S3E47: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Susie Liu of China

In this our forty-seventh episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews graduating international student Susie Liu of China about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Susie!

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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  1:05  
Hi everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!' We're here at Central. You're a North student, yeah?

Susie Liu  1:16  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  1:16  
Just graduated. Congratulations! Can you tell everybody who you are, where you're from, what you studied, and maybe how long you've been here?

Susie Liu  1:29  
Hi everybody! My name is Susie Liu. I'm from China, Beijing. And I studied at North Seattle College, my major is International Accounting, and I just a graduated last week.

Evan Franulovich  1:48  
International accounting, that's a four-year program, yeah?

Susie Liu  1:52  
My major is BA, bachelor degree.

Evan Franulovich  1:57  
Very cool. 

Susie Liu  1:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  1:59  
Were there many international students in your cohort? Were the other students all domestic? Or were there other international students?

Susie Liu  2:08  
I'm not sure, but I feel a lot of international students, and local students, we have the same group.

Evan Franulovich  2:12  
Right, right. 

Susie Liu  2:15  
The major is international accounting, but it has both.

Evan Franulovich  2:32  
Sure, sure. 

Susie Liu  2:33  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  2:34  
Well, we need to go back in time a little bit so they kind of understand where you're coming from. You didn't come to the United States right away, right? Let's go back to when you were in high school maybe, you went to high school in Beijing?

Susie Liu  2:49  
My high school in Shanxi, you know? 

Evan Franulovich  2:52  
Shanxi, yeah.

Susie Liu  2:53  
Yeah, and my college in Beijing. My major is law. After law, I took the China bar exam and pass it. 

Evan Franulovich  3:06  
Yeah. 

Susie Liu  3:07  
So my job is a lawyer. As a lawyer in China, I'm a defendant attorney, almost 25 years.

Evan Franulovich  3:23  
So you did 25 years of law? 

Susie Liu  3:26  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:26  
And then, why did you leave the field of law?

Susie Liu  3:33  
Definitely, I wanted to come over to the United States. My first trip is with a company with my kids. I wanted to help him with school, but he doesn't like to stay here, so he came back to China to continue his school. I feel okay. I decided to stay here.

Evan Franulovich  4:07  
So he went back to China. 

Susie Liu  4:09  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:09  
But he did his high school education here? 

Susie Liu  4:13  
Right now, he's in college.

Evan Franulovich  4:16  
Oh, okay, so now he's in college. 

Susie Liu  4:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:19  
How old was he when you arrived?

Susie Liu  4:22  
When we came to the United States, he was 10 years old. 

Evan Franulovich  4:26  
10 years old?

Susie Liu  4:28  
I left him to study, and then I come back to continue to work. But he didn't like to live here, so I said, 'Okay, I will take over my work and come over with him together in 2020.' But he didn't like it here.

Evan Franulovich  5:05  
What was it that he didn't like? Just out of curiosity.

Susie Liu  5:10  
Maybe I think he felt lonely, no friends. Yeah, but he missed his old friends in China. 

Evan Franulovich  5:24  
Sure. Friends are important. 

Susie Liu  5:27  
Yeah, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  5:29  
So what's he studying and where is he studying?

Susie Liu  5:32  
Right now, he studies in Beijing, and he's studying law.

Evan Franulovich  5:39  
You're able to get accepted into Chinese University without taking the Gaokao? So did your son take the Gaokao? 

Susie Liu  5:49  
My son took the Gaokao, and I also took the Gaokao.

Evan Franulovich  5:53  
Sure, yeah. So he went back to China, took the Gaokao, and got accepted?

Susie Liu  6:00  
Yeah, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:01  
That's very exciting. 

Susie Liu  6:02  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:02  
And how much longer does he need to study?

Susie Liu  6:06  
Four years.

Evan Franulovich  6:09  
Wow. And then he'll take the bar?

Susie Liu  6:12  
I don't know, maybe.

Evan Franulovich  6:14  
Is the bar in China similar to the bar in the United States? Because you took...

Susie Liu  6:20  
Yeah, I took both.

Evan Franulovich  6:21  
You took both. Amazing. So you took it as just kind of a challenge? Or do you think maybe you'll practice law in the US at some point?

Susie Liu  6:31  
I feel that in China I'm not a fair challenge, because after I graduate from the law school, I took the bar and I passed it the first time. So I felt, that it's not difficult, it's easy. But in the United States, it was a huge challenge for me. 

Evan Franulovich  6:32  
Right? 

Susie Liu  6:40  
First thing is the language.

Evan Franulovich  6:56  
Well, sure, it's not just English, but it's legal English.

Susie Liu  7:00  
People don't use Legal English in conversations or real life.

Evan Franulovich  7:02  
Right. And there's a lot of Latin. 

