Chinese Communication

Living in a family or community without any direct communication between the people was the biggest challenge in my gap year in China. I had to get used to the fact that my hostfamily didn't tell me anything. 'We are going on vacation.' 'When?' 'NOW! Pack your bag, we are leaving in 5 minutes.' Yes, Chinese people are not talking and they are very, very spontaneous. One time my host brother woke me up at 6 o'clock in the morning to tell me that we are going on vacation. There even wasn't enough time for me to take a shower. Of course they planned the trip a few days before, but it wasn't necessary for them to tell me, not even the evening before, so I could have got up earlier. But however, after a while you get used to it. They don't want to be mean, that's just their way of life, their way of behavior. It was one of my biggest challenges in China, because they always seemed so inflexible even when they were spontaneous, but it made me a lot more open-minded to an other way of life. Yes, I do a lot of things different at home, but that doesn't mean my way is the right one. Trying to live different for a certain amount of time is the challenge of a gap year and now, after living for six months in China, I can say that this challenge and new thinking made me a better person.