University of Michigan International Center

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! As you may remember from last time, I gave you a brief introduction to the dining hall system at the University of Michigan and some useful tips to eat smart at the dining halls ( MyNutrition ). This week, we continue our discussion on healthy eating by learning how to make the right choice and build individual food pyramid. Depending on the age, gender, and daily activity level, an individual needs 2,000-3,000 calories from various food resources. A rule of thumb for the nutrient composition of your daily food pyramid is as follows: total fat 25-35% of total calories (saturated fat <7% of total calories), carbohydrate 50-60% of total calories, protein about 15% of total calories, cholesterol <200 mg, fiber 20-30 g, sodium <1,500 mg , potassium 4,700 mg, calcium 1,000 mg, and Vitamin D 15-20 mcg. It is hard for most of us to physically measure the above nutrients in every food we eat and put those numbers in perspectives, so th...

Investment in your education is one of the most valuable investments in your life. A smart investment starts by picking up the right institution and the right program. As a University of Michigan student, you chose to be part of one of the best academic communities worldwide, congratulations! Flexibility is an essential feature of an excellent institution and U of M realizes that. As an undergraduate student, you can double major and you can have a minor besides your major. This will equip you with excellent education and set of skills for a bright future. But as a graduate student myself, I’m more aware of the dual-degrees option in the Rackham Graduate School.   Rackham supports the notion of dual-degrees through either structured dual-degree programs or by leaving the decision to you to blend up and come up with an academic recipe fitting your career aspiration. The list of already structured dual-degree programs is long and covers both, the Master’s and the doctoral prog...

Being proactive about securing and settling into a new apartment/house is a very important aspect of adjusting to a new country. You not only want to find reasonably-priced, well-maintained housing within easy access of the University but you want to furnish your apartment/house so that it is comfortable and aesthetically-pleasing. You want your home to be a place where you can relax after a long day of class and study. One of the first things that I did after I completed my apartment search was to google furniture sources in Ann Arbor. I was able to find such places as American Freight, ArtVan, Target and Walmart but also, I found a little gem at 200 South First Street and Washington in downtown Ann Arbor. This was the Kiwanis’ Thrift Store. In visiting the Kiwanis’ Thrift Store once I got to Ann Arbor, I saw that they had everything from furniture to lamps, to decorative paintings, second hand radios, telephones, computers, computer monitors, dishes, pots, pans, househol...

My boyfriend and I traveled to Brazil from June 30th to July 11th. It was a great trip but we also learnt our lessons as travelers. I write about some general tips in traveling to Brazil. General Tips: 1. Check with the International center with all the immigration issues! If you want to visit the Iguassu Fall from the Argentina side, CHECK if you need a visa or pay any extra fees first! Only trust the most official website, NOT yahoo answer or such as. 2. Language. Learn some basic Portuguese, like greetings, numbers, directions , food, etc.  3. Check the weather. And pack accordingly. Do bring a jacket with you.  4. For budget travelers like us,  don't book tours through big corporations, for example Viator or Grey line. They are usually not responsible and cost much more. We really learnt our lesson at Iguassu Falls. Instead, talk to your hostels, they usually can suggest much cheaper, more down-to-earth, and simply better local tour guides or tours. 5...

The University of Michigan has a campus size of 12.86 km 2 (3177 acres), situated within the 74.33 km 2 (18367 acres) of Ann Arbor. This makes both the UM campus and the city of Ann Arbor a vast space that can seem daunting to traverse. However, the buses available both on and off campus, as well as the many taxi services, make traveling in and around campus simple.    The university has a bus system, aptly named the “U-M Buses.” In total, there are around seven different bus routes, which can take riders almost anywhere on North, Central and South campus, as well as the Medical campus. The stops for these buses are conveniently located all over campus (with signs indicating their location), and the buses themselves run every fifteen to twenty minutes. During the Fall and Winter semesters, these buses run regularly, with some even running seven days a week. However, it’s important to know that there are fewer buses running during the Spri...

