China Study Abroad, Summer 2014
HUM2410 (Asian Humanities)
Dr. Li Ren-Kaplan
During the summer of 2014, I attended a study abroad trip to China with Santa Fe College. This was my first experience abroad, and the time I spent there had a significant impact on the way I view myself and the world. I sat in lectures in a Chinese university. I rode a bicycle on the old City Wall in Xi’an. I had my picture taken with tourists at the Summer Palace and Forbidden City. I stayed in a youth hostel in Shanghai, where I walked along the Bund and visited the Yuyuan Gardens. One of the very first sites we visited was the Great Wall at Badaling. On the way there, our professor told us, “There are two options; you can go right or you can you left. To the right is easier - but much more crowded. To the left is slightly more difficult, but there won’t be as many people.” I thought, okay, I’ll take the left, of course. I expected a relatively leisurely stroll across an old wall. I was utterly unprepared. Within fifteen minutes I was gasping for breath. I made it to one of the first towers and promptly sank to the ground. It was breezy and cool due to the altitude, but I was sweaty and I could feel the sun beating down on my face and neck. My water bottle was already halfway empty. I couldn’t believe it. After resting for a few minutes, I decided I had to keep going. After all, I was on the Great Wall of China! I couldn’t give up so soon! Besides, ahead of me was a group of old Chinese tourists leaning on canes. I wouldn’t let myself be outpaced by senior citizens. I resolved to reach the highest tower I could see and began moving forward again, albeit a bit more slowly and carefully this time.
Rather than focusing on that tower, which seemed impossibly far away, I set a goal to get to the top of the staircase in front of me. Then I set a goal to reach the end of the subsequent passage. At one point I had to use a handrail to pull myself up a steep incline. At another, I climbed up the steps using my hands. Every so often I would look up at the tower, and each time I was surprised at how much closer it was. I began to worry about having strength for the climb back down. My lungs burned. My legs trembled. I looked up at the old folks in front of me; they were hardly breaking a sweat. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. The last few steps were the hardest. I staggered up to the tower and peeked out a window. The view was incredible! The Wall snaked across the mountains far into the distance. I couldn’t believe how far I was from where I started. I was proud that I hadn’t given up earlier, and risked missing out on that sight. Throughout my time in China, I remembered this day as I encountered other situations with new obstacles. As my assumptions about myself and China were challenged, I found myself forced to reevaluate my expectations.In order to adjust I had to learn how to modify my behavior. I had to approach situations from a different perspective. I had to focus on accomplishing small goals in the face of - sometimes overwhelming - tasks. I had to be open to everything as a learning experience. Yet, over time, I grew to have greater confidence in my ability to navigate independently despite the cultural and communication barriers.
The days I spent in Beijing were packed full of activities. I attended lectures on Chinese folk art and religion at Beijing Union University. I sat in on a calligraphy class taught entirely in Mandarin, translated into English by students standing off to the side. I visited the National Museum and discussed thousands-year-old artifacts with my classmates. I wandered around the Forbidden City, where twenty-four emperors had lived out their lives. At the Temple of Heaven, I saw young couples taking wedding photos where those emperors had prayed for good harvests. I watched people burning incense and offering gifts to altars at Yonghegong, a Buddhist temple. Every moment of every day, I faced something new, different, and unexpected. Along the way, I was confronted by challenges that helped me develop confidence in handling new situations. For example, after going out to explore one night, some of us found ourselves forced to figure out the subway system on our own after things didn’t quite go according to plan. We had left the hotel as a large group. It was our first time riding the subway in Beijing, and we were led by a few of the Chinese students. As we descended the steps into the subway station, I was struck by how frantically busy it was. The whole journey was a blur, as we rushed from one train to the next, pushed through crowds, and ran up and down stairs. It seemed overwhelmingly complicated.
Later that night, our large group dwindled as others ventured off together, until only a few of us remained. Eventually, the three of us decided that we would just have to take our chances with the subway before it closed. I had my doubts - I had never navigated a subway on my own before in the U.S., let alone China! Fortunately, I had snagged a map with of the subway routes earlier and people on the street pointed us in the direction of the station’s entrance. We got our tickets without much difficulty. With only a few minutes of consulting one of the large maps on display, we recognized the station closest to our hotel and figured out at which junctures we would need to transfer. Colored arrows on the floor helpfully guided us toward the right trains, and after some time, we returned to the hotel victoriously. I never again felt unsure about navigating the subway, and this experience gave me the confidence to travel around the city without having to depend on a guide.
Situations like this really forced me out of my comfort zone. I learned that it’s okay to be uncomfortable, nervous, or embarrassed, as long as you don’t let it restrict you. It’s okay to make mistakes because that’s how you learn. Studying in China was different than studying in Florida, because at home I more or less knew how to get through the day. I knew what to expect when I walked out of the house. In China, I didn’t have that luxury. I had to work through the doubt, and that challenge is a large part of what made the experience so meaningful for me. I realized if I was too shy to ask a stranger for directions, or too embarrassed to order in broken Chinese, I would never get far. After resolving to move forward through the uncomfortableness, I began to feel more confident in myself and my ability to adapt with each passing day.
Something else I began to understand on the trip is the impact of learning from a cultural context. Suddenly, what we discussed in class wasn’t some vague idea of a far away place that had no bearing on my life. It was up close and personal. It became real. We discussed Chinese Buddhism, and then we visited a Buddhist temple and interacted with monks at altars. The impact this type of hands-on learning provides cannot be compared to learning from a textbook in a classroom a thousand miles away. Along similar lines, my time in China helped me overcome relying on stereotypes to assess other people or customs. This is only possible by having your assumptions challenged on a daily basis, because it forces you to think critically as you trust your own experiences over outside representations. Relying on stereotypes is a shortcut to thinking. This is a perspective I truly believe goes along with studying abroad. Now that I’ve been exposed to Chinese culture and people firsthand, I feel I’ve gained a far more concrete understanding of the country. I have been taking Mandarin language courses and attending China-related lectures and events since my return home. I find myself paying closer attention when related topics come up in the news, class, and casual conversation. It really does “exist” for me, and what happens to China in the future will exist as well. There were a lot of things to which I was unaccustomed, including the difference in personal space, the traffic, the public bathrooms and toilets, and how to haggle over prices. One thing that was particularly difficult for me to adapt to at first was learning how to cope with the stress of being in that unfamiliar environment. Being abroad is both incredible and exhausting. After a few days I really began to notice changes in my behavior and the behavior of my companions. We were less patient and more easily annoyed. I had to force myself to slow down and give myself time to relax. It made me realize that if I want to live or even work abroad for an extended period of time in the future, it’s very important to recognize when I’m feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, and know how to ease those stresses.
I contribute all of my greatest success at Santa Fe College to my experience studying abroad. Reflected in all of my achievements are both the lessons I learned and the new perspectives I gained from my time in China. As a result of this experience, I have grown to be a more dedicated student, leader, and human being. I have a far greater confidence in myself and my future than ever before, and the passion I have developed for international education provides purposeful focus to both my studies and my life.
