real reason, it could be a good reason if it is well-presented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianlondon Posted January 4, 2006 at 01:08 AM Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 at 01:08 AM Agree. If I was interviewing someone and they said, basically, "I chose your city because it's clean and unpolluted, unlike xxxx", I'd accept it as a valid reason. And a compliment (assuming I didn't actually live in xxxx and had just travelled for the day to do the interview!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted January 4, 2006 at 02:17 AM Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 at 02:17 AM I think the air quality is a very good reason to choose places like Qindao or Kunming over Beijing. I spent only a few days in Beijing, at different times of the year, and to be honest i cannot imagine living there for longer than a week. The weather is pretty horrible, but i could put up with it if it wasn't for the smog. My health is more important than getting the right accent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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