This summer, 10 students and two faculty members are traveling to China to enhance their Chinese language skills while experiencing the country’s vast and diverse cultural landscape. Please enjoy the third blog post below from Zariah ’27 about a day of challenging yet exciting tasks, group bonding, and flavor!
The jet lag has worn off and now it’s time for breakfast, my host family greeted me with so much food. (which is by the way, my favorite part of Chinese culture) Our first day of classes began from learning new words to teaching dances. It was all unforgettable. The grand architectural buildings, learning and seeing the futuristic city plans led to many comedic comments and wonderful connections.
The goal of not getting lost or walking too slow fresh on our minds from start to finish.
For many of us, task #1 our first solo trip to the East China Normal University was surprisingly straightforward, obviously helped by the group singing. Everybody made it in one piece. At 9 o’clock the fun began. We learned many new words and tried our best to honor our pledge of only speaking Chinese. Task #2 we then tried to retrace yesterday steps to find the dining hall we failed… but found a better one. We had some really good Boba and food that we renamed as Chinese Chipotle. Honestly, much better and I’m pretty sure the fact that it was only about 4USD made it taste even better. The lunch table laughter brought some serious problems to our attention, as we discovered Isaac’s inability to use chopsticks. Task #3 was to return in one piece to Ms. Kelly. After lunch we battled the streets of Shanghai and once again we were challenged. Nonetheless seven minutes later the afternoon’s festivities began. Task #4 stay together and don’t get lost. After weaving through the locals on the street and in the subways and competing to speak to the most people -I won with a whopping two people. Speaking of the subway – it is much cleaner and civilized than New York. Task #5 learn something cool. Though we had been completing this task all day, arriving at the Shanghai Urban Museum and seeing 3-D sculptures representing new technological advancements the city plans to make definitely sealed the deal. Let’s just say if you want a good efficient future learn Chinese and move here before it’s too late. We then struggled with a scavenger hunt. Task # 6 find The Bund. When I say struggled you may think there were many steps involved, but in reality, there were three whole steps…yes, only three.
Our scavenger hunt ended with a very informative car ride back to the university during which we talked about our childhood and various musical lessons. Though we’re still learning the ropes of WeChat, our new version of Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Messages all in one, we all successfully texted our families to figure out what time we should be back for dinner. When we arrived back at ECNU, we looked away for one second and suddenly we were one man down, after many laughs and a quickly walking Cam we were back to our scheduled programming. We had a brief end of day talk before exiting together to find our way home. Let’s hope I can make enough room in my stomach for all this amazing food.
China is teaching us so much—about history, resilience, and flavor. So. Much. Flavor. Every day, I’m falling more in love with the culture, the energy, and the kindness of the people around us.
This trip isn’t just sightseeing and photos. It’s learning how to listen to a place, how to appreciate its rhythm, and how to find home in a place so far away.
Can’t wait for what tomorrow holds (and for the next five meals).
Until then,
Zariah
