(An average day)

By Amanda Thorogood

It’s a little past nine in the morning and like most students at Rider, Xiaoqian “Joyce” Ni gets out of bed and heads for the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

By 10 a.m., she sits at the computer checking e-mails, looking over a take-home test, and talking on AOL Instant Messenger. Preoccupied with the tasks she is currently juggling, Joyce’s attention is quickly caught by the hissing of the water boiler on top of her mini-fridge. She bolts to the other side of the room, turns off the kettle and returns to her computer forgetting why she had boiled the water in the first place.

Like a typical residence hall room, there is a hamper full of clothes, a row of assorted boots and flip-flops lined under the bed along with shopping bags from Express, Macy’s and Sephora.

“I love to shop,” she said. “I take the shuttle to the mall at least once a week.”

Joyce, who is originally from China, is part of the international program with Sanda University, finds that luxury items are a lot easier to come by and a lot less expensive in America than back in China.

“We have tax and tariffs of probably 200 percent back home,” she explained. “So I always send my friends make-up that is too expensive in China.”

A few moments later she has ditched the idea of tea completely and opens a Pepsi she pulled out from underneath her desk.

“I like these,” she said. “I drink probably at least six a day.”

Since Jan. 18, Joyce has been a graduate finance major at Rider trying to master a school schedule, a social life and seeing as much of America as she can before she returns back home this time next year.

“On my second day here it snowed so much they cancelled class,” she remembered. “I was so excited. I had never seen anything like it before.”

Originally from Shanghai, Joyce is part of the group at Rider she jokingly refers to as “cohort 1.5.”

By 11 a.m., Joyce is on the phone with Maggie, another Sanda student and one of Joyce’s closest friends, making plans for lunch. The young women who were classmates in China spent the Thanksgiving break in New York City.

“We didn’t go to the parade because it was raining that day,” Joyce said. “But we did go shopping. We shopped every day we were there.”

Before heading out to lunch, Joyce chooses to put off her work and instead looks at some pictures from her spring break Florida trip. After going to Disney World, Joyce found a new passion: thrill rides.

“I went on the Tower of Terror twice,” she said. “Then, in the summer we all went to Six Flags. I have been on Nitro, Batman and Superman. I like these rides.”

Now, Maggie has called again and Joyce heads downstairs to meet her and go to Daly’s. Joyce settles on a sweet potato, salad, fried noodles, her second Pepsi of the day and chicken noodle soup.

“I love chicken noodle soup,” she said.

Another Sanda student, Raul, who will return to China next week, joins Joyce and Maggie.

“I am so jealous of him,” Joyce said, “I want to go back too.”

The group talks about Raul’s internship and their own future prospects.

“I don’t know what my internship will be,” Joyce said. “Rider will take good care of that.”

After finishing the potato and a good portion of the soup, Joyce runs her fork through the fried noodles. With a look of disgust, she takes melon from Maggie’s plate instead and the two agree that the food they ate in New York, especially in Chinatown, was much better.

“It tasted so good, and was so cheap there too,” Joyce said.
Joyce said Chinese food around Rider doesn’t taste anything like the food she has back home.

“But at least it is better than Daly’s,” Raul added.

Joyce’s afternoon plans include once again looking at the take-home test and admits she will probably have another Pepsi. Afterward she walks to mail services to send boxes of cosmetics she has recently bought to friends back home.

Next, Joyce gets ready for her job, working at the front desk in her residence hall, and talks
about what school was like for her at Sanda.

At her hometown university, there are typically four people to a room. Students are documented if they are seen drinking or smoking and a river separates male and female student residence halls.

“I think it is ridiculous,” she said.

Joyce and her friends often find it difficult to travel to the area around Rider. Without a car they must rely on public transportation.

“Sometimes we go to Wal-Mart for things, we go to the mall, and we go into Princeton a lot too,” she said. “We go for Chinese food or to Tomo’s for sushi.”

But what is on her mind the most, besides the six term papers she has to write before next week, is the trip she and Maggie will take over winter break.

“We are going to be in Las Vegas for Christmas and then will fly to San Diego and Los Angeles,” Joyce said. “I am excited but think I will be very tired. It is a lot to see in just seven days.”