S3E39: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Ruize 'Roger' Tang of China

In this our thirty-ninth (39th) episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Ruize 'Roger' Tang of China about his experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Ruize!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich  0:05  
Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show 'Conversations with!', where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us, and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu.

Evan Franulovich  0:52  
Hey everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!' We are here finally, it took us forever to get to North Seattle campus. Been doing them all at Central all quarter, so we're glad to be here. I want to introduce our next guest from the great country of China. So, yeah, welcome. Well, can you tell everybody who you are, where you're from, what you're studying, and maybe how long you've been here?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  1:34  
Okay, sure. Hi everyone! My name is Roger. I'm from China, Zhejiang province, and I'm from Hangzhou, which is kind of a famous city, I usually say it's near Shanghai. 

Evan Franulovich  1:48  
Yeah, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  1:50  
I believe here, it's not so popular, but never mind. And now I'm 18 years old, studying computer engineering. 

Evan Franulovich  1:57  
Wow. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  1:58  
Yeah, actually, I just started my second year. 

Evan Franulovich  2:01  
Just started your second year. So that means your first quarter would have been last spring. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:07  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  2:08  
Okay, so I know in China, you take the Gaokao in the spring, don't you?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:14  
Actually, it's summer. 

Evan Franulovich  2:16  
Oh, so what did you do between the time that you graduated, took the Gaokao and then came here for spring. What did you do that downtime? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:24  
Actually, my situation is kind of special. 

Evan Franulovich  2:28  
Oh. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:28  
I didn't take the Gaokao. I came here while I was in my second year of senior high school.

Evan Franulovich  2:35  
Oh, so did you come here for the high school completion program? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:41  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:42  
So let's talk about that. First of all, how did you hear about the high school completion program?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:49  
Actually, there was a period where I was looking for an American college, and I just realized that for Washington state, the state law is kind of special, we can go to a community college under the age of 18... 

Evan Franulovich  2:56  
Yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  2:58  
...which is, I think, as far as I know, the only state in US. So I had no choice.

Evan Franulovich  3:14  
Did you know anything about Seattle before you came here?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  3:17  
Actually, no, but I heard about some TV show called, Me Seattle in Beijing, stuff like that. 

Evan Franulovich  3:25  
Oh, really? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  3:26  
Yeah, so I just heard it's like a city's name. It's kind of like high tech. 

Evan Franulovich  3:26  
That's all very cool. Yeah, most people that say they've seen it on TV saw it on Grey's Anatomy. Do you know this show? It's about a bunch of doctors in a hospital. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  3:31  
Oh, wait, I think I heard about it. 

Evan Franulovich  3:36  
So usually that's pretty popular, but interestingly, you saw a different show. All right. Well, so you heard about the program you decided to apply. Were your parents at first nervous about it, or were they supportive?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  3:59  
I'm from public school in China. 

Evan Franulovich  4:02  
Okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  4:05  
Our whole education system is very complete. If you are in the public system, I would say 99% of people would choose to finish it all, or at least finish Gaokao. At the beginning, both my teachers and my parents were not supportive, because my grades are pretty good back in my country, so it's risky. I think in their impression community colleges... they think it's not that...

Evan Franulovich  4:49  
Legit?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  4:51  
...they won't be proud of like, 'Oh, my son is going to a community college.' So that means I had to do more things for myself. I had to search for school by myself. I had to finish IELTS, and I had to apply for a visa, I went to Shanghai by myself.

Evan Franulovich  5:14  
Right? Wow. Interesting. Yeah, so parents out there, if you're listening to this show. Thanks and welcome to the show. But that's really a great thing that you said that, because I think a lot of parents do think community college is not legitimate university education, it doesn't have the same name power as say Harvard or Yale, which is where parents want their kids to go. So yeah, it is legitimate. Do you find that the classes are challenging and that they're good?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  5:48  
Yeah, I would say, it's a different type of challenge. For standard tests, I think it's like, kind of chill for me. But I would say more about teamwork, because we really actually lack actual building stuff, and skills of communication, stuff like that. I think we really lack that part. But it's pretty amazing to find that I am not good at this part, and I'm actually learning. Yeah, I think there's challenges, but it's just different types. It's not like I'm not able to get high grades in tests. 

Evan Franulovich  6:31  
Yeah. So one thing you need to know is he's getting credit for university work, and after two years, you'll transfer to UDub, which is a nationally ranked research institution, and at the end of his bachelor's degree it's going to say... 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  6:48  
I'm from UDub. 

