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 this next blog post below from Oscar ’26 where he shares spending the day with his homestay family while reflecting on Shanghai’s modernity, the pressures of academic life in China, and the simple joys of sharing meals, games, and meaningful conversations with family.
Day 6 of our trip to China is perhaps the most nuanced, as this Sunday is the day that we get to spend with our host family. I personally awoke, later than usual, to the sound of thunderous rain, an almost welcome change to the unrelenting heat of the past week. After a restful night, my host family had prepared fried eggs and steamed buns for breakfast, before we headed to a nearby mall. Driving over, through both observation and conversation with my host family, I learned about and was taken aback by the modernity of certain aspects of Shanghai. My host brother explained to me that Shanghai is home to a large number of car factories and dealerships. As a result of this focus on transportation, Shanghai’s cars appear newer and are mostly electric. After perusing the mall, we settled on a restaurant, where I had hotpot for the first time. While enjoying our food, we compared and contrasted school and college experiences in China and America. Despite the importance of tests like the SAT and ACT in America, I learned that these tests are not quite at vital to college admission as the 高考 in China. My homestay family discussed the pressures that many students in China felt, and the mental health struggles that they faced as a result, serving as a reminder that while tests and grades are important, little things like going out for lunch with your family and having fun are equally important. We continued to explore the mall, taking in the impressive and slightly bizarre advertising and decorations. Upon returning home, I learned how to make tea, after which we enjoyed dinner with some family friends and played a Chinese variation of poker before turning in for bed.
Sending Love from Shanghai,
Oscar ’26
