Let's Share Our New Experiences

Okay. Here I am, in Illinois. Precisely, Urbana Champaign. 

I know that may be nobody will visit this blog again. But arriving in a small town like Urbana Champaign from NYC suddenly reminds me to all activities in St Johns Fulbright program. Somehow, I miss it. Particularly, I miss the life of the city, how people are so crowded, how facilities are available everywhere and its Halal Food :p. However, let me begin my story in this blog. I am sure this can be a great place to share our university. 

Well..well..well. Here I am, again, in Urbana Champaign. So different with NYC, UC (Urbana-Champaign) is filled with many green spaces. The farther you watch, the wider the green spaces are. I love it. The wind also blows so smooth and little bit cold, but sometimes it is suddenly shining around 2 pm. I am pretty sure not so many people live in Urbana, especially if it’s compared to NYC. Sometimes I wonder where are the people here. The road is so empty, the cars are countable, and the people are missing. At the time, I was thinking I could bring a gun and hunt like in resident evil. Of course that can’t be, but at least I can hunt for corn here. there are some positives and negative things I want to share here compared to NYC.

See? this is a downtown, can you see any human here?

FIRST positive thing. UC is extremely CHEAP ! I am so happy after knowing this matter. When I arrived here, I was fetched by friends who have been studying here. they brought me to the grocery store named Meijer. The price there is insanely cheap. You can imagine, I bought 2 giant doses of cereal only for 6 $. 12 big chicken wings only by 2 $. And laundry here is just 2,25 $ (washing and drying). The greatest thing here is that, if you feel unsatisfied with what you bought in 30 days since you bought it, then you can bring it back to the store and your money will fully back to you. I don’t understand why this policy can work since many students harness this loophole to buy and return things. funny. This store even has a facility named self counter, where you can count your groceries by yourself and pay it, of course, by yourself. 

SECOND positive thing. University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) has great views and spaces (as you can see my picture below). I love how the green always nearby me every time I walk on the street. There is no subway train here. But if you have an Illinois card, then you can ride on bus for free all day long. I also live in Orchard Downs, on campus apartment, that also offers a great green comfort for you and your family. 

Economics Department of UIUC

Backyard in my apartment

FIRST negative thing is related to cultural exposure. Almost 99,99% students in my program are asians. Half of them are from China and Taiwan. There is only one American, and several people are from Turkey, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala and Azerbajan (sorry Tamella for write it wrongly).  I even met 12 people from Indonesia in the same class. What a reunion -.-Students are kind of grouping each other, like they prefer to use their native language to speak, which is not really good for my English development skill. I sometimes joke to an American student that he actually the only international student in the class. 

SECOND negative thing is related to the pleasure facilities. I can tell you that NO OFFICIAL APPLE STORE HERE. I still have no idea where people here spend their vacation. They must be going out of the town. 

However, in conclusion, UC is the great place for you who loves silent, peace and safe. You can sleep on the green grass in the campus all day long without being interrupted. You can also save much money here (which is very good for me). You can also eat many sweet corns here (seriously, corns are VERY cheap here). But last but not least, UC is the great place for student to concentrate and study.