Evan Franulovich  6:48  
...yeah, he went to UDub. So you can start at a community college, save a lot of money, still get a great education, and then transfer to the school that you want. Now, you have to keep your grades high, you have to apply. Are you going to go to the Seattle campus, or are you gonna go to Bothell? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  7:06  
Seattle campus.

Evan Franulovich  7:06  
Yeah, so you'd have to apply to the Seattle campus, get accepted and then transfer there. But, yeah, community colleges are real guys, and you can come here and get your university work started. How did you finally wear them down? How did you get them to where they were 'Okay, we'll send you off to the United States.'

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  7:25  
After everything is settled, I got the visa, and I was accepted by the college. I told them my goals, I want to actually see the world first. I skipped one year of junior high school. 

Evan Franulovich  7:46  
Oh, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  7:47  
And when I decided to come here, I already finished all the high school stuff, so I told them the following year will be doing repeated standard test stuff for a year. 

Evan Franulovich  8:02  
Mm, hmm.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:03  
And I would say it's the most valuable year in my life. 

Evan Franulovich  8:06  
Wow. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:07  
Yeah, 17 to 18. So I just told them, like, I don't want to wait anymore. And they were convinced. 

Evan Franulovich  8:14  
They were convinced. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:15  
Yes, because everything is ready.

Evan Franulovich  8:17  
Yeah. Are you an only child, or do you have brother or sister? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:20  
Only child.

Evan Franulovich  8:21  
Only child, okay. Have they been over to visit you?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:26  
Actually, no. Yeah, my mom couldn't because of her position, she's a professor. So she has to retire first and then come here. 

Evan Franulovich  8:37  
Yeah, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:38  
But they have a tourist visa. 

Evan Franulovich  8:40  
Sure, of course. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:41  
I think they'll be fine for a couple years later.

Evan Franulovich  8:45  
Well, when you graduate from community college, you get an associate's degree. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:49  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  8:50  
You can walk in the ceremony. Are you planning to do that? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  8:54  
There are news about Chinese students, get into horrible situations.

Evan Franulovich  9:04  
Really?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  9:04  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  9:05  
Um, well, as far as graduation goes it's a pretty controlled event, so you don't need to worry too much. And we hope you'll go, because it kind of marks the fact that you finished your first couple of years, it's kind of fun. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  9:17  
That's true, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  9:18  
This year, graduation is going to be at the UDub. Last year was at the baseball stadium, but this year they're having it at UDub.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  9:26  
Yeah, and I saw them sending emails, like, 'Do you want to represent Seattle Colleges?' I think I will apply next year. 

Evan Franulovich  9:35  
Yeah, that would be very cool. Yeah, you can speak, and they usually do a fairly nice video. So yeah, it's definitely worth looking into. You are a computer science student...? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  9:52  
Computer engineering. 

Evan Franulovich  9:53  
Computer engineering, that's right. So have you decided whether or not you're going to take your computer engineering skills, and do a year of OPT before you do your junior and senior year, or you're just going through?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:07  
Is that OPT or CPT? 

Evan Franulovich  10:09  
OPT. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:10  
Yeah, I think probably not a year, but half a year of OPT? 

Evan Franulovich  10:15  
Oh sure, yes. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:16  
Yeah, because if I'm graduating in spring, and I'll be able to know if I'm accepted or not in  three or four months later. 

Evan Franulovich  10:28  
Right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:28  
Yeah. And then if I'm accepted, I have to attend UDub in the fall quarter, which is around six months. If I'm not going back to China, then I'll probably do OPT.

Evan Franulovich  10:44  
Yeah, great. You have not been back to China since you got here?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:49  
It's only one year. 

Evan Franulovich  10:50  
Are you missing home? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:53  
Sometimes. 

Evan Franulovich  10:54  
Sometimes. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:54  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  10:55  
What's one thing you really miss?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  10:59  
Definitely my parents are first. 

Evan Franulovich  11:03  
Oh sure, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  11:04  
And grandparents, and second is my classmates, because they're preparing for Gaokao. 

Evan Franulovich  11:08  
Oh yeah, for sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  11:10  
Two months later, they're gonna finish it. I should be a part of them, but I'm actually here.