Susie Liu  7:09  
Yeah, because I didn't attend law school in the United States. I studied by myself, so that's really difficult.

Evan Franulovich  7:22  
How long did you prepare? 

Susie Liu  7:24  
Almost three or four years. 

Evan Franulovich  7:29  
Wow. 

Susie Liu  7:29  
Yeah, because I took an online class to prepare for the bar. 

Evan Franulovich  7:37  
Sure. 

Susie Liu  7:37  
Yeah, and also practice the questions or perform a test.

Evan Franulovich  7:47  
So, Chinese legal system versus the US legal system, very different, yeah? So different. 

Susie Liu  7:56  
Very different. 

Evan Franulovich  7:57  
I don't know if you can even answer this question, but what is the biggest similarity, and then what is the biggest difference?

Susie Liu  8:05  
We have different laws, because in American law we use case law. 

Evan Franulovich  8:17  
Case law, yeah. 

Susie Liu  8:19  
But in China we use signature or regular laws, that's totally different. So before I studied, I felt okay, I have a law background maybe it will be easier for me, but I was wrong.

Evan Franulovich  8:48  
It would be tough for anyone, but the fact that you did it was amazing.

Susie Liu  8:52  
Yeah, totally wrong. 

Evan Franulovich  8:53  
Congratulations. 

Susie Liu  8:54  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  8:55  
Well, I mean, you've done that and you got your degree at North Seattle College. Tell us about that program, what was the program like? What kind of accounting courses did you have to do? What kind of coursework? 

Susie Liu  9:14  
Oh, that's a really interesting story. You know, I've been to North Seattle College, just to study English, because my English is not that strong, I can't have a conversation with people. I just wanted to learn English, I have no interest in any major or something. After I picked the ESL program, my advisor said what do you want to do? I don't know, because at my age in China, we are retired. You know that? 

Evan Franulovich  10:10  
Yeah. 

Susie Liu  10:11  
And woman at my age are retired and take care of their grand children. 

Evan Franulovich  10:20  
That's right. Or dance in the park. 

Susie Liu  10:25  
Yeah, exactly, you know that. And I said I don't know, I have no idea. She said, 'Maybe you don't need to continue to learn the law, maybe you need to try to learn something new. You were a lawyer your whole life, practicing law, why don't you change something?' I saw that lots of American lawyers also have CPA license. 

Evan Franulovich  11:10  
Sure, that make sense. 

Susie Liu  11:11  
And she said, 'Maybe you can do that.'

Evan Franulovich  11:13  
Maybe you can do that.

Susie Liu  11:16  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  11:16  
That's great. 

Susie Liu  11:18  
That's the reason I chose an associates in business. 

Evan Franulovich  11:23  
Right, right. 

Susie Liu  11:24  
Yeah, and learn accounting and economics. After two years, I graduated with an associate in business, my advisor, Shun, said, 'Oh, what do you want to do? Maybe you can continue.' And he pushed me to keep going on. 

Evan Franulovich  11:59  
That's great. So you, and I are both older than the average student. 

Susie Liu  12:06  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:07  
You know, people often ask 'Is it okay if I'm older to be a student at a community college?' Have you found it to be an advantage? Have you found it to be easy to go to school just like everybody else?

Susie Liu  12:26  
Oh, yeah. Well, I think that's different in China and in the United States. Maybe in China people feel, that you're old, you should go back home. But I feel that in American culture, nobody cares how old you are. And I feel that my classmates are younger than me, but they never ever feel 'Oh, you're older. I don't want to talk with you. I don't want to be friends with you.' Yeah, that's the reason I stayed here for so many years, I feel that I've become more and more confident.

Evan Franulovich  13:08  
More and more confidence, that's great.

Susie Liu  13:11  
I think that you know what I mean because you lived in China, you know that in Chinese culture, people feel, 'Oh, you're old. You should go back home and take care of your grandkids.'

Evan Franulovich  13:32  
Yeah, I was definitely on the older end when I went to China, I taught at *Inaudible*, and I was definitely one of the older professors, not the only one, but yeah, we were non traditional, for sure. Most of them were pretty young.

Susie Liu  13:47  
But that's a different, you are professional, and I'm a student here. 

Evan Franulovich  13:51  
That's true.

Susie Liu  13:53  
That's different. 

Evan Franulovich  13:54  
Yeah. So you were in China, you did your schooling, and after all these years, you decided to come to the United States. So what was that decision like? I mean, did you discuss it with anybody in your family? Hey, I'm gonna go to the US. And did they think you were crazy? Did they think it was wonderful? 

Susie Liu  14:15  
Oh, first of all, I talked with my family, and I said that I wanna raise my kids, and everybody said, 'Okay, that's fine.' You know, in China, the parents also support the kids... 

