Beijing Bound: A Chinese American Studying in China

大家好！(Hello Everyone!)  I’m Crystal and I can’t wait to share all my new experiences with you as I study abroad in Beijing, China at 北京外国语大学 (Beijing Foreign Studies University) to study Chinese.  This will be my second study abroad experience, but I am still pretty nervous.  I previously studied abroad at Swansea, Wales in the UK for my Spring 2015 semester and I have been hooked on travelling and cross-cultural immersion ever since.  Although I have traveled to Hong Kong before, I have never visited Mainland China.  As an American born Chinese (ABC), I was raised on a fusion of both Chinese and American traditions, foods, and languages.  I always had the curiosity to explore both cultures further and it wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I really wanted to invest in studying the Chinese language.  You may ask why I even bother to studying Chinese in the first place if I grew up using the language. I actually grew up speaking Cantonese, which is one of the many dialects spoken in China.  It is also the primary language spoken in Hong Kong, which is where my parents are from.  However, since the primary language spoken in China is Mandarin, I often felt slightly out of place or not representative enough of the culture.  Although I am proud to be a Cantonese speaker, I hope that my studies in Mandarin this summer will help me better understand my heritage and identity. 

The collection of photos capture glimpses of my packing progress, previous abroad experience, and daily life at home.  Cheers!