Mathew’s Summer In China

Destination: China

For a few students representing Miami Dade College, including myself, this was our first trip overseas where we would be able to develop independence.

Three months ago, a group of 14 students were just a random assortment of individuals. Some of us were aspiring designers, others were recent college graduates, but we were all bound for one.

The trip there was a struggle. It was almost a twenty four hour endeavor to reach our dormitory at Jiangsu Normal University, including eighteen hours of flight time, one bullet train, and several bus rides. When we arrived we were overwhelmed with culture. There were hills to climb and descend, a sea of students who walked hand in hand like brothers and sisters, and an eerie silence in the streets.

 Our Miami accents and idioms were easily heard by most in a university full of timid and polite students. We were partnered with a group of local students on the first day of our arrival to help us adjust and absorb the new world we were to live in. We also showed them how we did things in Miami. We infused traditional Chinese music with the passionate movements of salsa in a dance show that we performed on campus.

 Every day we made a new adventure for ourselves. One day it was a chance to try out fried scorpions. The next day we skated down the hills by the dormitory, played a Chinese hacky-sack game we called “piri piri” and explored the streets of Xuzhou. All this while we were taking Mandarin classes. On weekends we explored the giants of China: The Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

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 Our relationships with those at the university lasted for almost a month. We danced with them, we smiled with them, but most importantly, we lived with them. When we left our friends in China, it was with tears of sadness and with the words “Zàijiàn: See you soon!”