Training for the Nanjing Dragon Boat Race

Hello Everyone! First of all, congratulations to all the recently accepted HNC students! Can’t wait for you guys to come here and experience life at the HNC!

Now on to a few new developments both inside and outside HNC. First of all, within the past few weeks, two new international restaurants have opened up near HNC. One is a pizza and sandwich restaurant and the other is a Mexican restaurant. One of the biggest things that international students get nostalgic for is the food they are accustomed to eating in their home countries. But due to many new restaurants like this, even in a very Chinese city like Nanjing, we can still find many of the comforts we are used to fairly easily.

Secondly, we are getting some new dumbbells for the gym at HNC, which is great for the third point.

HNC is really abuzz with people signing up to take part in a Dragon Boat race in early June (for Dragon Boat Festival.) Myself and a few other students have put together a training program (including weight lifting, cardio and rowing practice) and a lot of people at HNC are excited about it. So far we have nearly 20 people signed up to participate. We have ordered jerseys, officially registered, and, starting next week, we’ll begin our formal training on the water.

Some students are understandably nervous about whether or not this will be too much of a time commitment with our classes and work, but it seems that many are up for the challenge. For many of us, this semester will be our last semester in China for the foreseeable future. After this year, when else are we going to have the chance to take part in real Chinese dragon boat race?

Dragon Boat Team in 2014

Outside of those new developments for extracurricular activities and food, we will be having many new and unique academic and career opportunities in the near future. The HNC invites a lot of interesting people to give lectures, lead discussions, or give career presentations on campus. Last semester, these events ranged from special lectures given by Nanjing University professors to recruiting presentations from Chinese and international businesses to even an informal Q&A with the U.S. Consul General in Shanghai.

 Written by Andrew Retallick , HNC Certificate/SAIS MA student