Evan Franulovich  11:25  
So do they keep in touch with you there? They're curious about your journey?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  11:30  
Only my closest friends are keeping in touch. Others are very busy. 

Evan Franulovich  11:34  
You don't do like, a blog on Xiaohongshu?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  11:37  
Oh, I use WeChat.

Evan Franulovich  11:42  
Yeah, you can do posts on WeChat.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  11:45  
Very less, because I don't want to show my happy life, and they're actually stuck in the classrooms. I don't want them to be feel jealous.

Evan Franulovich  11:55  
I totally understand. So you talked about traveling a little bit. Have you had a chance to travel around the west coast at all, or go back to New York, or anything?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:06  
I've been to California several times. 

Evan Franulovich  12:09  
Yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:10  
When I was six years old, I travelled all over the US. 

Evan Franulovich  12:14  
Oh, okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:15  
I don't have deep memories of it. 

Evan Franulovich  12:17  
Yeah, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:19  
So about California, I've even been there for more than a year.

Evan Franulovich  12:24  
Oh, wow. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:24  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:25  
What did you do there? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:27  
When I was six, my mom was a transfer scholar. 

Evan Franulovich  12:30  
Ahh. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:30  
And she just took me there with my dad. And we got a car, my dad drove us all around the US. 

Evan Franulovich  12:38  
Nice. That's really great. So what does your mom teach? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  12:41  
Psychology. 

Evan Franulovich  12:42  
Oh, very good. By the way, University of Washington has a great psychology program. Maybe she's familiar with it. Well, that's really cool. So your classes so far, you've done a year's worth of computer engineering. What's been your favorite class so far? And it doesn't have to be related to engineering. I had a student once tell me that he loved history of rock and roll or some kind of a class like that.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:11  
Um, I will say maybe Calc. 

Evan Franulovich  13:14  
Calc? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:15  
Yeah, it sounds pretty nerdy. 

Evan Franulovich  13:16  
That is not an answer I hear very often.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:20  
I will tell you the reason. 

Evan Franulovich  13:21  
Okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:22  
The first few quarter I came here, my English wasn't that good. Actually, it's not good right now. It's pretty tough for me to fully understand English classes, or any class that is non-STEM. 

Evan Franulovich  13:39  
Right, right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:40  
Sometimes they're talking about music stars, or some, like, if it's related to cultural thing, I don't know.

Evan Franulovich  13:50  
It's tough, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:50  
And American jokes. 

Evan Franulovich  13:52  
Haha, American jokes.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:54  
I never got it. 

Evan Franulovich  13:55  
Sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  13:56  
They were serious suddenly, I was like, 'Did I say something offensive?' They're like, just kidding.

Evan Franulovich  14:05  
So just so you know, because I lived in China for four years, it was the same thing for me. I would talk to my Chinese friends, and they'd mentioned many of the current music or films or whatever. A lot of time it just went over my head. Except for Ne Zha, I got to see Ne Zha. Have you seen the second one yet? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:27  
Yeah, of course. 

Evan Franulovich  14:30  
How was it? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:33  
It's fantastic. 

Evan Franulovich  14:34  
Was it?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:34  
Yeah, of course. 

Evan Franulovich  14:35  
Do you think it was better than the first one? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:37  
I think, yeah, it's better in general. 

Evan Franulovich  14:38  
Oh. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:38  
Because I feel like there's more characters. 

Evan Franulovich  14:41  
Oh, okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:44  
The whole story is touching, I cried.

Evan Franulovich  14:48  
Wow. So how did you see it? Did you see it streaming, or did you actually go to a theater? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:53  
Yeah, I went to a theater. 

Evan Franulovich  14:54  
You did? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:55  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  14:55  
Where was it playing In Seattle? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  14:56  
It was like in Capital Hill, or Westlake. 

Evan Franulovich  15:00  
No kidding. Wow, look at us showing good Chinese films. That's great. If you haven't seen the Ne Zha out there, whoever you are, wherever you are, it's worth checking out. It's pretty fun. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  15:12  
Yeah, definitely. 

Evan Franulovich  15:13  
Yeah. Wow. That's really cool. Okay, so going back to Computer Engineering, so you plan to do what with this degree after you get your bachelor's, what do you want to work as? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  15:27  
Yeah, that's also a good question. 

Evan Franulovich  15:29  
Maybe you start your own company?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  15:32  
Yeah, I would love to do that. But to be honest, up to now, I don't know what I really like, so in the beginning, I chose Computer Engineering because it's computer and it's engineering. 

