Everyone goes into study abroad looking to get different things out of it. Among many other experiences, I came to China hoping to test my independence a bit. I went to college 40 minutes away from where I’d lived my whole life and never traveled outside of North America until this year. I don’t think I’d ever gone a full two months without seeing my family, so while I was excited to see them I was a little worried their visit would detract from my experience of trying to be abroad on my own. Little did I know the biggest test of my independence in Beijing would come on the weekend they were here.
Before my arrival in Beijing, I didn’t know a word of Mandarin. Luckily, I quickly found Chinese-speaking friends in the program. The only downside to that was that I never went anywhere at all without at least one of them. This was necessary at first, but my family’s visit forced me to try to get around by myself. In order to show them around and take them to some of my favorite places, I would have to be able to direct taxis, bargain and buy things, ask where things were, and order food and drinks in restaurants, and I surprised myself with how comfortable I felt with all of this. I found I was completely capable of getting around and even holding a simple conversation with a taxi driver on my way back to Tsinghua one night, which was awesome for me. Both in our Chinese classrooms and out with friends, I think we’ve all learned a lot more than we realize, and I’m sure we’ll find once we return that this was a very valuable eight weeks!