Evan Franulovich  14:32  
For sure. 

Susie Liu  14:33  
...for everything. 

Evan Franulovich  14:34  
A lot. 

Susie Liu  14:35  
And even though they are adults or whatever. 

Evan Franulovich  14:38  
Yeah, yeah. 

Susie Liu  14:40  
But when my kids went back to China, people said 'You should come back too.' But that for me is a challenge. I thought should I stay here and continue my education, or should I come back? Yeah, that's a struggle for me. The kids will grow up, and leave us. They will become independent. 

Evan Franulovich  15:20  
For sure, we hope. 

Susie Liu  15:21  
Yeah, my life didn't end yet.

Evan Franulovich  15:30  
What's next?

Susie Liu  15:32  
So I said, 'Oh, that's a good chance, after my graduation from college 30 years ago, I can come back to school and study again.' So I decided that I want to stay here and finish my education.

Evan Franulovich  15:54  
So before you get over here to study, you have to go get a visa. 

Susie Liu  15:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  15:58  
In order to do so, when you show up at the embassy for your visa interview, they must be like, 'Well, you're older, you've been a lawyer. Why are you going to the US?' Did they ask those kinds of questions? 

Susie Liu  16:10  
Yeah, they asked, I said, 'Yeah, I'm older, but I have a 25 years long career right now. I believe that it will improve my career, and I want to go to the next level. If I want to go the next level, I need them more knowledge and it might not be law. So that's my answer.

Evan Franulovich  16:45  
And they were like, 'Okay.' That's great. 

Susie Liu  16:49  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:50  
Do you still have an apartment in Beijing? 

Susie Liu  16:54  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:56  
So you just packed up your suitcases. 

Susie Liu  16:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:59  
You and your son off to the United States. Were you guys nervous? 

Susie Liu  17:05  
Yeah, nervous because my English is not good, and I need to get a car, get an apartment, get a driver license. 

Evan Franulovich  17:15  
Right. 

Susie Liu  17:16  
Yeah, that's a totally new life for me.

Evan Franulovich  17:22  
It's a lot, yes, I know. And finding an apartment was it difficult? 

Susie Liu  17:28  
Yeah, it's difficult because I have no social security number. 

Evan Franulovich  17:32  
That's true. 

Susie Liu  17:34  
Yeah, that's the reason. 

Evan Franulovich  17:36  
So did you apply for a social security numbe then? 

Susie Liu  17:40  
Oh, right now I have one. But when I first arrived, I didn't have.

Evan Franulovich  17:46  
So how did you get around that?

Susie Liu  17:48  
I got a social security number, because during my studies I had an internship.

Evan Franulovich  18:02  
So you were able to get housing? 

Susie Liu  18:05  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:05  
Gotcha. Wow, that's a lot. So did you get a car when you got here? You drive a car. 

Susie Liu  18:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:17  
You go and get your driver's license. 

Susie Liu  18:20  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  18:21  
And how was that experience?

Susie Liu  18:24  
I feel that getting a driver license wasn't too difficult for me, because in China I was a driver for almost 20 years. Yeah, that's not difficult. 

Evan Franulovich  18:48  
And you had to do the driving test as well? 

Susie Liu  18:51  
Yeah, also did that. 

Evan Franulovich  18:53  
No problem? 

Susie Liu  18:54  
No problem.

Evan Franulovich  18:54  
That's great! I'm impressed. You know, I didn't ever take the driver's license exam in China, but I thought about it a lot because sometimes it was difficult to get to some of the places that I wanted to go, like if I wanted to go to *Inaudible* it was kind of hard without a car. I don't know, I just never got around to it. Lots of questions. They do an English version.

Susie Liu  19:23  
Oh, they have an English version. But, you know, in Washington state, they have a Chinese version, but not for simple Chinese.

Evan Franulovich  19:36  
Not in simple Chinese, it's traditional Chinese.

Susie Liu  19:38  
Yeah, that's different.

Evan Franulovich  19:46  
The meaning isn't the same.

Susie Liu  19:50  
Different meaning.

Evan Franulovich  19:50  
Yeah, interesting. Some of the characters, I don't know. There's simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese. MainIand generally uses simplified. Taiwan generally uses traditional. Hong Kong is probably traditional. 

Susie Liu  20:06  
Traditional, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  20:07  
Two writing styles, very similar, but differences for sure.

Susie Liu  20:13  
Sometimes when I am with my Taiwanese classmates we need to use English so we can totally understand what we say. Such as tomato, In simple Chinese we say xihongshi, but in traditional Chinese, they call it fanqie.

Evan Franulovich  20:38  
Interesting. That's a lot different. 

Susie Liu  20:40  
That's totally different. 

