Yuying Hong

I decided to study abroad to enhance my study experience as an undergraduate and gain more knowledge about the country of my choice. I chose China because of my personal tie and interests in that country. I spent my childhood in China, and so I would like to know more in depth about the country where I lived for a period of time. In addition, China is becoming more important from a global aspect, and I was curious about what it would be like to live and interact with people from there. Last but not least, I want to improve my mandarin.

The most interesting cultural experience I had abroad was trying out guangchangwu/plaza dancing. Plaza dancing is pretty famous and common in China. It's an activity usually participated by middle-aged people or retired people, and it usually happens after dinner time. One day after dinner, my friends and I were passing by a plaza dancing group, and we decided to join in by imitating the dance moves on the side, but after a while, a lady approached us and gave us a simple lesson on the dance moves the group was doing. It was very fun and enjoyable.

The biggest challenge of my study abroad experience was adapting to a new environment and finding my sense of belonging at the beginning. I responded by joining a club and ended up meeting and making amazing friends from Peking University. I also decided to go out of my comfort zone and explored the university and city on my own after getting more familiar with the place.

I was mostly study-oriented and spent a lot of time studying, though I did go out frequently to explore the city whenever I could. A typical weekday would be going to classes, doing homework/studying, and participating in club activity. A typical weekday would be heading somewhere in the city, for example, a famous site/park.

I took two Chinese language courses, one for writing and reading, and another for speaking, and I also took Chinese Economy, a course from the "On China Series" (English taught course). The workloads from courses abroad were similar to that of Berkeley classes, but I was able to take less units (compared to local students) through the UCEAP program, so overall I had more free time and was able to travel around for a bit (mostly going to places in the city).

The most memorable aspect of my time abroad, besides improving my Chinese skill, was joining Shanyingshe, a well known mountaineering club at Peking University. It was very fun and rewarding to have join the club, not only had I tried out many new activities (camping and rock climbing), I had also met and made amazing friends from the university.

Studying abroad had changed me in multiple aspects. My view on China and, specifically, the city Beijing had changed. Before studying abroad, I didn't know much about the city, I probably only knew a few things about it, such as that it was the capital of China and it was infamous for its smog. After studying abroad, I learned that Beijing is way better than I thought it would be, and its smog wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Besides my view on China, I also changed slightly as a person. Probably because I had to break out from my comfort zone, I became braver and more willing to check out interesting places even if I have to do it on my own.

If you are still considering about studying abroad, you should definitely do it, it was a very enriching experience for me. By the way, China, especially Beijing, is a very safe place, and its smog issue is getting better (the government is improving the air quality there throughout the years).