Experience of a lifetime, best thing I have ever done, second home. These are the words I choose to use when telling you about my study abroad experience.
For the better part of four months I lived with a host family and completed a language intensive program (IES Beijing) in Beijing. This country gets a bad rap because of its outrageously large and dense population, pollution, nd some political views.
While studying abroad in China my eyes were opened to a new world, one where personal freedoms, open space, education and everyday joys were not taken for granted. The massive development China had in recent years has given way to a higher standard of living among its citizens and the realization by the international community that this once isolated culture is ready to do business.
My friends and I would talk about how China seems to be a last frontier in many sorts. A place that is very developed and modern yet the customs and society completely different from the U.S. and many European countries.
The two main highlights of my trip were living with a host mother and father who were both retired and 61 years old, and being treated like a rock star. Living with a host family was one of the most memorable experiences. My family was ideal. They had a 28 year-old daughter who was studying in the United States leaving them with an extra room that I lived in.
Upon arrival, they said I was their new son and their apartment was now my apartment. Hearing exactly what I had hoped before meeting my host parents, I was hit with the living space of my new home. “The average living space per person in urban China is 18.2 square meters or 195.903 square feet”(www.bjinvest.gov.) For Halls residents, that is the size of your dorm room. My house was roughly the size of three J-MAC dorm rooms. This allowed for very cozy relations with my family. However, being used to Colorado open space I often felt smothered or overwhelmed. My appreciation for space has grown immensely. I keep in contact with my host family and before leaving felt like I was saying goodbye to my second family.
My second most memorable experience was how I was treated being a white 6’1″ American male. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any American characteristics and you go to China you will be treated first class, VIP all the way. I was amazed with how people on the street would just wander up and ask to take a picture or maybe try a few English words out they had been practicing.
The warm-hearted environment of the Beijing people was more than welcoming to me as well as my 76-year-old grandmother who came over to visit. Currently many Chinese citizens idolize the American living standard and hope for their children to have the amazing opportunities that many of us take for granted every day.
This amazing experience was more than educational but life changing. I hope to return to my second home and family in the near future and will never forget the impact that this experience has had on my life.
