Students immersed in Chinese culture

by Josephine Huang-Yeh

A reflection on the summer study abroad experience in China.
Ten students and two chaperones took a 17-day “Journey to the East” when they visited China in May. We visited five major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Nanjing and Hangzhou, visited 38 historical sites, including the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Terra Cotta, West lake, Song Dynasty Kiln Museum, and surely our favorite Panda House to watch adorable pandas eating bamboos. We also spent one week for the student exchange program in Experimental School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, including an immersion classroom learning and a full spectrum of homestay experiences.
 
“USN enabled me to be more than just a tourist, do more than just go passing through. I was empowered and encouraged to engage, contemplate and question. I was inspired to step out of my comfort zone, make mistakes and look at China once more with an open mind and heart,” said Lauryn Cravens.
 
During the week, students took Chinese language classes, arts and crafts, poems and poetry, martial arts, and calligraphy. In addition, students took three challenging tasks in research projects and presented their findings on the last day of school by speaking only in Chinese.
 
“This was an incredible experience that I will not forget. Some highlights of this trip for me were the incredible Chinese food, visit to the places that we talked about in my AP Chinese class and being able to interact with Chinese people,” said Matthis Leblanc.
 
Our hosting families treated our students with world-class hospitality, cooked, washed, took our students to school as well as picked us up each day from school; all with their sacrificial love and means, and sent us off with abundant gifts, love and precious memory that will last a lifetime.
 
“Mrs. Li, my homestay mom, noticed that I loved the spicy noodles that she cooked for breakfast, so she woke up at 5 a.m. on the day I left the school to cook the same noodle dish so that I could have a tasty last breakfast in Nanjing. Also, on the night before I left, the little sister gave me her favorite stuffed panda bear as a present so I would not forget my visit to Nanjing. These small actions of dedication and hospitality made me realize that although these people have likely never seen a westerner and are most likely intimidated by the thought of one living in their home, they are willing to put all apprehensions aside and make this person feel at home,” said Sam Horner.
 
“This summer trip was incredibly amazing. Every single part of it was so cool and unique. I feel like I learned more about Chinese culture and their way of like at my homestay house than I could have anywhere else in the world. I walked to school with my homestay friend and got to feel what it was like to be a student in China,” said George Owen.
 
This trip not only sharpened students’ language skills in an immersion environment but also deepened their understanding with appreciation Chinese history, customs and culture.
 
We also observed the growth in China’s slowed down economy. People were genuine, thoughtful, made us welcomed everywhere we went, reaching out to us whenever there was a need, from the tour bus driver to the highway policeman when our charter bus broke down in the middle of the highway to Shanghai, to the clerk in the customs who found the lost cell phone for one of our students, to the tour guide who waited for hours in the airport of Beijing when there were 339 flights canceled before ours due to inclement weather condition.
 
“I’m also very proud of the effort I put in to improve my Chinese over the course of this trip and now I feel more prepared and excited for Chinese 4 than I did at the end of the year. This trip also helped to cement my knowledge about ancient Chinese architecture and to improve it. Even though I’d researched the topic before the trip, I’d had no idea that literally everything about an ancient building in China had some sort of meaning. I’d had no idea that the topic George and I had chosen a month or so before this trip was as rich and information-filled as it turned out to be,” said Katie Watke.
 
We all went to China with the excitement and returned with a transformed heart for the culture and people. With the highest gratitude, we want to thank Vince Durnan, Xiu Cravens, Steve Robins, Jeff Greenfield, Teresa Standard, Anne Westfall, and all the patrons and parents who support us through the Global Education Fund and Summer Grants to make this dreamed trip come true. The China trip is conducted every two years. The next trip will be in 2018.
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