CET Internship in Beijing

Overall, I think that the program was very spiffy.

As an absolute beginner to the language, I was nervous about the program and how it would be especially since there was the internship component; however, after touching down in China and meeting everyone, it was not as bad as I thought it would have been. The staff of CET, the teachers, the staff of CNU, and everyone in the program were all nice and very helpful. Without their help, I would have been lost and confused in my first couple of weeks in China but because everyone was so willing and kind to help a poor soul out, I was able to adjust to being in China quickly.

I do think that having a Chinese roommate for everyone in the program was very beneficial and all of the Chinese roommates were great people. Having them there was great as they would help us with getting around China as well as becoming our long lasting friends.

The trips planned by the program were very nice and we did have weekends free for the most part so we would go out and see different places on our own. The classes themselves in addition to the internship were definitely challenging and homework was daily. I would confidently say that the program was similar to a work-study in the States. Though, the daily Chinese language class did help a lot and I was able to learn a great deal of Chinese and improve what I learned as well.

The program did require a lot of work and somewhat little sleep at times but in the end, it was definitely worth it. The experience of both studying abroad in China as well as the internship component were very valuable in terms of academics as well as making new friends.