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A Conversation with Prof. Stephan Steinke

Time：2021-06-16　　

  Prof. Stephan from Germany joined DGO in 2016. After a period of work and life here, he believed that Xiamen is the best place in China.

1) What attracted you most to apply for the position at Xiamen University?
  
First of all, I saw the position as a great chance for a permanent appointment, after all these years of temporary (1-2 years) contracts. In addition, I got attracted by the fact that the Department of Geological Oceanography at Xiamen University is a newly established department and I like the idea to bring in my expertise and experiences, helping to develop a world-class program in Geological Oceanography at Xiamen University.

 
                                             
2) What were some of the professional challenges you faced starting your position in the DGO, how did you overcome these challenges?
  
For sure the language. In order to overcome the language problem, the College supported me with an assistant who helped me to understand e-mail announcements and with the translation of documents, communicated with salesmen to order equipment and furniture to set up the office and the lab, etc., as well as helped to find an apartment.
                  
 
3) Can you tell us a little about your experience living in Xiamen?
  
Xiamen is a pleasant city. It’s location at the sea makes Xiamen extra attractive with nice beaches and bicycle paths along the seaside. The public transportation system is very good and most places can be easily reached by bus. Literally, no car is needed in this town. Most places can be reached by bicycle as well. More and more Chinese restaurants have bilingual menus which makes it relatively easy for non-chinese speaking people to visit restaurants. Supermarkets are offering local as well as western products. It’s possible to survive in Xiamen with some basic Chinese. The people of Xiamen are always helpful and even with language barriers it’s possible to communicate and get along, and modern techniques like google translator are doing the rest.