Exchange report by Sandy
ID 1178269
I am an exchange student to Arizona State University. My exchange period was only
one semester which is only four months. Honestly, that’s not enough!!
The reason for going to America was because I want to experience a new country and
new culture. America was my only chose while selecting which school to apply, so
that’s narrow down the range that I can choose. It is quite easy for me to find the
university that best suit me. One of the points for me to go exchange is to go travel. I
love sunshine, hate rainy day, so Arizona State suits me really well. In my research I
knew it that Arizona is a hot state. It is located beside California, it is in the desert.
But the desert is not what I thought. The desert is not like Africa which has much sand.
In Arizona it is pretty hot, when I arrived; the temperature was over hundred
Fahrenheit. You have to drink a lot of water every single day. But it is a bit cold in
winter.
Travel advice:
1. Food: The state that I went is close to Mexico, they have Mexican style food like
nachos. In ASU we use M&G which is like you put the cash in your student ID card.
Basically, you can buy everything by M&G and its tax free. ASU also has another
chose which is meal plan. There are some buffet restaurants that you can go. But for
me all the food that in the restaurant tasted the same. If you don’t want to eat the same
food every day, then buy M&G only not meal plans. The other foods that you can get
are mostly fast food like burger king and subway. There are also many Asian super
markets; the biggest one is called Mekong.
2. Shopping: America is a great place for people to shop, you can either go shopping
online or to the store. Most people use online shopping, it’s really convenient. The
stuff usually delivered quite fast. And when you buy clothes, if you think it does not
fit you well, you can easily change the size, just sent it back. There is a super market
called Safeway (it is like Countdown). You can also order vegetables or fruits online.
This really surprises me. Amazon is a good site for shopping, you can sign in by your
student email address and you will get more benefits like faster delivery. But be
careful, while you are shopping online, there is a button “buy by one click” if you
press it, it will automatically delivery to your apartment. You don’t need to bring
many clothes to America, just buy there and it is cheap!
3. Accommodation: I lived on campus during the whole semester. There are many
halls in ASU, but if you are an exchange student you will have the right to live in
“Cholla” hall. Most of the exchange student lives there. There are three style of
bedroom that you can choose. Share with four people, two people or live by yourself.
I chose to live by myself. Each room has kitchen, refrigerator, living room and
bathroom. If you are only going for one semester, it’s a good chose to live on campus,
the CA helps a lot, they hold event every single day so you won’t feel bored and you
always get free foods or drinks. It is easily to meet people and make friends with other
while living on campus. If you are staying for an academic year, you can think about
living off campus, for example “Vista”. It’s a really good apartment with good price
and it is just beside university.
4. Transport: Most people have car or bike with them, but I am only there for one
semester so I didn’t get either of them. The transportation is more convenient than
Hamilton; they have light rail and bus that can bring you to everywhere in Tempe or
downtown Phoenix. It’s easy to go to grocery shopping by light rail and go to some
shopping mall by bus. You will definitely not willing to walk on the street under 100
Fahrenheit degree. There are many place that for student to park their bike. But make
sure do not buy the expensive one, unless you don’t afraid that your bike will be
stolen. It happens really often. If you are staying there for few years, than get a car!!!
5. Entertainment: There are lots of events that planned by the university or our hall.
The university has welcome concert, home coming party, basketball game, and
football game. Americans are crazy about football like Kiwis are crazy about rugby.
You can buy the season tickets to see the game. The hall that I stayed always planned
event for us, especially I am part of the member of global village. Sometimes they
have pool party, pizza party, movie night, third Thursday small concert, you can also
get some cheap tickets to musical drama like “lion king”. If you want to experience
local American’s student life, join a sorority, they always have some crazy party. By
the way, it is illegal to drink alcohols when you are under 21. But some of the bars,
they have “18 + day” every Thursday. There are many holidays during the semester. I
went to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Canada, and Grand Canyon. If you
plan to go on travel, book the flight ticket as soon as possible so you can get the
cheaper price.
6. Choosing papers: Make sure you meet the advisor before your exchange. It is hard
to choose the paper, because the paper that you want to take might not be on the list
for you to exchange the credit back. See the student advisors and they will tell you
when is your best time to go on exchange and what class you need to take over there.
7. Visa: It takes quite long time to get the visa. The process was complicated, and we
need to fill out lots of form and pay lots of money, but it is easy to get the visa so do
not need to worried about that. If you are exchange student, you will have DS2019,
when you go travel like Canada or Mexico, make sure you do ask your university to
sign it on your DS2019 document, otherwise you might not be able to go in to
America again.
8. Others:
Make sure you bring the medicine that you need. For example, first aid kit or flu
medicine.
You don’t need to carry lots of cash while traveling to America. What I did is I
brought travel ticket there and open an account, but make sure you do close it before
you return.
Arizona State University is the first chose and only chose for me to go on exchange. I
wish I could stay there longer and finish my degree there.
Some photos
my hall
Kitchen in my room
MU
orientation
white washing “A” mountain
foot ball game
in las vegas
Disney land
Antelope canyon
golden gate bridge
watching NBA
in Vancouver
Halloween~~~