Hello everyone! For all of the fans that I must have accumulated throughout the summer, I apologize for not keeping up to date with my blog. I managed to always write small notes on my phone whenever I had the time to think about what to write each week, but somehow never managed to bring it all together in one cohesive post. So I plan on writing one long post, breaking it up by the last three weeks and how I felt during those.
Week 4:
This week was the week of our midterm. (From my notes on this week):”Well, today we had our midterm and I am currently on a train going to Datong. We’re going to Datong for a weekend trip outing as a school group. As I ‘m writing this, I’m lying down in between two beds, one that’s above me and another that is below me. It’s actually the most bizarre feeling, actually, and kind of as if I am living out a dream. I think it’s because I remember in such vivid detail reading over railway cars that had beds in the for a Chinese class at Williams and remember imagining what that would be like. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be able to experience that myself. I also remember learning my favorite vocab word during that class (呼噜呼噜）and couldn’t stop reminiscing those times while riding on the train. It’s honestly not a bad way to travel at all, especially when going as a group. I feel pretty bad for the rest of the car honestly, because the ACC program students pretty much dominated the train car. Apart from the 火车 experience, Datong on the whole was a pretty great trip.”
I got the opportunity to experience a different Chinese city, that didn’t have as many people or tourists on the whole. I definitely got so many pictures taken of me by strangers during that time, but it was a good time. We managed to see the world’s oldest pagoda and Datong’s hanging monastery.
Week 5:
I feel as if the majority of my blogs really only highlight my weekend experiences because my week day experiences are rather bland and boring. I’ve definitely gotten accustomed to the class structure and the work which is expected of me, but still feel like I haven’t gotten the best grip on it yet. This week was pretty jam packed I think, because that Friday we actually ended up going to a nursing home and singing/performing in front of a group of elderly people. I wish we had stayed for longer than we did, but I could tell that it definitely would have been more of a hassle than beneficial. That Friday we also had the chance to watch a play, and while I actually didn’t understand any of it, it was extremely fascinating to see different styles of acting/performance. I thought it was a lovely piece of work, but definitely felt like I couldn’t appreciate it as much because I couldn’t entirely understand. That weekend, I also met up with my Chinese host family to go and visit a 胡同, which was actually my first time visiting one. I was truly taken aback by how beautiful that place was, and hard to imagine that it was actually a living area for families years before. It was such a lively area, filled with shops and stores, (and definitely with a lot of other 外国人) but was such a treat to see. I managed to buy a couple of souvenirs for my family, since the end was starting to feel near, and this was a pretty great place to do it. I definitely began to miss home a little during this time period and began to feel a little bit emotionally exhausted with not being able to fully express myself in Chinese, but after talking to other students, I think it was a feeling that we were all beginning to get.
Week 6:
Now to the most current week! I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this week. I definitely think that I have gotten a little more tired of the program and am super excited about the idea of going home. That is not at all to say that I haven’t enjoyed my time here–because I honestly truly have had the most wonderful experience here. China is full of such rich culture that I honestly wouldn’t have understood otherwise if I hadn’t lived and experienced it myself. I think that the issue is, is that this program is true to what they warn: very tiring and intense. Honestly, I think it’s even more intense than Williams in some aspects. Because ACC does a wonderful job of planning out so many different activities for its students, I often find myself going through a weekend without taking a single break/ time for myself. I’m either out going to the Forbidden city for a weekend, or spending time with my Chinese host family, or some other event that doesn’t leave much room for anything else. While that definitely takes advantage of my time here, it also tires me out, leaving me tired before the week even begins. That’s why this weekend, while some people decided to travel to Qingdao, my friend and I decided to stay in and do absolutely nothing this weekend. And honestly, that was the b e s t choice I could’ve made. I slept in for so long, I chatted with her about different things, and it was just a very rejuvenating experience. It reminded me of the importance of self-care and self-healing and how we really do rely on self care to do our day to day activities. I think I’ll head into these last two weeks at ACC with a much stronger ambition and hopefully have a strong end to a very rewarding 8 weeks.
Thanks for making it this far 🙂
1st picture: Datong
2nd picture: Me at the nursing home
3rd picture: Play we watched
4th picture: The name of the Hutong we went to
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