Evan Franulovich  20:45  
Yeah, I know xihongshi, that's the word I learned for tomato, but not the other one. 

Susie Liu  20:52  
For example, pineapple, we call it bō luó and the Taiwanese people call that feng li. 

Evan Franulovich  21:08  
Oh, it's so different.

Susie Liu  21:09  
That's totally different. 

Evan Franulovich  21:11  
Not even close to the same. Wow. Okay, so you probably didn't bother. You took the English version of the test then. 

Susie Liu  21:18  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  21:18  
That would make sense. Okay, so you get your visa, you move over here, and then you get to start studying right away. What was the change in culture like for you? You've been in China for so long now, you're all of a sudden here, was it what you expected? Was it a lot different than you expected? Was there a lot of culture shock? What was the adjustment like?

Susie Liu  21:49  
Yeah, that's a very different culture. Because in China, our students just listen to the professors. 

Evan Franulovich  22:03  
Yes. 

Susie Liu  22:03  
Never ever ask questions. But here you should ask questions, you should think about what you wanna ask the professor.

Evan Franulovich  22:17  
Yeah. 

Susie Liu  22:20  
Maybe experienced that, when you talk the whole time, but your students are quiet. 

Evan Franulovich  22:33  
Maybe they don't understand.

Susie Liu  22:38  
Yeah, maybe they don't understand, but they never ever tell you if they don't understand whether you say. 

Evan Franulovich  22:47  
Yeah, when I taught at Chengdu University, it was part of a British university that was connected to Chengdu University. And our portion was taught in English, so I would speak to the students, and I would use the Western method of teaching, and a lot of times they were just not ready for the kind of questions I was looking for discussion.

Susie Liu  23:19  
Yeah, they just look at you. 

Evan Franulovich  23:22  
Yeah, that's not how it works.

Susie Liu  23:28  
Yeah, even though you said, 'Okay, does anyone have any questions?'

Evan Franulovich  23:36  
No questions, we're good.

Susie Liu  23:40  
But here you should ask questions if you don't understand, or want something. 

Evan Franulovich  23:49  
Sure. 

Susie Liu  23:50  
You should connect with your professor in the class or after the class. 

Evan Franulovich  23:57  
Yes, I think here the professors are very approachable. You can go and speak to them, talk to them with their first name.It's very casual, which is unusual. 

Susie Liu  23:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:00  
But do you like that? Or do you find it hard to adjust to?

Susie Liu  24:13  
Hard. 

Evan Franulovich  24:14  
It's hard, yeah?

Susie Liu  24:15  
It's hard. In my culture, we never use the name, that's so rude.

Evan Franulovich  24:27  
Not here, but yeah, I understand why you would say that. 

Susie Liu  24:30  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:31  
Of course. Well, you know, the number of Chinese students coming into the United States right now is declining to a certain extent, because I think a lot of parents back in China right now are fearful about safety. How have you found your experience in Seattle, in the state of Washington? Has it been safe? Do you feel nervous? Are you comfortable? What's been your experience?

Susie Liu  25:00  
Oh, my experience, I feel like Seattle is a good city, and I feel safe. I don't feel nervous or something when walking down the street, maybe downtown sometimes, but right now, it's good. 

Evan Franulovich  25:14  
Yeah, yeah. 

Susie Liu  25:15  
It's better than during the pandemic.

Evan Franulovich  25:20  
Oh, yeah. I don't miss the pandemic. 

Susie Liu  25:23  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:24  
And your son didn't make a lot of friends because of the language barrier problem? 

Susie Liu  25:31  
I feel like he came here when he was too young, and maybe he didn't like studying.

Evan Franulovich  25:40  
Well, there you go. 

Susie Liu  25:41  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:43  
Well, I'm glad to hear you say that, because a lot of people are concerned, It's like, 'Oh, we hear all these stories about the United States.' But I think, that they hear the worst, but generally day to day, I think it's pretty good.

Susie Liu  25:58  
Yeah, pretty good. I like the weather, the temperature is good. 

Evan Franulovich  26:03  
Yeah, yeah. 

Susie Liu  26:04  
People said, 'Oh, it's raining the whole year.' But it doesn't. 

Evan Franulovich  26:08  
No, it's not bad. 

Susie Liu  26:10  
Yeah, not bad. And in the winter, it's not too cold. In summer, it's not too hot, just a three day hot.

Evan Franulovich  26:17  
Yeah, definitely not as cold as Beijing in the winter. 

Susie Liu  26:22  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:22  
And definitely not as hot.

Susie Liu  26:24  
And also different Chengdu or Chongqing.

Evan Franulovich  26:27  
For sure. Yeah, so humid and hot out there. 

Susie Liu  26:30  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  26:32  
So the food you've adjusted to American food? Or do you cook for yourself? 