Evan Franulovich  15:47  
Sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  15:47  
I can literally do anything, I can transfer to any major, I can do any OPT stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  15:53  
Right, right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  15:54  
It's literally everything. 

Evan Franulovich  15:57  
Wide open door. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  15:58  
Yeah. So there's definitely pros and cons. And cons are that I just have to literally study all the same major courses. But since it's fine for me, that's the reason I chose computer engineering, because I still have a chance to choose in the future.

Evan Franulovich  16:19  
Yeah, fair enough. What about housing? You know, when you come here, especially if you're under 18 years of age, it's a little more limiting. What do you do for housing? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  16:30  
The first three months, I just found a roommate in Xiaohongshu. 

Evan Franulovich  16:37  
Oh, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  16:38  
He's like a UW student, and he's looking for a roommate, and I just joined him. After I heard if you're under 18 or something, you have to find a guardian. 

Evan Franulovich  16:48  
Yeah, probably. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  16:50  
I didn't even know that. I found a random roommate, and then I found a better house in Shoreline. I just moved there, and nothing happened. 

Evan Franulovich  16:58  
Well, that's good. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  16:59  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:59  
So you're real close then, if you're in Shoreline. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  17:01  
Yeah, very close, like 50 minutes bus. 

Evan Franulovich  17:04  
Oh, very nice. And you take the bus every day? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  17:07  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  17:07  
And has it been pretty easy to navigate the bus?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  17:10  
Yeah, because I literally know the exact time. So I have to go out at 10am maybe a quarter past 10, and then I walk for 10 minutes, and the bus will arrive exactly on 10:25, and I will take the bus. So it's pretty accurate.

Evan Franulovich  17:30  
Pretty reliable. Yeah, the busses are great here. And we also have subways, we have water taxis, we've got Amtrak. Do you ever take the subway the link?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  17:41  
Of course. 

Evan Franulovich  17:42  
Yeah, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  17:42  
The first month I came here, I took the link to every station. 

Evan Franulovich  17:49  
Every station? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  17:51  
Yeah, I just get down and walk randomly and go back. 

Evan Franulovich  17:54  
Wow, that's cool. It's actually, a really good idea. It's a great way to get to know a town. Interesting. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  18:02  
Although some of the stations are kind of scary.

Evan Franulovich  18:05  
Yeah, they're little scary. One thing I thought when I lived in Chengdu, the subways were super great, easy to get around. And one thing that's different in Chengdu is that they have a wall of glass that separates you from the tracks, and then when the train pulls up, then the doors open on both the train and wall. And I think that's a really smart idea, because then people aren't falling out onto the tracks, and keeps people off of there. Here, there's nothing between you and the tracks really.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  18:40  
I think no one walk through the link rails or something, right? Actually, I think it's a smart way. But in the 21 century, I think maybe that's too much.

Evan Franulovich  19:00  
Maybe too much? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  19:01  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  19:02  
Interesting. The other thing I liked about riding the subway in China was that when you go down, you have to go through a turnstile where you are either scanning your phone or you're paying. So only ticket holders are getting on the train. And I think that was really a great idea to keep people that are actually riding the train on there. I thought that was really great.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  19:31  
Yeah, it's more flexible here. 

Evan Franulovich  19:39  
It's definitely more flexible.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  19:42  
So maybe, it gives those people who are in an emergency situation, or they're really broke or something, it gives them a chance. 

Evan Franulovich  19:51  
That's true. Good point. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  19:54  
Pros and cons. 

Evan Franulovich  19:55  
Yeah, pros and cons. Well, one big difference, of course, I rode the subway in Shanghai at like 5pm and it was crazy crowded, like I couldn't move, there were so many people. But here not so many people, right? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  20:17  
Around 6pm, it's pretty busy. 

Evan Franulovich  20:23  
Okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  20:24  
But for Shanghai, it's definitely more crowded. 

Evan Franulovich  20:28  
Shanghai is super crowded. Before I went to China, I knew how many people live there. And you get an idea of how many people, but you don't really understand what that's like until you're there, and then it's 'Oh, this is what it's like to live in a city of 25 million people.' It's crazy. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  20:47  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  20:47  
A lot of people. Well, cool. So what do you do for fun when you have downtime?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  20:52  
For fun, I would say, I play lots of sports. 

