WLE Newsletter August - October 2001
THE NEW WLE CENTER
After 4 years based at the Xi Jiao Hotel, WLE has moved to its very own center. Located in the heart of Haidian, the university district, The WLE Center offers a larger office space and better facilities for staff and participants. It takes just a 5 minute ride on the complimentary bus shuttle from the Beijing Language university where core Language classes are held. Those living at the hotel accommodation also use the shuttle. Apart from the Center, WLE residences offer apartment style living for participants on the program, with kitchen facilities and living area.
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The new Center has:
- Larger office space for WLE program advisors and staff
- A Language Supervisor study-room for free afterclass tuition
- A Language lab for student use with learning aids and resources
- The WLE cafeteria and
- Electives classroom
- Spacious Student Center with modern facilities including 6 computers (internet access), resource library and comfy lounge area (as pictured above)
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Orientation for the Academic year and Semester participants
in WLE's new facilities
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Louise shopping at the nearby supermarket on orientation day
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WELCOMING THE SEPTEMBER PARTICIPANTS
Huanying huanying!
A very warm welcome to our Fall students studying Chinese Language, China Business and Martial Arts. Participants are from all over the globe: the US, Australia, UK, Sweden, France, Monaco, Philippines, Canada and Germany. Wide-eyed and jet lagged from their plane rides, we greeted them all at the airport and transported them to their accommodations for a good night's rest.
ORIENTATION: FALL STUDENT INTAKE (Sep 2, 2001)
On the first day of the program orientation was held. After a short information briefing, participants were taken on a tour of teaching facilities, local banks, supermarket, post office and surroundings. A delicious jiaozi (dumplings) lunch served as a nice introduction to local cuisine. The Language Exchange Partners Meeting was held at the end of orientation, as native Chinese students were introduced to their international language partners. The first day of the September programs was an informative and exciting for all the newcomers.
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Inside the palace grounds
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A marching parade performing outside the Forbidden City
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The 10 meters high wall surrounding the complex
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EXCURSION: To GuGong, the Forbidden City (Sep 9, 2001)
A guided excursion to the Forbidden City (gu gong), and Tian An'men was held to introduce WLE participants to one of China's many cultural and historic sites. The Forbidden City's palace complex in situated in the heart of Beijing. Gu Gong literarily means 'Ancient Palace in Chinese'. It was built in 1406 and completed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty. Home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Covering an area of 720,000 meters surrounded by a wall 10 meters high and moat 52 metres wide. It is one of the best-preserved buildings of the Ming Dynasty.
Students strolled through the palace grounds learning from our English-speaking guide as he pointed out the cultural and symbolic images that adorned the palace.
ACTIVITIES: Tasting the local food at Donganmen Night Markets
(Sept 6, 2001)
Students experienced the local night market downtown in Wangfujing. The streets were filled with outdoor pushcart vendors selling a variety of local food. There for sale from skewered beef, chicken, quails eggs and fried noodles all in the fast food style. Dishes were customized and fried on the spot. You had your choice of meat, vegetable and noodle. An interesting delicacy tried by some of the more adventurous students were deep fried scorpions. According to James Kokal, they tasted like 'really salty potato chips'. We'll take your word for it James!
CHINA BUSINESS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
CCB JV study trip: The Blue Zoo Aquarium
The Blue Zoo is a Chinese - New Zealand joint venture and is the first walk-through aquarium established in Beijing. Blue Zoo's Cheif Executive Officer, Mr Chiam Tun Cheng, gave participants of WLE's China Business Program a presentation of the joint venture's oerations. Mr Chiam, a Malaysian citizen with more than 15 years' experience in the Asian leisure industry presented a highly informative study trip outlining issues commonly faced by joint venture co-operations and marketing in China.