Susie Liu  26:37  
I cook for myself, Chinese food. 

Evan Franulovich  26:40  
Have you gone out and found any good restaurants that are really legitimate? 

Susie Liu  26:46  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:47  
Oh yeah, cool. There you go, guys. Yeah, there's a place down in Chinatown called Chengdu Taste. Do you know this restaurant? 

Susie Liu  27:00  
I'm not sure. 

Evan Franulovich  27:02  
Okay. Well, it's right next to the gate, so shout out to you guys. And they have a pretty legit Sichuan food there. 

Susie Liu  27:09  
Oh. 

Evan Franulovich  27:09  
Really good. So if you want to try that. 

Susie Liu  27:11  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  27:12  
And then on Highway 99 there's a Asian market, and there's a restaurant as you go into the place, and it's very authentic. In fact, usually it's just full of Chinese patrons, so that's always a good sign when you have a lot of local chinese there.

Susie Liu  27:32  
I know you what you said.

Evan Franulovich  27:36  
Yes, that's the place. 

Susie Liu  27:38  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  27:38  
Check that out, because it's a pretty good restaurant. Have you eaten there? 

Susie Liu  27:42  
Yeah, I have. 

Evan Franulovich  27:42  
What do you think? 

Susie Liu  27:43  
Good. 

Evan Franulovich  27:44  
I think it's good, right? 

Susie Liu  27:45  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  27:46  
It's got a variety. Does it have many dishes from Beijing? I don't remember.

Susie Liu  27:53  
The price is expensive. 

Evan Franulovich  27:58  
Well, if you're coming from China, brace yourself, because it's so much more expensive. 

Susie Liu  28:05  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  28:07  
Every morning I would get Baozi for breakfast. You know, baozi is like one and a half two Kwai maybe, super cheap. 

Susie Liu  28:15  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  28:15  
Here, oh my gosh, Baozi is so expensive.

Susie Liu  28:18  
Oh yeah, you're right. I'm so glad that you call that Baozi. You know, a lot of American people call that dumpling. 

Evan Franulovich  28:30  
Yeah, it's not dumpling.

Susie Liu  28:36  
Totally different. 

Evan Franulovich  28:37  
Totally different. 

Susie Liu  28:38  
But the American people call it dumpling. 

Evan Franulovich  28:43  
Yeah, that's not a dumpling. Yeah, Baozi is delicious, and it comes with a lot of different fillings. You can get it with pork, or you can get it with mushrooms and vegetables. So good, so cheap. I miss it so much. 

Susie Liu  28:57  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  28:58  
It's really good. Okay, so you are through this program now, and you're getting ready because you're doing OPT. 

Susie Liu  29:04  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  29:04  
Can you explain to the listeners what is OPT?

Susie Liu  29:07  
OPT is for international students who graduated, and the American government gave them one year or three years, depending on your major to practice your major in the United States, use your knowledge in your career. 

Evan Franulovich  29:34  
Yeah, that's a perfect explanation of what OPT is. And so you got it. 

Susie Liu  29:39  
I got it.

Evan Franulovich  29:41  
So where are you going to be working?

Susie Liu  29:44  
My plan is to move to California. 

Evan Franulovich  29:47  
Oh. 

Susie Liu  29:48  
And combine my legal background and my new knowledge of accounting to find a job, something interesting.

Evan Franulovich  29:58  
That's so great. 

Susie Liu  29:59  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  29:59  
So when are you going to move?

Susie Liu  30:01  
This month. 

Evan Franulovich  30:03  
This month?!

Susie Liu  30:04  
Yeah, because my OPT starts next month. 

Evan Franulovich  30:07  
Oh my gosh. So you are packing. 

Susie Liu  30:10  
Yeah, I'm packing, I want to leave.

Evan Franulovich  30:13  
Thank you for making time to come on the podcast. That's really exciting. 

Susie Liu  30:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:18  
Which city in California?

Susie Liu  30:20  
Right now, I'm not sure. Maybe LA or San Diego or something.

Evan Franulovich  30:26  
San Diego is lovely. 

Susie Liu  30:28  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:28  
I was just in San Diego, and the weather is beautiful. 

Susie Liu  30:31  
Really blue sky. 

Evan Franulovich  30:33  
I love San Francisco, too.

Susie Liu  30:36  
Blue sky.

Evan Franulovich  30:37  
Yeah, for sure. 

Susie Liu  30:38  
Always blue sky, but too hot.

Evan Franulovich  30:42  
Well, the nice thing about San Diego is it's right there on the beach. 

Susie Liu  30:46  
Oh yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:47  
Never gets super duper hot, it's temperate maybe. 

Susie Liu  30:52  
It's hotter than Seattle. 

