Conversation Partner Two: China vs. America

While meeting with my conversation partner again, we talked about the differences in school in China and the universities in America. Linda brought it to my attention that in their dormitories in China, there are between six to ten girls sharing one room and one bathroom. She said she was pleased with the amount of space she has in her dormitory here at TCU. We started to talk about living with other people and how there are benefits and drawbacks. She had not known her roommate before moving in, however she said she was nice and they seem to get a long pretty well. She said they do not spend too much time together, but there is not any major issues with their living situation. I am not sure if she was completely honest about this or if she just did not want to talk badly about her roommate.

She asked me about my living situation and I explained to her that last year I lived in the same dormitory she lives in now, and that now I live in an apartment with three of my best friends. We agreed that its nice to have more space to ourselves and how it would be difficult to live with at least five other girls in the same room.

She then asked me if I had lived on a campus before coming to TCU or if this is the first time I had lived on a university's campus. I explained to her that most people in America live at home with their parents while going through school before college. However, I also mentioned boarding school programs and explained how those worked. I had mentioned that one of my best friends went to a boarding school for high school. She asked me if my friend was allowed to have a phone while she was at boarding school and was surprised when I said yes! She explained to me that at schools in China, you are not allowed to have your own phone and how she and her friends would sneak their phones onto the campus! I found this strange, but also funny that she and her friends were so sneaky.

She also explained that until you are the equivalent to an American college sophomore you are not allowed to have your own computer on campus. She told me a story, about her friend that is at a university in college was just recently given permission to have her computer on campus, so they are able to talk sometimes. She told me that her parents even bought her her own wifi, because the internet connection on the campus is too slow.

I was quite interested to hear more about schools in China. I had no clue how different and how much more strict the schools are there. She seemed quite pleased to be privileged enough to be attending school at TCU and to be given more freedom on campus in America.