A journey through the Silk Road
AUGUST 23: Beijing to Lanzhou
It took 20,000 steps and 100 flights of steps, but I made it to the top of the temple. After the climb, seeing the sunset over the city was absolutely breathtaking.
I had the opportunity to volunteer at 365 Sunshine Children’s Health Care Center. It was an amazing opportunity as it helped me realize how blessed I truly am. 365 Sunshine Children’s Health Care Center consisted of many children with physical or mental disabilities. Even though they might have looked different, they were still children. Children who like to laugh, run around with others, and sleep.
Chinese is obviously a very hard language to learn. Yet it is still amazing how much one can progress in just one semester in Beijing. One of the reasons students are able to progress so fast is because TBC gives every student a Chinese tutor. The tutors are all students at TBC’s host university, University of International Business and Economics.
During the closing ceremony for the spring 2015 semester, TBC’s Dean of Academics and Faculty, Russell Moses, addressed the students for a final time. When thanking certain faculty members, Dean Moses described TBC’s Academic Advisor, Fr. Eugene Geinzer, SJ as “the heart of TBC.” In my opinion, this could not be a more accurate statement.
In my opinion, one of the best parts about living at the University of International Business and Economics, TBC’s host university, is the street right outside of campus’s East Gate. Every night from about 6-10pm, the street is always bustling with street vendors and a myriad of delicious restaurants. If you are looking for a small snack or full meal, the options are endless.
Living with a Chinese roommate during the spring ’15 semester was one of my favorite aspects of TBC. My roommate and I became extremely close by the end of the semester. It was sad to move out once the semester ended, however my summer internship at TBC has given me a new living experience: living with a host family.
My study abroad experience in Beijing was, at the very least, everything I could have hoped for. About midway through the semester, I decided that four months would not be enough time in China and I quickly started to make plans of staying in China this summer. After struggling to find a suitable internship or housing, I was fortunately given the opportunity to stay at TBC and be the Social Media and Communications Intern this summer.
At TBC, classes are scheduled very simply: aside from Chinese classes, each class is held just once a week, for two hours and forty-five minutes. The time slots are 1:30–4:15pm, 4:30–7:15pm, and 7:30–10:15pm. While two and a half hours may seem like a really long time to sit in class, every professor is understanding about giving one or two breaks per class period so we can breathe and talk and hang out for a little bit.
During a two-week break from Beijing and classwork I experienced the incredible diversity of China’s southwestern Yunnan province. I bonded with my fellow TBC students while there. We were brought together through an extraordinary and trying experience. During our orientation the week prior, TBC staff told us that our time in Yunnan would be challenging. I think this is an apt word, because traveling through Yunnan was no walk in the park. We spent 60 hours in transit, over the course of two weeks, by bus mainly. We visited and stayed in five different villages; we met the Yi people, the Hani, the Dai, the Tibetans, and the Naxi.
It is a privilege to study here; I feel truly honored and humbled by my first several weeks in China. I have been so hospitably received that I feel that 对外经贸大学 (University of International Business and Economics) has already become my home. These past weeks in China I have experienced new things every minute of every day.