Evan Franulovich  30:53  
Okay. Well, definitely hotter than Seattle. It's pretty good. 

Susie Liu  30:56  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:57  
So you're looking at opportunities in California that's really great. Well, you plan to do the full year, and then what after you're done?

Susie Liu  31:05  
Maybe come back to China. 

Evan Franulovich  31:06  
Maybe go back to China.

Susie Liu  31:08  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  31:08  
To do what?

Susie Liu  31:10  
To continue to do my attorney-lawyer job, right now I have a Chinese lawyer license. And I also want to get the California lawyer license. 

Evan Franulovich  31:34  
It will give you a real advantage to have that kind of knowledge, that's really great. 

Susie Liu  31:44  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  31:45  
Super smart. Are you excited to go back home? Are you sad about leaving? How are you feeling?

Susie Liu  31:54  
I think I will miss the time living in Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  32:00  
Im glad to hear that. Yeah, but then you'll be in Beijing, I'll have someone to come visit.

Susie Liu  32:07  
My whole family is there. 

Evan Franulovich  32:09  
Oh, you have more than one?

Susie Liu  32:12  
Oh yeah, I have three. 

Evan Franulovich  32:13  
Three kids? 

Susie Liu  32:14  
Yeah, I'm mom of three.

Evan Franulovich  32:16  
Wow. Well, what are the other two kids doing? 

Susie Liu  32:20  
My daughter right now is a judge. 

Evan Franulovich  32:22  
Wow. 

Susie Liu  32:23  
Yeah, and the two kids are twins, so they're in college right now.

Evan Franulovich  32:34  
That's great. Wow, three kids. That's unusual. 

Susie Liu  32:38  
Yeah, people in my age have one kid.

Evan Franulovich  32:45  
Yeah. So I met a lot of kids who are the only children. 

Susie Liu  32:50  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  32:51  
Not too often, maybe people that were further out from the cities, maybe in the country I would meet. Yeah, that's unusual.

Susie Liu  32:59  
Like, you should have found some like we call hukou, yeah, yeah, then you can born the second case. 

Evan Franulovich  33:10  
Yeah, interesting.

Susie Liu  33:11  
I'm so lucky that my second baby was twins.

Evan Franulovich  33:16  
Yeah, very lucky. Well, that's wonderful. Are any of your kids married? 

Susie Liu  33:23  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  33:24  
Not yet. 

Susie Liu  33:25  
Not yet. 

Evan Franulovich  33:25  
Maybe someday.

Susie Liu  33:29  
People in China get married later. 

Evan Franulovich  33:32  
Yes. 

Susie Liu  33:32  
Yeah, that's another generation. My generation married early. 

Evan Franulovich  33:41  
The first job I had in China was working for EF, and I taught adult students. And a lot of the adults that came to EF were just young professionals starting their first career, and then they realized that their English isn't very strong, so they usually come to EF to improve their English, to improve their career. And a lot of the young women that I met were not interested in marriage at all. They thought it was a big bother and that a lot of the guys were immature, and so they were just happy being in their career and having money to go spend and eat out. So it was a really interesting experience for me. I wasn't expecting that.

Susie Liu  34:24  
Yeah, in my generation, the people said, if you are a successful person, maybe you have a family, have kids, have a career, or have money. But right now, people don't say that. 

Evan Franulovich  34:39  
The thing that I did find interesting is that during Chinese New Year, a lot of these young women that I met would be a little stressed out about going home, because they would get a lot of pressure from their parents. It's like, 'Oh, when are you going to get married? When are you gonna have children?' So it's a little bit of a balance there.

Susie Liu  34:58  
Yeah, exactly. 

Evan Franulovich  34:59  
Super Interesting. Well, that's really good. So what do you do for fun when you're not packing to move and when you're not studying? Do you have hobbies?

Susie Liu  35:09  
Yeah, I just study because I have to focus my accounting studies, and during my free time I study for my bar. Yeah, I have no time.

Evan Franulovich  35:31  
Did you ever take a vacation quarter?

Susie Liu  35:34  
No, during summer 2023, I took a class in Central College. 

Evan Franulovich  35:43  
Okay. 

Susie Liu  35:43  
Yeah, I never took vacations. 

Evan Franulovich  35:47  
No vacations. 

Susie Liu  35:48  
No vacations. I just wanna keep going on and study and then pass that bar.

Evan Franulovich  35:55  
Amazing. Well, are you going to drive yourself to California? Are you gonna take the train? Are you going to fly? What are you going to do?

Susie Liu  36:04  
Not at all. I never been to Mount Rainier. 

Evan Franulovich  36:09  
Oh, you should go. 

Susie Liu  36:10  
Yeah, I should go this month. I should go to the Space Needle.

Evan Franulovich  36:21  
Yeah, gotta be a tourist at least one day. 