The University of Michigan renowned for its academic has a couple of resources which I’ll highlight below.    Flashback to the engineering career fair, and every engineering student brings out their resume/cv and thinks of ways to improve it for it to stand out since there are jobs and internship positions up for grabs. My mind just goes to the career center and the engineering career resource center. Located in the Student Activities Building and Crysler Center respectively, they assist one in resume and cover letter preparation, interview preparation and the even bringing out the forgotten skills which hadn’t been put on paper. They really do such good work in linking one in the job-search process and also available are a number of international resources. It’s as simple as booking an appointment with them and 50% of your troubles will be over. Okay probably about 25%. A semester can be long and grueling coupled with the rigorous academ...

To continue my post in June, I am introducing more working out options in or nearby Ann Arbor. This time, I focus on outdoor adventures and some random ideas. Michigan is heaven for Cross Country (XC)  ski lovers thanks to the enormous amount of snow we get during winter time. The Outdoor Adventure organizes XC ski trips to nearby trails. For a day trip, you pay around 30 USD and it covers all the necessary rentals, lunch, transportation and an introductory course on XC ski, strongly recommended for beginners. If you are experienced, then it might not be the right call for you ,but feel free to rent XC ski gears from the Outdoor Adventure and explore surrounding trials by yourself. There are plenty of trails nearby Ann Arbor, for example, the Huron-Clintorn Metroparks (where you can also rent ski gear), Independence Lakes ,  etc. Snow Shoeing and Snow Hiking: Besides XC ski, Snow Shoeing--hiking with snow shoes (you can also rent it from the Outdoor Adventure!) and sno...

  “From international cuisine to vegetarian entrées to gourmet pizzas, dining at Michigan is all about options. With many dining halls, residential cafés and meal plans to choose from, there’s always a tasty way to satisfy your craving for something healthy, hearty, spicy, crunchy, juicy, grilled or made to order.” -Excerpt from the University of Michigan Housing Website   Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! This week and the week of August 11 th we are going to talk about how to eat healthy in the dining hall. Have you heard of the term Freshman 15? Freshman 15 is a popular and unique term used in the United States. It means that on average a new college student would gain 15 pounds in the first year due to unhealthy and uncontrolled eating habits. 15 pounds in a year? That may sound unbelievable and exaggerated to you! According to a recent study, it found that about 10% of college freshman did gain 15 pounds or more and the average person gai...

  Being a freshman as an international student can be intimidating: being in a new country on a new campus surrounded by new people is daunting. But for me, one of the hardest aspects of being an international student freshman was registering for classes.   As an international student freshman, you’re allowed to register for classes (for the fall semester) only a few days before the actual semester begins. This means that a lot of the classes you may have decided to take are full. When I was an incoming freshman, I remember I spent the summer looking through the list of classes available and selecting ones I wanted to take - for my major, to be able to register for higher level courses in the future or just because I thought they sounded interesting. But when I got to campus and had my meeting with my advisor, I found out that every class I’d selected was full. So, I ended up in absolutely random classes, worried about how they would be and how it would affect my academic...

While I enjoy winter in Ann Arbor, it does get very cold; and many students who are from a warmer climate find the winter temperatures unbearable.  As a result, it is important to dress warmly, especially if you plan on being outside for a period of time. Below are several clothing suggestions that will help keep you warm in the winter.  1. Dress in layers: One of the most important things to remember is to always dress in layers during the winter.  It will help keep you warm when the temperature goes below freezing.  For instance, wear a tank top that you can tuck into your pants under a long sleeve shirt.  Remember to wear something under your jeans such as thermal underwear, leggings, tights, long john’s (the male equivalent to leggings), pajamas, sweats, or anything that you can fit underneath your jeans.  Also wearing two layers of socks is helpful if you don’t want to buy thicker socks made of wool.     ...