Why China?
By Melissa Vargas
Since the start of my journey with LIU Global, I always knew that I wanted to study in China during my junior year. It’s hard to believe that I’m now at that point. Two years ago, heck even a year ago, the idea of my junior year seemed so far in the future. Time truly flies by in this program and with every day that passes, I grow increasingly aware of how important it is to cherish each and every one of my experiences abroad — both the exciting and the challenging.
Before coming to China, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I suppose it’s near impossible to predict what a country over 7,000 miles away from your own will be like. More so than other countries that I have visited, I had a great deal of preconceived notions about what China would be like. These preconceived notions were undoubtedly influenced and shaped by the United States’ present-day relations with China, which is reflected in the media and news sources that I commonly have relied on for information.
These preconceived notions are one of the two major reasons that I have chosen to spend a full academic year studying here. Studying in China is an incredibly unique opportunity to examine assumptions and perceptions through experience. Though I’m just an exchange student and am only here for one year, studying and living here presents invaluable opportunities for learning about Chinese culture, society, and politics. Each and every day here serves as an opportunity to pursue my curiosity.
By far one of the most enriching aspects of studying here has been the opportunity to learn from Chinese professors. This semester, one of my core classes is a course on Chinese history taught from the perspective of a professor who lived and experienced much of China’s modern history. Learning about history from someone who has endured it serves as an important reminder that large historical events were once another individual’s reality. I also appreciate this course because it provides me with historical context helpful for making sense of China’s present-day relationship with the West.
As far as living in China, I’m grateful to be based in the city of Hangzhou. Relative to other cities in China, Hangzhou has a middle range population of about 10 million people. Though a population of 10 million is huge compared to my home city of Washington D. C’s population of 700 thousand, Hangzhou has proved manageable and there is a great deal of nature, food, and history to explore here.
The second major reason that I’m studying in China is to challenge myself.
If I predicted one thing accurately before coming here, it’s that immersing myself in a culture on the opposite side of the world would be challenging. While Hangzhou is a fairly manageable city, China’s overall dense population can be overwhelming and has required some adjustment. Learning Mandarin has also proved to be quite challenging. My language teachers are very helpful and I really enjoy learning the language, but the fact of the matter is that Mandarin is a complex language that requires a ton of sustained effort, concentration, and painstaking attention to detail.
While there are certain difficulties associated with everyday life in China, the overall opportunity of living here for a year is like no other. If you were to have told me four years ago that I would be sitting in a café in China right now reflecting on the first half of my year-long journey here, I would have laughed and thought you were crazy. It’s incredible how you find yourself doing things that you once never could have imagined. By the end of this year, I won’t be fluent in Mandarin or understand all of China’s history that there is to know or even fully understand my own country’s relation to China. However, by the end of the year, I will have challenged myself and learned more about China… and at the end of the day, that is a feat that I will forever cherish.