Susie Liu  36:24  
Yeah, I got to take a Seattle tour and take some pictures.

Evan Franulovich  36:31  
Have you been to Pike Place Market? 

Susie Liu  36:32  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:33  
That's important. 

Susie Liu  36:35  
That's important. 

Evan Franulovich  36:36  
But Mount Rainier, this is a good time of year to go up, because the snow is melting off now, so you can actually hike a little bit. Do you like to hike?

Susie Liu  36:45  
I do, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:46  
Well, I hope you take a little time. And if you do end up driving to California, one way I recommend is to go down and then cut over to the coast and then drive down the Oregon and California coast. It's beautiful. 

Susie Liu  37:01  
Yeah, people give me advice.

Evan Franulovich  37:12  
It'll take a little longer, but it'll be worth your time. 

Susie Liu  37:15  
Yeah, I will.

Evan Franulovich  37:17  
Celebrate your graduation. 

Susie Liu  37:19  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  37:20  
Did you walk in the graduation? 

Susie Liu  37:23  
Yeah, I went there. 

Evan Franulovich  37:25  
That's so great. 

Susie Liu  37:26  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  37:27  
I didn't see you, though. I didn't get to take a picture of you.

Susie Liu  37:31  
You can look at the video.

Evan Franulovich  37:35  
You're in there? 

Susie Liu  37:35  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  37:36  
That's good. Well, we took a lot of videos, so we were hoping to get everybody. 

Susie Liu  37:41  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  37:43  
Your hear that? It's Trivia Time. This is the part of show where we ask you five questions. 

Susie Liu  37:48  
Okay, I will try. 

Evan Franulovich  37:50  
This is just for fun, if you don't get them all right, it's okay, no crying to sleep tonight. Question number one: You mentioned Mount Rainier as a national park, there are two other national parks near Seattle. Can you name one of the other parks? 

Susie Liu  38:06  
Olympic.

Evan Franulovich  38:07  
Yes, the Olympic National Park. Very good. Question number two: Washington is bordered by a state to the south. What is the next state down?

Susie Liu  38:22  
Oregon. 

Evan Franulovich  38:23  
Yes, good job. Question number three: What is the type of law that we base our legal system on? 

Susie Liu  38:36  
I'm not sure. 

Evan Franulovich  38:40  
Well, you said it earlier. So like Brown versus Board of Education is...? 

Susie Liu  38:52  
I'm sorry. 

Evan Franulovich  38:53  
That's all right, case law. 

Susie Liu  38:55  
Case law. 

Evan Franulovich  38:57  
That's righ. You said it already, so we're gonna give you that one. 

Susie Liu  39:00  
Okay, thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  39:01  
Yeah, I'm very generous. Question number four: In Seattle, we have a pretty famous baseball team. Do you know the name of our baseball team?

Susie Liu  39:11  
Baseball? I don't know. I know the football team.

Evan Franulovich  39:15  
What's our football team?

Susie Liu  39:18  
Seahawks. 

Evan Franulovich  39:19  
The Seahawks! Very good! And our baseball team is The Mariners. 

Susie Liu  39:23  
Oh, I don't know. 

Evan Franulovich  39:24  
If you have the opportunity. I recommend going to a game. It's a great cultural experience. You don't have to understand baseball, just go and eat good snacks, and watch the game.

Susie Liu  39:36  
I saw a football game. 

Evan Franulovich  39:39  
You did go? 

Susie Liu  39:42  
Yeah, at UDUB. 

Evan Franulovich  39:43  
Yeah, what do you think? 

Susie Liu  39:45  
Good. 

Evan Franulovich  39:46  
Yeah, a lot of fun, huh? 

Susie Liu  39:47  
Yeah, even though I don't know the rules, but that doesn't matter.

Evan Franulovich  39:51  
That's right. Yeah, I don't think I ever saw anybody playing football in China. 

Susie Liu  40:00  
We play soccer.

Evan Franulovich  40:04  
Soccer, yeah. 

Susie Liu  40:05  
The women's team is better than the men's team.

Evan Franulovich  40:11  
Yeah, the Chinese women's national team is really pretty good. 

Susie Liu  40:15  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  40:16  
I don't remember what they're like, 14th in the world or something. But yeah, it's legit. The men need some work, I think. Maybe in the future, we got to compete with Japan and Korea.

Susie Liu  40:28  
I hope.

Evan Franulovich  40:30  
Come on, guys. 

Susie Liu  40:31  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  40:31  
Very good. All right. Well, the last question might be tough for you, because you study all the time, but what was the last movie that you saw?

Susie Liu  40:40  
Last movie...? Right now, I had time to watch a TV show or drama called Lincoln Lawyer, it's like Suits in Netflix.

