The Countdown Begins

            I’m currently riding the Washington Deluxe bus north to New York on a pretty somber and rainy day.  I can’t help thinking about all of the goodbyes I just made in Washington, DC and all of the final goodbyes I will have to make when I fly out next week.  For those who don’t know, I’m heading to Shanghai, China for semester to study at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (and with any luck finding a job for the summer so I can stay in China) and this will be my first trip to China.  Having studied Chinese for a little over a year now, I’m plucking myself out of my comfortable college community at the George Washington University (GWU) to follow my dreams in China.

            As glorious and exciting as it may sound, I’m only a sophomore and I’m studying abroad a semester earlier than most do.  It feels as though just as my relationships in DC were solidifying and entering their prime, I had to leave all that for a new journey, a new community, and a new set of friends.  Well, I know I will miss my family, Fraternity brothers, friends, and colleagues dearly, but I also have to remind myself of some of my motivations for studying abroad, especially so early.

            The Chinese language and culture are my passions.  There are certain things in life that are just so profound, so intense, that they are touching right down to your soul, and that is the way I see the Chinese culture.  When I started studying both, I quickly realized one whole lifetime would not be enough to fully grasp and understand all of their nuances.  I studied first year Chinese at GWU and then studied third year Chinese this past summer at Middlebury College’s 8-week intensive Chinese program.  Middlebury’s program really instilled the importance of a seamless Chinese experience if you really want to be excellent at the language and navigating the culture.  From then on, I knew Chinese was not just a hobby, or a language that you can peruse in your spare time; it’s a continuous lifelong journey.  I’ve got a long list of places to go, things to see, people to meet, and memories to make while I’m China, and I’m incredibly excited for it, smog and all.  Something else I’ve got to think about in China is how this passion of mine will fit into my professional life in the future but I figure with a lot of enthusiasm and a little luck, things will turn out alright.  After Middlebury, I’m going to call this the second leg of my journey into the Chinese culture and I’m ready to embrace this experience with arms wide open.

            For more on my experience at Middlebury, you can read a statement I wrote for the college here.  I’m sure I’m not the only feeling this bittersweet goodbye, so what are some of your thoughts and motivations for leaving the west behind and heading to China?