When I received the housing questionnaire to apply for what housing I wanted for the next year of my life in Beijing, I immediately checked that I wanted a Chinese roommate. What a great opportunity to practice my language skills and learn about Chinese culture, I thought to myself as I considered the pros and cons of my choice despite the fact that my mind was made up.
Why CHINA?!” That was a question I got asked quite often before my year abroad. It is a question the Dean of Students asked me on the first day of orientation. It is also a question that I never really had a satisfying answer for. I hadn’t spent my youth dreaming of climbing the Great Wall, nor had I had a burning passion for studying Mandarin. Heck, pandas aren’t even my favorite animals. The question was usually followed up with polite enthusiasm and worry about my well being.
Although to the best of my knowledge none of this year’s Ricci class has any actual ancestors buried in China, we did visit something of an honorary ancestor: Matteo Ricci. Over the last year we’ve traced his life, voyaging from Rome to Beijing, seeking fame, fortune and adventure (or at least successful research projects). Thus, it was fitting that we should pay our respects at his grave in Beijing over the Tomb Sweeping Day (清明节, Qingming Jie) weekend.
For many years now, I have been building up a bucket list. Learn Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Gaelic, Portuguese, etc. Go to every Disney Park in the world. See the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Eat at restaurant in France that has three Michelin Stars. The list keeps growing with each passing day and I wonder if I will ever complete it; however, just recently, I checked a big one off that list on my trip to Xi’An (西安): I saw Emperor Qin’s Terra Cotta Army (秦陵兵马俑).
“The way of looking at the world can be so different, and there isn’t one right way. There is a beauty in the other, and there is a beauty in the Chinese way of approaching life.” – Jim Caime
Although I’d always considered myself a city person, coming to Beijing was my first encounter with a public transportation system of this size. Minneapolis has a fairly decent bus system and recently added a new line to the light rail, but compared to the double decker buses and sprawling subway system of Beijing, Minneapolis seems incredibly small.
2016 is the year of the monkey and London held quite a celebration for this Chinese New Year. People of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance and it was exciting to experience the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia. With events being held in Trafalgar Square and nearby China Town there was an abundance of things to see and do, as people rang in the new year.
The Beijing Center takes students on a two-week excursion every semester. In the fall, students travel the route of the Silk Road; in the spring, students travel around the Yunnan Province. Yunnan means “south of the clouds” and its weather is known as being eternal spring. It’s the furthest province south in China, bordering Myanmar and Burma. I’ll be writing about my day to day experiences and perceptions of China for the next two weeks of my excursion travels.
Being in Beijing for the past two weeks has been quite an experience! After getting off our 13-hour flight and getting through customs we hopped on the bus and headed to UIBE (University of International Business and Economics) in Beijing. Since it was dark out, it was hard to make out the details of the city, but it was intriguing to see the night light of Beijing with street vendors and tons of motorcyclists weaving through people and traffic.
The best way to learn about another culture is to walk in its shoes. There is no greater way to understand another culture without submersing yourself fully into its environment. The opportunity to study abroad will be a life changing and benefiting experience, where you will bring back cultural knowledge to help our nation better understand the world.