We believe in supporting students’ endeavors to travel the world while learning in the process. Here in our Going Abroad section we’re highlighting senior Khalil Edwards’ summer escapades in China.
What was your experience like in a new country?
My experience was amazing! It was so cool being able to feel an entirely different energy and get a sense of unrecognizable smells. A faster pace of life and efficiency. Overall, having the opportunity to embrace a new culture, language, and tradition was mind blowing. I didn’t feel like my Chinese was getting better, but towards the end, I realized how much easier it was to communicate and understand the locals.
What were the main takeaways from your stay in China?
The fact that there are people in this world whose heart is genuinely filled with kindness and love. In America, everyone is on this race to success and will use whoever they can to make it to where they want to go. They will happily leave their past behind, destroy their own homes just for money. In China, I’m assuming because of their more communist government, and because most businesses there are from overseas, Chinese people stick to their tradition of relying on academic success and coming to America to get a good job. Or even start their own business. They are only focused on what’s best for themselves and their families. Using other people’s status doesn’t even cross their minds.
They are so friendly and they embrace differences in people, making them feel welcomed and appreciated. At least that was MY experience being one of the very few black guys who can speak Chinese in China. Another thing that I took away from being in China is the realization that we are all the same, no matter where we live: HUMAN. Even though I was all the way across the entire world I still felt like I was in the same place. Because I actually WAS still in the same place: EARTH. Learning about how vast Chinese history and culture is, made me wonder: What is it like in other countries? What if all of the people in the world came together and built a single tower? Or cooked one dish? Travelling is like an addiction. I HAVE to travel again… and again, and again.
What did you most enjoy about your trip?
I most enjoyed spending time with my host family. They cared so much about me and my safety in China, and they always took me out on the weekends to eat or to visit some more historical places in China. It actually brings me to tears a little as I type this, but I truly felt at home being with my host family in China. I had a stay at home mom who would teach me how to cook after I got home from class, and dad who would go to work, but when he got home we would sit with me and my little host brother and help me teach English and also help me learn Chinese. My host dad was also a very good person to communicate with! We had similar interests, but different opinions and views on certain things. Those differences served as perfect conversation starters. I’m kind of sad about leaving them because my little host brother always wanted to run with me, but I always told him “maybe tomorrow”… but it never happened.
What did you least enjoy about your trip?
I least enjoyed the end of my trip. Where I had to leave. It feels like I can just walk around the corner and be back in Nanjing to see my host family. It feels like JUST LAST WEEK I was waiting at Nanjing University to meet my host family. It’s so insane how time flies. And while I was in China I actually cried a few times during the end because I tried SO hard to make time go slower. I really believed that if I lived as if I was fully aware of my surroundings at every single second that I would somehow get more time to enjoy it. I would sit and breathe the air, I would take my time walking. I would leave the group and go off to just enjoy myself. And all of a sudden, I’m back in the U.S.
Any other comments or feedback you’d like for us to include?
If you ever want to go to China to learn about the culture, traditions, or history, definitely make sure you go to Nanjing, China. The program that I studied abroad with is called CIEE. Even if you are a high school senior you can still apply to study abroad during the summer after you graduate. It’s the perfect way to make friends from all over and create a home for yourself in a different country. I can tell you about my trip all day and show your pictures and videos but you will never be able to fully understand the feelings and emotions that come with studying abroad.