STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCE
留学经历

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

      From the moment I stepped off my 13 hour connecting flight in Beijing, I realized the magnitude of the challenge I had accepted when I decided to study abroad in China. My first flight had been delayed so when I arrived in Beijing, my connecting flight had already departed. I began applying my first year Chinese to try to get a new flight. After a couple hours of broken Chinese discussions and wandering the airport, I was given a ticket for a flight leaving in 30 minutes. Worried the long security lines would cause me to miss that flight as well, I sprinted in the terminal's direction with my 20 pound textbook-filled backpack thumping with every step.  I arrived at the gate with five minutes to spare. Immediately I realized that my success in China would be dependent upon my ability to adapt and learn the language.

        Quickly differences between American culture and Chinese culture were apparent to me. I struggled with the fact that refusing alcohol from a host was rude, as in America this would be seen as commonplace. I was also intrigued by the culture within restaurants in general. I expected the family style dining and lack of forks, but I was surprised by the way guests interacted with the waiters and waitresses, often calling them affectionate familial terms such as "auntie" or "big sister". I also had to develop my ability to fight for the check, as checks were rarely split, usually after some bickering over who will get to pay, one person will cover the check for the whole table. Extra food is also often ordered and the food is rarely boxed and taken to go as it is in America. Also, I quickly recognized the disproportionate amount that Americans used the term "thank you" relative to the Chinese. 

        At first I could see no possible explanation for these Chinese practices, but I soon realized the gravity of the bias I had arrived with. For example, with the issue of refusing alcohol, this idea was rooted in Chinese tradition. The concept is that alcohol reduces ones own filters, so they cannot help but express their true selves when under the influence of alcohol. Therefore, only someone who is hiding something would want to avoid drinking. With the issue of saying thank you, it seems to most Americans that expressing gratitude could never be rude. However, in Chinese culture, people will help one another because they know it is the right thing to do, and they feel as if it is obvious that one person would help the other. Therefore, thanks are not needed for close friends. In fact, if one continually thanks a close friend it will likely be perceived as attempting to show distance in the relationship. Also when addressing the issue of the check, Chinese people see it is an honor to be able to treat ones friends and at times it can be used to display ones status.

        I also had been told that if I told a Chinese person that I liked something that they had, they would give it to me. As this is wildly different from American culture, it did not come naturally for me to switch my way of complementing people from "I like your shirt" to "Your shirt is beautiful" until I complemented several Chinese people who proceeded to try to give me what I had complemented. I soon realized that because of the intense cultural differences, what I explicitly said often meant something different than what I had intended because the underlying cultural implications of certain words and phrases. In this way, I understood that culture and language are inextricably linked. If the purpose of language is to express and understand another's ideas, a student of a second language must carefully focus on how their words will be perceived, as opposed to primarily focusing on expressing their ideas in a way that is intuitive to them.

        As I move forward with my academic career, I am excited to use my knowledge of Chinese culture and improved adaptability to learn Chinese more efficiently and connect with other cultures as well.

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