Evan Franulovich  20:56  
Yeah? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  20:56  
I play badminton, basketball, soccer and ping pong. I didn't see any ping pong players here. So just those three type of sports, I do them weekly. If somebody called me, I'll just go. 

Evan Franulovich  21:14  
Sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  21:15  
Yeah, because I know lots of stuff, it's very flexible for me. 

Evan Franulovich  21:18  
Right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  21:18  
And I also like to hang with my friends in random places. Just walk and talk, and I like random things. 

Evan Franulovich  21:29  
Cool. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  21:30  
It's very exciting.

Evan Franulovich  21:33  
Well, you guys should know where I actually met Roger was for the Lunar New Year celebration. He was on stage with three other international students, talking about China and about lot of different aspects of food, clothing. Yeah, it was super cool. And I was like 'Oh, I gotta reach out to him. That was great.' Did they ask you to do that? Or did you volunteer? How did you get involved with that?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  21:59  
I just received email saying, 'Would you like to share your culture?' And I was like, 'Well, if I have the ability to do that, I would like to.' Kind of random.

Evan Franulovich  22:13  
And did you get a lot of people afterwards talking to you? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  22:16  
Actually, no. I think it's not a very interesting topic when it's related to very cultural stuff. I would say people are more interested in more like the people, but not like the cultural thing in general. Sometimes I find it very tough to talk about Chinese culture, because it's like a very big country, and every region, the people's style, are totally different. 

Evan Franulovich  22:51  
For sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  22:52  
And when it's related to stereotype stuff. I was just like that, but maybe people from a private school, a different province, different families, they're totally different. I'm kind of like classic, although I don't want to say that. He's good at math, he's skinny, he knows how to play badminton. 

Evan Franulovich  23:21  
Sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  23:22  
Yeah, but I don't play piano. And they're like, um, you're smart because you're Chinese, maybe it's just me.

Evan Franulovich  23:33  
Maybe it's just you, has nothing to do with it. So when I taught in China, what I realized, because I taught first year university students, and what I discovered, because I hadn't lived there before, is that kids are kids, no matter where you are in the world really. A lot of the guys I met, they just worked really hard to pass the Gaokao, so they were tired. All they wanted to do was play basketball, meet girls, or meet guys, if they were girls. They just wanted to relax and have fun, just like any other university student. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  24:04  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:05  
And here's the other thing about it, some students were really great students, some students were horrible students, but most people were somewhere in the middle. If I had a class of 20 people, there were probably three students that were amazing. There were maybe two or three that were really struggling, and the rest were okay. So guys, it doesn't matter if you Chinese or Korean or from Rwanda, it doesn't matter, everybody's individual. It's really a good point. Well, that's really cool. So you are going to have one more year, then you'll go to the UDub. Did you did you decide on computer engineering because there's something your father does or your mother, they're professors. So how did you decide that that was going to be what you wanted to do? Why not be a doctor, or, you know, go into psychology?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  25:03  
Oh, yeah, that's a good question. I would say, I consider the time we're in, our generation, we can't live without those high tech stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  25:19  
Right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  25:21  
And computer engineering is flexible, because I'm taking the same class with many Human Centered Design Engineering, maybe electrical and computer engineering, or mechanical engineering stuff like that. It's like the courses are all similar. So I would say, after I gain more knowledge and I actually know what I'm truly interested in, I still got the chance to choose. So Computer Engineering is more like an excuse to study all the courses. 

Evan Franulovich  25:59  
I think it's great. But it's really interesting that your parents were professors, and then you're into computer engineering. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  26:07  
My dad is not. 

Evan Franulovich  26:08  
Oh, what's your dad do?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  26:10  
He's working in the chemical field.

Evan Franulovich  26:11  
Oh, he's in the chemical field. Oh, nice. Does he think about retirement soon, or is he gonna be around for a while?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  26:21  
I know he doesn't want to retire, I think he still wants to continue his own business. He wants to establish his business, stuff aboard, like the US. Yeah, but he's very hard working, great man. So I would say, I don't know much, but I just support him.

Evan Franulovich  26:51  
Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. Well, you know, one of the things I discovered when I came back from China is that the food in the United States is very different. How have you found any good Chinese restaurants yet that are legit? Like, you're like, 'Oh, these ones are not so good, but this one's really great.'

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  27:12  
I would say, in general, the Chinese food here is oily.

