This past week in Beijing, Luoyang, and Xi’an has been awe-inspiring and thought-provoking. Traveling to these ancient capitals has helped me come closer to my heritage and experience new histories and foods I never thought I would have been able to. Since I had already been to Beijing twice before and visited the typical touristy sites like the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace, I wanted to explore more of the local life. I visited popular shopping districts and street food markets my friends from China recommended me to check out. Traveling mostly by subway, I truly felt immersed in the local culture and enjoyed communicating with store owners and passerby’s. Although our stays in Luoyang and Xi’an were much shorter than our one in Beijing, I still enjoyed my time there and was able to see sites I only saw online and in textbooks before. Places like the Longmen Grottoes and the museum surrounding the Terracotta Warriors took my breath away and made it hard for me to think of how people such a long time ago constructed these structures of this scale and detail. I could not help but wonder if my ancestors helped to create these sites. Of the three cities we visited, my favorite one was Xi’an. I thought the atmosphere and overall vibe of the city was the most comfortable and fresh. I loved exploring the Muslim District and trying new foods. I was ecstatic to have been able to try dishes and restaurants recommended by a Youtuber I have followed for many years. My time in these cities spurred me to imagine what my life would have been like in China had my past family members never moved to Taiwan and eventually the US.
This trip also helped me grow closer to my fellow Dukies. It had been a while since all of us were together exploring new places, so it was nice to have this excursion together. Through conversations on the bus, plane, and subway, I learned more things about my classmates and got to know others I had not talked to as much before. One thing I learned from this experience is that we all, me including, can work on our communication and empathy to improve our group dynamic. I observed that sometimes feelings are not shared clearly and directly to the members involved, which can result in resentment and misunderstanding. I, for one, fell victim to this flaw. For the past few weeks, certain comments and behavior I heard and saw around me left me hurt and irked. However, instead of bringing up this problem I had with others, I kept my frustration inside of me and retreated into the comfort of isolation and tried to bury these grievances. This decision only led to worse consequences as I was unconsciously giving off an impression of exclusion and hostility even though I was trying my best to remain inclusive, welcoming, and optimistic. However, I know our group as a whole needs to improve on communication too, as avoiding gossip and informing each other of our plans, thoughts, wishes, and schedules will help our group bond and build our friendships.
Empathy has also been a focus of my time here, whether it be empathizing with my students or classmates, and this week I had a chance to empathize with the latter. One day, a group I was with started speaking only in Spanish. For the first time in a while, I was in an environment in which I had no idea how to communicate with others nor did I understand what others were saying. Although this experience was very short, I could better understand what my non-Chinese-speaking classmates might have been feeling during their stay in China. Frustration and feelings of dependency and being lost were among the things I experienced, and I deeply applaud my classmates for staying so true and positive throughout this program. Things even as seemingly trivial as food choice have been a struggle even for me, someone who wished for nothing but authentic Chinese food in college. I have grown tired of eating much of the food here, even though there is a great deal of diversity in Chinese cuisine. What I want now is just a burger and an acai bowl back home, and I cannot imagine how much worse this craving is for my classmates. I admire my classmates’ perseverance and willingness to take new challenges and become immersed in a foreign culture.
This coming week, I look forward to spending more time with my classmates and students back in Zhuhai. My students are almost done with their exams, and I am excited to be able to hang out with them and my other Dukies around the city. I also am curious and delighted to see how our final performance will turn out!