Thursday, December 13, 2012

Meet Mr. Mao, HNC's Residential Mascot

Mr. Mao
Continuing with our trend of introducing HNC personalities, we are pleased to present HNC's unofficial mascot, Mr. Mao.  For those who may not speak Chinese, mao means cat.  This year's BanWei (student committee) selects a weekly HNCer of the Week and Mr. Mao easily won the honor during the inaugural week.

Mr. Mao is just one member of the residential community that is the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.  In addition to the classrooms, library, lounge, cafeteria, and auditoriums, the Center is also home to a five-story dorm.  Certificate students all live in double rooms in this on-campus dorm while MAIS students have the option of living in a single or double room.  For students living in double rooms, we make as many Chinese-International roommate pairings as possible and many alumni have reported that living with a Chinese classmate was a highlight of their experience.  Despite the Center's state-of-the-art facilities though, Mr. Mao can usually be found sunbathing in the communal courtyard.

On the Center's residential community, certificate alumnus Stanley Seiden reports: "I loved the atmosphere of cultural exchange the Center provides. With the Center's shared facilities and having a Chinese roommate and the general proximity of students, it's almost difficult not to build close relationships with both international and Chinese students. I received about 5 or 6 invitations to go spend Spring Festival with various Chinese students, and we explored the city and had talks about all sort of issues and topics both in China and the US."