China. It didn’t seem real. As the plane landed, the grogginess of my jet lag, slowly faded away. Am I really here? Is this really where I will be for the next semester? Waves of anticipation and nausea hit me, making my stomach churn. The weeks of preparation and studying, slowly vanished as I took in my surroundings. Swarms of people filled the airport, some visitors, some coming back home. As I sat in the bus, going to what will be my new campus, I felt overwhelmed with sensations. There was so much to look at, so much to do, and so many people to meet. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I felt the excitement of not knowing what was waiting around the corner, where tomorrow would take me. After being in Beijing for a week, I have realized that nothing could’ve prepared me for this wonderful and always surprising country. Its been only a week, and I have slowly realized how little I know of this country. Everyday is a new adventure. Last weekend, I went tea tasting, and tried almost 40 cups of different teas. The next day I went to a karaoke bar with Chinese students, and sang Taylor Swift. The following day, I had to pantomime to a desk receptionist in order to get my mail. It is so surprising how different, and yet how familiar China can be. There isn’t one moment of my day, that I’m not experiencing or having another adventure. Just surviving in this country i.e speaking and talking with people, ordering food, taking the bus, buying school supplies, provides new and exciting challenges. Even something so small as doing laundry, is an experience in China. I can’t say that China is anything that I expected it to be, in fact most things are not what I expected. I can say, however, that studying abroad in China, so far, has been the one of the best and most exciting decisions in my life. I look forward to sharing the rest of my journey with you.
Until then, 再见!
This is the first American edition of Anderson’s fascinating account of Britain’s first diplomatic mission to China in 1792. By the end of the eighteenth century the East India Company had been trading with Chinese merchants for two hundred years, but in a strictly limited way.
At the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, as the 18th century drew to a close, the Western world was eager for knowledge—driven by a philosophical movement that championed reason and science. King Louis XV of France asked for the advice of his trusted Minister of State, Henri Bertin, about how to reform the spirit of the nation, after giving it some thought, Bertin famously responded, “Sire, to inoculate the French with the Chinese spirit.”