Wow, I can honestly say that 2 months ago I did not think I would be sad to leave China and head back. However, today.. Was the most bittersweet day of my time here. I genuinely was not ready to board this plane, I feel my time in China is not done. Having had to do many lacrosse workouts abroad, I was grateful enough to find a local league to play with and essentially coach, as they are not all that developed just yet. This was the best decision I could have ever done while in China. It had opened me up to a bunch of other university students, expats, and locals. The diversity of the team allowed me to explore parts of Beijing I didn’t know existed while doing my favorite thing: play lacrosse. Through this league, I have found a lifelong friend, Chris, who is on the Women’s Chinese National team. What I recommend to anyone studying in China, or elsewhere around the world: invest in the natives, yearn to hear their story, let your relationship manifest from the differences and realize how much you can learn and teach one another. With Chris, I was able to go out to different restaurants, practice my Chinese (speaking and characters), visit her home to see what the traditional Chinese lifestyle is like and more. I encourage people to step outside of their comfort zone when abroad. You are cutting your trip short if you don’t. The conversations you have with these new people in your life are ones very different from the ones you have with best friends. I initially struggled a lot with Chinese and how much class there was… I was worried I wasn’t seeing enough of China. However through making Chinese friends, I found my learning continued even out of the classroom which greatly improved my understanding of the language. I initially embarked on this journey to experience a different culture, which I did… But what I learned along the way was, you must immerse yourself in the culture to fully learn it. Reading the books and knowing the history isn’t enough. This summer has been one I will remember forever with friends that I hope will last a lifetime. I plan to come back and play for the Beijing Lacrosse team and beat Shanghai!! I came to study Public Health, and left in love. I may have showed these people some lacrosse, but they have showed me the world. I have learned more in my time here about my life, my happiness, and my values than I have been challenged to think about my whole life. It is not until you remove yourself from your normal life to realize things from the outside, we should do this more often. This has been an amazing and scary summer full of realizations but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
(Me & Chris’ Friends on her Birthday!)
China Lax!!!!!
For the Love of the Game.
