Worth the Effort

Chinese is hard, and I knew that going in. I wanted a program where I could really work on my language skills, and I got exactly what I asked for. I'm a good student with pretty decent time management skills, but I still had to wake up at 6:30 every morning and study the thirty-odd characters I would be quizzed on at 9. After lunch I'd run to my internship, and then I'd be back home for dinner and more studying. This kind of jam-packed day was rough, but it brings you close to everyone in your program. We were all very different people, but from the start we could count on each other for anything. It was a fantastic environment to grow in, and in China, you either grow or get run over.

Another thing that begs to be mentioned are the roommates. They put us to shame every day with how much they cared, taking friendship to a new level. I still feel shallow in comparison to Fujie, who translated carry-out menus and circled good options for my vegetarian friends without even being asked!

China is very, very different from America. We were all homesick at one time or another. But now that I'm back doing my regular college thing, I miss Shanghai a lot. I miss discovering new things, challenging and reinventing myself. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.