Evan Franulovich  27:16  
It's pretty oily.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  27:19  
I will say, Din Tai Fung, the one in U village is pretty neutral. 

Evan Franulovich  27:27  
Okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  27:27  
Yeah, because I feel like some of the meals are sweet, but it's pretty well in general. 

Evan Franulovich  27:32  
Oh, good to know. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  27:36  
There's a restaurant in U Village that serves Chongqing food.

Evan Franulovich  27:44  
So they have Chongqing Xiamen?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  27:48  
Yeah, stuff like that. It's pretty spicy in general. So I think that was also pretty neutral. But up to now, I didn't find amazing Chinese food that are both like normal and not oily. 

Evan Franulovich  28:01  
Right. We went to a hot pot place in Edmonds that was pretty legit. We took a friend of ours, who's from Sichuan, and she was like, 'This is really good.' It's right on the main drag, it's on highway 99. If you ever get up that way, it's right across from Costco basically, it's got real hot pot, if you like spicy food. And then there's a Asian market on the same drag, but closer to here, and there's a Sichuan restaurant in that complex. It's really good, not quite exactly what I wanted, but it's pretty darn close. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  28:45  
I heard food in Vancouver is way better. 

Evan Franulovich  28:47  
Oh, probably, yeah. But I think a lot of the people that immigrated or migrated to Vancouver are Guangzhou Lida, Shangang Lida, they're from those parts of the world. There's a lot, yeah. But I see more and more Sichuan kinds of stuff. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  29:09  
I was amazed, 'Why there's so many?' Hangzhou is near the coast, it actually makes sense. And Hong Kong and maybe Taiwan. They have good economy, so they have reason to come. Yeah, I was surprised. I would like to make friends. I have only one Chinese friend right here. 

Evan Franulovich  29:43  
Here? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  29:43  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  29:44  
We have a lot of Chinese students. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  29:46  
Oh, really? 

Evan Franulovich  29:48  
Yeah, I'll introduce you to a few. We have quite a few.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  29:51  
That would be awesome. I would love to. 

Evan Franulovich  29:54  
Just connect with them. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  29:55  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  29:56  
We have quite a few at Central, and we have some at south. In this last orientation, there have been a few students from China. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  30:05  
So there's literally no Chinese here, I thought.

Evan Franulovich  30:11  
No, there's quite a few. China is not our biggest sender of students, but we do get quite a few. But it is a big campus, right? We have three campuses, there's like 30-40,000 students. There's a lot of students. We have over 1000 international students. So yeah, they can kind of get mixed in, and sometimes they're hard to find. Shun could probably tell you who to talk to as well. He's one of the advisors here. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  30:34  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  30:34  
Cool. You hear that? It's Trivia Time. It's the part of the show where we ask you five trivia questions if you get them all right, you get on our wall of fame. If you get any wrong, you'll just cry yourself to sleep tonight. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  30:53  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  30:54  
All right, here we go. Question number one: The state of Washington is where you are currently living. What is the largest city in the state of Washington?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  31:12  
Olympia.

Evan Franulovich  31:14  
Ooh. Now Olympia is our capital, but it is not the largest. Seattle is the largest. Yeah, Seattle's the biggest. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  31:22  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  31:24  
All right, very cool. Now, let's say I am a student from China, and I miss home, so I want to go to Chinatown in Seattle. What subway stop would I get off to go to Chinatown?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  31:38  
International District, Chinatown. 

Evan Franulovich  31:40  
Yes, that's correct. So if you're here and you're missing home, get on the train and go down there. Have you been down?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  31:48  
Although that station was...

Evan Franulovich  31:52  
Yeah, it's exciting. It's an exciting station. Yeah, a lot of interesting people walking around. I feel pretty safe. I mean, they have a lot of security, so I've never had a problem with anybody, but people are interesting, for sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  32:03  
Looks interesting. 

Evan Franulovich  32:04  
Yeah, it looks interesting. But I think Chinatown itself, like there's a nice gate there. There's some pretty decent restaurants. Yeah, there's some businesses there. It's kind of fun to check out. Street signs are in Chinese. They have the different street signs, so if you start missing home, you can go down there. Okay. Question number three, in the city of Seattle, we have a baseball team that a professional baseball team. What is the name of our professional baseball team?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  32:38  
Is that the one with the the S stuff? 

Evan Franulovich  32:41  
Yeah. It's a tough one. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  32:51  
Yeah, tough one. I know the hat, the t-shirt.