Evan Franulovich  41:00  
There you go. 

Susie Liu  41:01  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  41:02  
Didn't you go see you know the new version of Ne Zha?

Susie Liu  41:06  
Ne Zha?

Evan Franulovich  41:07  
Did you go see it?

Susie Liu  41:08  
I heard about that, but I had no time to see it.

Susie Liu  41:12  
Yeah, I thought maybe. 

Susie Liu  41:13  
Ne Zha 2. 

Evan Franulovich  41:14  
Yeah, Ne Zha 2 came to Seattle.

Susie Liu  41:18  
Yeah, I heard that lots of people watched that. 

Evan Franulovich  41:23  
Did you see the first one? 

Susie Liu  41:24  
I saw the first one, but I didn't see the second one. 

Evan Franulovich  41:28  
Well, maybe in the future. I saw Ne Zha in Chengdu, and I thought it was pretty good. 

Susie Liu  41:33  
That's Ne Zha 1? 

Evan Franulovich  41:35  
Yeah, I saw it all by myself, I was the only person. 

Susie Liu  41:38  
Did you understand the story? 

Evan Franulovich  41:40  
I do understand a little bit of the story. I did the little reading before I went and saw the movie, so that I could understand, but it's still very different.

Susie Liu  41:49  
Yeah, I think that for you it's a challenge to understand the whole story. 

Evan Franulovich  41:57  
And the Chinese was challenging too. I mean, that's a much more advanced level of Chinese, but it was still a great experience. 

Susie Liu  42:10  
You are great.

Evan Franulovich  42:13  
Thanks. It was fun. Go see Ne Zha 2, if you haven't seen that. But Lincoln Lawyer, that's a great show. 

Susie Liu  42:18  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  42:19  
And is it fun to watch? Can you see those shows in China? Can you watch Lincoln Lawyer in China? Do they have those kind of shows?

Susie Liu  42:28  
I hate to say that in China we can't watch Netflix. 

Evan Franulovich  42:32  
Oh, yeah. But do they have a Chinese equivalent, is there a lawyer show? 

Susie Liu  42:37  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  42:38  
Is there? 

Susie Liu  42:38  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  42:39  
Oh, cool. I should look those up. That would be fun to watch. 

Susie Liu  42:42  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  42:44  
Great. Well, you did pretty well. Nice job. I'm excited. We also ask at the very end of our show, people have heard Chinese probably before, but maybe they haven't heard your version of Chinese. So maybe you could say 10-20 seconds worth of Chinese, just words of encouragement, or if you just want to say hello to your family back home or whatever, but this is a chance for some of our listeners to hear Chinese.

Susie Liu  43:12  
*Susie's message in Chinese*

Evan Franulovich  43:23  
Very good. Thanks. And then you've been through it all now. You've been through law school in China. You've done four years here. You're getting ready to do OPT. You have all this wisdom. What kind of wisdom would you share with young people that are maybe thinking, maybe parents that are considering, should I send my child to the United States? What should I expect? What kind of advice would you give them?

Susie Liu  43:48  
If you are a parent like me, give your kids more chances to look at the world, look at different cities and let them decide their life.

Evan Franulovich  44:07  
Great advice.

Susie Liu  44:08  
Because in China, as parents we want to control everything that our kids do. We feel like we can do everything for the kids, but sometimes they feel like they don't like it.

Evan Franulovich  44:31  
Maybe, some of them. 

Susie Liu  44:32  
Yeah, I like the American parents. They feel like, 'Whatever you want to do.'

Evan Franulovich  44:41  
Some parents are a little different. I have three boys myself. 

Susie Liu  44:45  
Oh. 

Evan Franulovich  44:45  
Yeah, and when I was in China, they would ask me, 'Are your kids married?' I'm like, 'If they want to get married, it's okay if they don't, whatever.' And they were like, 'What?' Yeah, because they would assume that I want grandkids, and I do, of course, that'd be great.

Susie Liu  45:04  
But in China, they take care of the kids every tiny second.

Evan Franulovich  45:12  
That's true. 

Susie Liu  45:13  
All right. 

Evan Franulovich  45:14  
That's great. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. 

Susie Liu  45:18  
Thank you.

Evan Franulovich  45:18  
Super interesting. We're excited to see what you do next. Good luck in California. Please keep in touch with us so we see what you do. 

Susie Liu  45:26  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  45:26  
Guys, thanks for being here. We do this show every Wednesday. Please join us. Share, Like, Subscribe, tell all your friends. We want to share our experiences with you. If you're interested in international education, we'd love to have you over here at Seattle Colleges in Seattle. Good luck to you. 

Susie Liu  45:47  
Thank you.

Evan Franulovich  45:49  
Take care. Bye bye. 

Evan Franulovich  45:52  
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.