CET Greater China

One of my favorite memories from this summer is biking around Kunming with two CET roommates, Wei Hao and Tai Xiong. We biked to the big bus station to buy Tai Xiong's little sister a ticket home. We set off in the morning and the weather was perfect, as always taken for granted in Kunming. Three of us on cheaply bought bikes peddling away, weaving through traffic, and sprinting across intersection. We would wait for each other and sprint passed each other shouting things in Chinese that weren't always understood. It was a brilliant way to see the city, and a brilliant way to connect with friends.

I love biking in Kunming--it is so dynamic. The traffic reminds me of a reef. There are big fish and little fish. Fat buses and skinny motorcyclists. And all of us swim together on roads around the city. The little ones give way to the big ones, but all are aware--and forgiving. When a little fish, young and unwise, sprints across an intersection a bus will squeel to a halt, waiting for the kid to join the other scooterist in an effective little school, with a nudge and a smile.

We bought duck for lunch and talked about our siblings. High from the thrill of biking, our eyes were sparkly and awake. I felt like a kid again with eager playmates and a whole new world to explore.

I remember this day vividly. To biking with friends, to a new world to explore.

Going to China to see the Great Wall and other sites is a cool experience, but I simply can't overlook the food. Everything I ate was different. If it was fried chicken, it had its own unique flavor, and it was absolutely delicious! I remember my friend taking me to a restaurant where we had this amazing bread dessert! Okay, I'll explain. It was the size of a third of a loaf of bread you get from the store with the inside diced into lovely little squares with ice cream on top. It wasn't just ordinary bread, though. The softness and texture wasn't expected at all. I went to another restaurant requesting the same bread to be let down by their "sorry, it's too late for us to make" notice. You will find so many other incredible dishes in China, so don't be afraid to to eat, eat, and eat more!

I participated in this program twice and both times I learned way more Chinese and way more about China than I even expected, forming lifelong friendships with American and Chinese people along the way. Harbin is a wonderful city and a perfect environment in which to study Chinese, and CET provides a huge amount of institutional support.

Before attending CET I had already done a multitude of different Study Abroad programs all around the world. CET provided me with a different experience. Through CET I was able to learn more about Chinese Culture and habits than I had learned when I was in a host family during one of my other programs. During my time at CET I became very close to some of the TA's for my class and also to my roommate, who was about the same age as the TA's. These people were not afraid to correct me when I said something wrong or to teach me little habits and customs that are normal in China instead they were so willing to help me learn.
There definitely were somethings about CET that I did not like, for example the food in the cafeteria, the lack of access to sports, but overall my experience with CET was positive and if I had to choose again where to do my study abroad I would probably choose CET.

CET Harbin is undoubtedly one of the best study abroad programs in China, which is high praise given just how many good programs there are. From my perspective, everything was planned to give students a true immersive language learning experience.

Our classes were challenging but very enjoyable. Due to the extremely small class size, I was easily able to get individual attention in every one of my classes. The teachers were very well trained and really knew how to teach Chinese to foreigners. Every class really stressed learning how to speak authentic Chinese, rather than learning awkward textbook speech.

Apart from classes, CET did a terrific job creating an immersive language learning environment. Every student had their own Chinese roommate, so finding opportunities to speak Chinese outside of class was not at all difficult. The program was small enough that we, the CET students and our roommates, really resembled a family. A bigger program might have lead to awkwardness and social cliques, but in our program everyone was friends with each other. This is important because it made communication and adhering to the language pledge both fun and rewarding. I wasn't just friends with my own roommate, but also formed relationships with my friends' Chinese roommates.

The combination of CET's classes and immersive language environment really caused my Chinese to improve rapidly. I was seeing results after just a few weeks. I've found that many students believe just being in China will allow them to improve their Chinese, regardless of which program or school they go to. While it is true that being in China gives you limitless opportunities to use the language, it is not always easy finding and taking advantage of those opportunities. In contrast, CET gives students a strong foundation from which they can focus on improving their Chinese.

My day to day experiences included conversing with many Chinese on the street. I found that I really enjoyed speaking to elderly Chinese people who were always surprised that I could speak Mandarin. At first, I struggled to understand what was being said to me, I found that the more that I initiated conversations with people, the more I was able to tune my ear to understanding what was being said to me. These interesting conversations also helped me to overcome my nervousness about being incorrect. People were nice, laughed at me, but were eager to help me if I said something incorrectly. I came to really appreciate that help!

I loved my time here in Beijing. I went from barely having the means and confidence to communicate in Chinese, to speaking it causally. The language pledge was one of the most difficult things, but I wouldn't of had it any other way. I love everything this program had to offer, made great friends and improved my Mandarin tremendously!

When I first came to Shanghai four years ago for the World Expo, I felt something buzzing in the Pudong air (not the AQI). It read like a template for the globalized future. Global Citizens had converged on this city because Shanghai had proved herself to be a vibrant cultural center unlike any other in the world. As I sat at my desk last Spring in Washington, DC, I thought to myself, "I want to be in China and I want to be back in that in the midst of that development and optimism and thus I found a home at CET Shanghai."
I am proud to say that in Shanghai, I can attend a marriage market in People's Park in the morning, and be at an electronic music festival with 10,000 people on South Bund by night. I am proud to say that I can enjoy a cup of tea and a bit of tranquility in the 600 year-old Yuyuan Garden at breakfast time, hop a train under the Huangpu and be rocketing to the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower for lunch, 15,000 feet up.
After a semester in Shanghai, I have heard more languages than ever before in my life, tried stranger dishes than any Westerner should lay eyes on, and experienced a 5,000 year old culture that opened its arms to me. I have worked among the people who are driving China's growth, I have learned from her brightest minds, and I have forged lasting bonds with the Middle Kingdom.
After studying abroad with CET, I have built a global network of friendships that I hope will last me a lifetime. The connections and experience that I have gained from my internship will help me establish a career in the future. I recognize that mastery of a second language is a lifelong pursuit but after a semester living in China with intensive study, I am proud that I can converse on a deeper level with native people in a language that is not my own.