In 1997 the Prime Minister of New Zealand, declared the Blue Zoo officially opened. The Blue Zoo is constructed beneath a man-made lake adjacent to the Workers' Stadium, Beijing's major public sports stadium. The Zoo features live tropical marine species in a variety of displays. The main attraction is the central tank containing 3.5 million liters of artificially produced salt water. A complete eco system has been created in this tank to allow thousands of fish to live in an as natural environment as possible.
CCB Seminar: The role and operations of Foreign Banking Institutions in China
Standard Chartered Bank's Business Development Manager, Mr Patrik Freymond, presented the first business seminar. Standard Chartered is one of the world's leading banking groups with 140 years of history in China. As an emerging markets bank in Asia, Standard Chartered is the oldest foreign bank in China opening its first branch in Shanghai in 1858. Today it has largest foreign bank network in China, with 7 branches, 1 sub-branch and 6 representative offices, serving over 3000 customers in both coastal and inland regions. Mr Freymond summarized Standard Chartered Bank's operations in China and discussed the role of foreign financial institutions and China' recent banking reforms. Students learned about the People's Republic of China's rules and regulations imposed on foreign banks and examined the future implications in the banking industry following China's accession into the WTO.
SUMMER SNAPSHOTS
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Sakura Nishimato, one of our 4-week summer students pictured receiving her transcript from her Hanyu laoshi.
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The August monthly trip to Shaolin Temple, group pictured in front of the Shaolin Miao.
We've had a great summer and wish our summer participants the best of luck in their future endeavors!
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BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS IN DA ZHONG GUO
Hokuto Kasai, celebrated his birthday in Chinese style. Hokuto participated in our 5 week Martial Arts and Chinese Language and is pictured here cutting his birthday cake. Zhu ni shengri kwai le Hokuto!
Catherine hard at work
Joanna at her desk
Tony holding up a bowl of quail's eggs
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WLE STAFF INTRODUCTIONS
With WLE's recent expansion, a few new faces joined our Beijing team:
Catherine Wang is our Office Manager. A native to Beijing, she graduated from The Beijing Youth Political College and has studied Law. In the past 10 years, Catherine has worked as a Manager for an international hotel chain. Her current duties are to oversee the office day-to-day operations. Catherine is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English.
Sanna Johannesson is one of WLE's Program Consultants. She is originally from Gothenburg, Sweden. Sanna studied Mandarin at Lund University and National University of Singapore and holds a B.A. in Marketing from Halmstad University. Her responsibilities include providing information, assistance and advise to international students regarding WLE's China Programs. Before being based in China, Sanna worked at WLE's Europe Office. Sanna is the also China Business programs advisor.
Joanna Zhou is one of WLE's Programs Consultants. A native to Beijing, she graduated from the Central University of Finance and Economics, and hold a Bachelor degree in Economics. Joanna's responsibilities include providing information and assistance to participants on the China programs pre-arrival and during their stay in China. Joanna is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and English.
Tony Li is our Student Coordinator. He graduated from the Beijing Language and Culture University where he majored in Finance. A native to Beijing, Tony is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English. He coordinates student activities including greeting students upon their arrival at the airport.
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FRAGRANT HILLS (Oct 28, 2001)
World Link students could not ask for a more beautiful day to have their weekend excursion to the Fragrant Hills. The Fragrant Hills, open to the public since 1957, is famous for its sprawling wooded ranges. It is also a place of historical interest as the former resort for top Communist party leaders. In autumn, the maple leaves carpet the hillsides in hues of red and orange, making it a popular place to visit.
Having had overcast days for more than a week, the students were very excited to see that it was such a bright sunny day. The hill and the leaves made for great pictures. The blue skies and clean crisp air kept the reality of Beijing's city noise far from their minds. The nice day also attracted many other visitors. The hillside was not only covered with the brilliant hues of the turning leaves, but with the colorful people who were climbing them!
Students from September 2001's 12 Week, 1 Semester, and 1 Year take time out during their excursion to pose for pictures.
Stay tuned for the next newsletter featuring pictures of WLE's new caf? excursions, activities and much more
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