Evan Franulovich  32:57  
It's the Seattle Mariners. Yeah, you should go to a game, even if you don't know anything about baseball. It's just a fun cultural thing to do. The International Programs department is hosting a game for the students this quarter. So you can go and you can meet a lot of other international students. So that's really cool. You can sign up for it. They probably have information in the International Programs lobby. Yeah, I don't know if you remember Jesse from Myanmar. That's one of her favorite activities. Okay, cool. Not doing too bad. Question number four: If I want to travel to Canada, what must I do with my I-20 in order to do that?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  33:52  
Well, you have to apply for a Canadian visa. 

Evan Franulovich  33:55  
You do have to apply for a Canadian visa.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  33:58  
And I have to ask them to change the I-20 to the like, like a tourist

Evan Franulovich  34:06  
one. Yeah, nice. That's right. So work with your international advisors. They can help you with that process. So cool. Have you been to Canada yet? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  34:15  
Nope, not yet. 

Evan Franulovich  34:15  
Any plans? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  34:16  
Yeah, maybe if I got internship in summer, and I finish it and I have free time, I'll go there,

Evan Franulovich  34:25  
for sure. It's really pretty up there, and summertime is the best time, for sure. You got here in the spring, so you've already been through a summer in Seattle.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  34:34  
 Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  34:34  
What'd you think of our Summers?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  34:37  
Oh, summers is awesome. 

Evan Franulovich  34:38  
Summers are awesome. Yeah, yeah. Winter can get long and dark and rainy, but summer is cool.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  34:44  
Seattle is not that rainy as I expected. 

Evan Franulovich  34:46  
No. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  34:46  
Yeah, because before I came here, everyone's were complaining about the rainy weather,  it's gonna be rainy for six months. No sun, get depressed, stuff like that. But actually, no.

Evan Franulovich  34:57  
It's not as bad as they make it sound. If you look on a chart, it actually shows that Seattle's somewhere in the middle. If you take all the big US cities, we're not the most rainy, that's for sure. All right, good. All right. Last one should be really easy for you. What was the last movie you saw in the theater?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  35:15  
Last movie? It's Ne Zha or Mufasa. 

Evan Franulovich  35:24  
Ah, cool. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  35:25  
Yeah, I think Ne Zha.

Evan Franulovich  35:27  
Ne Zha 2! Go check it out, it's really fun. I haven't seen the second one, I've only seen the first one. And when I saw Ne Zha the first time, I was in Chengdu and I went into the theater, and theaters are a little different in China than they are in the US, so it's a different experience. But I was the only one in the theater, so I had the whole theater to myself. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  35:48  
That's crazy. 

Evan Franulovich  35:48  
It was awesome. I went during the day, so I think a lot of people were at work, and it was like a Tuesday or something. So yeah, it was awesome. Good time to go see a movie.  All right. Well, very good. Excellent. Well, we're getting near the end of the program now, and usually we ask for you to say, maybe 15 seconds worth of your first language, which would be Chinese, of course. Maybe people have never heard it before. I think most people have, but just in case.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  36:40  
*Roger's message in Chinese*

Evan Franulovich  36:45  
Thanks. Good job. And then the very last thing we always ask our international students, because you've been here for a while, you've gone through the process, what is some advice that you would offer to some young person back in your region, whether it's China or another part of Asia, if they were thinking about coming to the US or maybe Seattle Colleges, or maybe they don't understand a community college, what would be your advice? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  37:11  
That would be so much, because I literally done all of those by myself. So in the beginning part, don't think it's a very tough thing. Just do it first and then, see what will happen. Even me, I would think a lot, should I go back to my the desk world? Or should I have a gap year? But now I realize we shouldn't think about what if we lose. We should only think what is the next step. 

Evan Franulovich  37:47  
Right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  37:47  
That's a little tip before you come here. After you come here, I would say, don't stay in the room, don't play video games. 

Evan Franulovich  37:57  
Yes! 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  37:58  
And I think this is one of the part that I love community college, maybe more than universities, because it's like a community. So just because it's so small, you can actually find friends who are very supportive or very helpful. So don't stay in your room, or don't scroll Xiaohongshu like Chinese guys or girls. 

Evan Franulovich  38:24  
Sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  38:25  
Don't do that. Just be in your classroom, be open and make actual friends here in the community, and you'll find the actual life in US.

