Last week of classes in China are finished, finals have been taken, and all that’s left now is the talent show. Every year the Northwestern study abroad students who spend their summer in China come together to have a talent show at the very end. It’s a great opportunity to reflect upon the experiences we have shared and the relationships we created with each other. Our Chinese I class had also been practicing a dance based on the Chinese song “Xiao Pingguo,” and we were excited to embarrass ourselves in front of everybody. I would’ve loved to be in the audience for this, but I ended up dancing as well as I could on a bum knee (I injured my knee playing basketball two weeks into the trip…then aggravated it a month later playing badminton. You might ask if it was worth re-injuring my knee to play badminton, but I’d throw a shuttlecock at you in admonishment).
The talent show helped remind of how far we all came from the first week that we were in China. I couldn’t speak a lick of Chinese when I came. I was intimidated by being in a new country, the biggest hurdle being an inability to communicate. What that fostered for our group was a sense of community. We all had to stick together and support each other, especially the people who could speak Chinese well (shoutout to all those people for having the patience to deal with the rest of us). I feel like this study abroad experience has helped me get to know some people that I will stay in touch with for a long time. Thank you China for bringing us all together.
