Maya Lewis-Hayre ’20 , David Vasquez ’19, Josephine Hong ’19, Revant Kantamneni ’20, Sarah Gurevitch ’19, Kaleah Haddock’19, and Nate White ’20 with their host at the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum in Xian.
Having been abroad in China for just about four weeks now, the transition process has come to a close as I have welcomed in a new way of daily life. At first, I was shocked by the ten hours of Chinese class a week and very little American food, but this was soon overshadowed by a loving host family and exciting field trips and weekend outings. Slowly and surely I have learned my way around the city of Beijing with the help of the subway system and my handy-dandy Beijing metro app, saving me from getting lost among the masses of people, except for just one situation that we’ll pretend to ignore. My use of translators has finally started to lessen as I rely more on my Chinese vocabulary in conversations with my teachers and host family. New customs have formed: a fork and knife begin to feel foreign in my hands and grabbing my facemask before I rush out the door each morning has become a habit just like brushing my teeth. In the process, I’ve accepted and learned to embrace an entirely new culture with the support of the now tightly-knit group of six Choate students who have joined me on this thrilling journey.
Since I’m only in my second year of Chinese, immersing myself in a language I’m not very familiar with came as a culture shock. Experiencing an entirely different language and culture is very overwhelming at times, but the experience thus far has brought so many memories and has allowed my Chinese to catapult beyond what I thought possible. My larger understanding of China itself and the daily life of people in Beijing has blossomed, something I never would have experienced if I were not here on term abroad in China. As I learn about China’s dynasties throughout the centuries and forms of Chinese traditional art and read literature from China’s cultural revolution, I have started to understand the very complex history and culture the Chinese language envelops. My host family certainly helps with this realization. Living my day-to-day life with a family in Beijing has pushed me far beyond what a typical Beijing tourist encounters. I now feel like a temporary resident of China, rather than the visitor I felt like the first day I arrived. I have made Beijing my home and have found a family not only with my hosts, but also with my Choate peers with whom I’ve shared many laughs and experiences with.
Aside from the usual school day and my homework, my peers and I have bargained at the Silk Market, sang some Michael Jackson at the karaoke night we arranged, and have tried many different food delicacies like Beijing roast duck and chicken feet. Just this past week, the seven of us have embarked on our one week excursion to Xi’an, Shangri La, and Hong Kong, during which we enjoyed a variety of activities such as joining a Tibetan Dance circle, biking the 13-kilometer city wall of Xi’an, exploring the three pits of Terra-Cotta Warriors, and hiking to observe the golden monkeys in their natural habitat. Our trip is still in progress as I am writing this article: we will soon board our flight to Hong Kong, the final leg of our trip. We just visited Shangri La where we stayed with the China Exploration and Research Society (CERS) and were so fortunate to stay in the traditional lodging of the Lisu people, allowing us to hike and observe the golden monkey and visit Damo Cave, a sacred site for Tibetan Buddhists. Before Shangri La, we were in Xi’an, where we were able to attend a dumpling banquet accompanied with an evening show like a dinner theatre as well as go to the countryside and learn about life in the Huxian County.
It still feels as though my time in China has just started, and the list of all I want to do while I’m here is not even close to being fully completed. The offerings of Beijing, China will continue to bring more experiences and memories, as well as probably another karaoke night in the near future. As I reach the halfway point here in my term abroad, I feel my transition and adjustment has ended as my host family and the six Choate peers in this journey have become my family.