Evan Franulovich  38:37  
That's really great advice. Couple things before we go. One thing that occurred to me, you were talking about doing your visa stuff all by yourself. Students that are thinking about coming, they have to go through that whole process, get accepted, then they take their I-20, and they make an appointment at the embassy or consulate. You did that yourself. So what was your experience like? Was it difficult? Did you get it on your first try? How long did it take?

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  39:04  
First, I applied for Seattle Colleges. I got an acceptance paper... 

Evan Franulovich  39:12  
Okay. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  39:13  
...and then I go to Shanghai. The only thing I had to ask my parents is prove that they can support at least a year of tuition fees. 

Evan Franulovich  39:24  
Right, right. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  39:24  
That's like a proof paper. I took all those documents to Shanghai, and I waited in the line for like two or three hours. 

Evan Franulovich  39:26  
Oh, it's quite long. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  39:34  
Yeah, quite long. And I just answered several questions in English. And I think as long as like, you didn't look that broke, or at least you can speak basic English. 

Evan Franulovich  39:50  
Sure. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  39:51  
And you're young, and you have your goal, it's gonna be fine. And after they checked my information, they gave me a blue paper, that means I got the visa, and I have to give my passport to them.

Evan Franulovich  40:13  
Yeah, that's great, awesome. You chose to go to Shanghai, you could have gone to other cities, right? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  40:18  
I think Shanghai or Beijing, they only have embassies in big cities. 

Evan Franulovich  40:25  
Okay, yeah. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  40:25  
And Shanghai is the nearest.

Evan Franulovich  40:27  
Right, right. I don't know if it's Shenzhen or Guangzhou. I think one of those cities. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  40:32  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  40:34  
If you're in China, there are a number of... 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  40:38  
I don't know, I just know Shanghai. 

Evan Franulovich  40:41  
But yeah, if you're in China and you're a different part of the country, look around, there may be a different consulate or embassy near you, so you can go to those as well. They did close the one in Chengdu, but I think a number of other cities have it. Well, that's really cool. Wasn't too hard then. You would talk a little bit about friends, and making friends, there's a lot of things about China and the United States in the news, do you get approached by domestic students that are curious? They're like, 'Well, tell me about where you're from.' Do they ever ask you questions? 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  41:22  
Yeah, kind of. I think in our generation there's only a very small group of students that are actually tied into politics or national business stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  41:43  
Right.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  41:43  
So I would say they're more curious about you as a person. 

Evan Franulovich  41:48  
Right? Yeah, good. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  41:50  
So that's how you make friends. It's not because you're from some special country, that they will ask you some questions, and you answer. Not like that. Show your personality and share what you are good at, maybe you have the same hobbies. And just be open, because I know, that lots of... it's not a stereotype, but lots of Asian people, they're not that outgoing, because culturally we are humble. So maybe they'll avoid eye contact. Maybe they'll avoid trouble, because if you're speaking in another language with someone who you don't know, that means you're exploring not a safe space. So that means maybe risks, and we don't like risks. 

Evan Franulovich  42:43  
Yeah, of course. 

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  42:43  
That might be the main reason we don't like to talk to others. But I would say, if you open yourself, you will always get the chance to meet my friends. 

Evan Franulovich  42:59  
Right.

Ruize 'Roger' Tang  42:59  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  43:00  
I had a guest on my show. He was actually a domestic student, and his message to international students was, 'Hey, we want to get to know you guys. We want to talk. We want to introduce ourselves and learn about your countries and your culture. So don't feel don't feel too shy, because Americans might be a little shy themselves.' So yeah, I love that you got on stage and talked about your culture. I mean, that's a great way to break down barriers, make yourself more accessible. And I think in this day and age, it's really important, the more we talk to each other, the more we get to know each other, it gets to be a better place, in my opinion. So yeah, I appreciate you doing that, that was really awesome. Well, guys, we have come to the end. Thanks so much for coming on the show. It's nice we talked since I saw you on the stage, so it was great to get to know you. You guys can come here every Wednesday to get to know students like Roger or from other countries. Get to know about the process of being an international student, either here in Seattle or some other part of the country. We're just happy you're here every Wednesday. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe. All right. Thank you, sir. Have a good week. Good luck this quarter. Bye, bye. 

Evan Franulovich  44:18  
Conversations with! is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me, Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl, that's Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on 'Conversations with!' Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.