The second I stepped foot out of the airport in Guangzhou, I thought it was all over. I would never be able to survive two months here. It felt like it was about 403 degrees outside, yet everyone around me seemed perfectly fine. But here I was in a sweatshirt and leggings pulling 100 pounds of luggage behind me with a backpack on my back and front. To make matters even worse, every person I passed by was either pointing or staring at me because I was probably the only person within a hundred-mile radius that had blonde hair and white skin. Based off of these first five minutes in Guangzhou, I would’ve predicted that the rest of my experience here would be absolutely miserable, but boy was I wrong.
Over the next several days, we visited so many incredible places and met hundreds of incredible people, that all of my previous worries about this trip instantly disappeared. The moment we walked through the gates of the first school we visited, I could already tell that I was going to love China. Everyone was so welcoming and excited to meet us. Their ever-present generosity and compassion was clear from the start, and their bright personalities and contagious smiles were very heart-warming.
At every school we visited, the students took us on a tour of their campus, showing off the magnificent architecture and fascinating history behind the establishment of their school. After the tour, we were always treated to a delicious lunch with about fifteen different courses and then participated in something fun to teach us more about Chinese culture, such as word guessing games and Chinese New Year painting activities with wooden planks. These activities were so engaging and allowed us to form great friendships with the Chinese students and faculty. We even went with some of the students to the Pearl River Cruise, where we got to see the beautiful city at night, enjoy the breeze on the water, and better yet, talk with the kids and make unforgettable memories. But unfortunately, after all of this, we had to quickly leave and say goodbye forever, since we would not be returning to Guangzhou any time soon. Although our time with them was very short, it was definitely a time that I will always remember. (A very special thanks to the Win-Win staff for this amazing opportunity!)
One of the things that surprised me most about my time here was how much English the students and faculty knew, as I had originally been very nervous about the language barrier. They held extremely intelligent conversations with us, and I learned so much from them and what they had to say. However, I was even more so surprised by how similar we all were. I had entered this trip with a preconceived idea of what the Chinese people and education system would be like based off of what I had seen on TV and in the news, but the kids were not at all rigid or only focused on getting the best grades as media makes them out to be. In fact, almost the opposite was true. We had so much in common that I found myself forgetting that I was even in a foreign country! I wish more people could understand how truly alike we all are. It could help solve so many problems the world faces.
On our last day in Guangzhou, the Win-Win staff arranged a lunch for us at a beautiful hotel to send us off on the next leg of our journey. We were treated as royalty throughout this whole trip and today was not any different. As we all sat around the table and more and more food began to stack up on the Lazy Susan, I couldn’t help but look around and think about how far I’d come in just four short days. Although it was a difficult adjustment at first, I already felt at home, and I could not wait to take what I learned with me into my experience in Zhuhai. Even though the environment would be completely different, I knew I would have this same team alongside me the entire time. I had gotten to know them pretty well during our time here and could not have asked for a more kind, open, caring, and fun group of people to share this experience with. As Professor Ku made a toast to all of us and our hard work, we raised our glasses together and said “Gānbēi” or “Cheers!”
And so to our experience in Guangzhou I say: Gānbēi! I will always hold it close to my heart.
