By Hannah
My first time being fully independent and I chose to have it be half way across the world.
On my first day attending Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Chinese Language program, I was desperate to make friends. I consider myself someone who can effectively spend time by myself with content, but in a foreign country where I knew no one, I knew I would need some company to avoid falling into homesickness and have an overall good experience.
I found out quickly that I had a language barrier with most of the people I met, or a big age gap, or many already had friends from previous semesters they had been studying there.
My original plan when I arrived in Shanghai was to spend most of my time and energy on improving my Mandarin. But after a few mundane nights, the loneliness crept up on me, and I continued to long for some friends to explore Shanghai with.
Lucky for me, Shanghai Jiao Tong allows students to try out different levels of classes in the first week of school. So after jumping around a couple different classes for a few days, I ended up switching to a class where I finally found some good friends.
Nearly every day after class, we would grab dinner together and have some fun. Now, my weekend schedules were bursting with exploring cool new areas, trying out eccentric cafes, and doing any random activity my classmates dragged me to. And Shanghai is HUGE; there seemed to never run out of things to do.
My study time shrank from every morning and every afternoon before and after class, to whichever night I was willing to lose some sleep.
I still did well in my classes, and I appreciated getting some real life practice in speaking with locals everyday, but to be fully transparent, my Mandarin improved only marginally. I regret not exerting more effort to get better at Mandarin while I was studying in China.
But in place of it, I grew, I learned, and I lived a fuller life than I ever have. I went from extremely directionally challenged to being able to navigate Shanghai’s extensive public transportation system. I finally taught myself how to cook a few simple recipes. And embarrassing as it is to admit, I also did my own laundry for the first time while living there. Ha.
My friends and I strolled across the Bund until late into the night. We went to local festivals that came around. During breaks we went on a few trips. And everyday we would talk and laugh and talk some more until we had been sitting at the same cafe with empty glasses for a few too many hours.
Somehow, in only the four months of my semester, my classmates became some very dear friends of mine.
To be given such an opportunity, on one hand, I am shameful I did not work harder. But still I would not change anything about my experience there.
Working hard only has a point if you have someone to celebrate it with. And I’m grateful I was able to have found a great group of friends there to keep me company.
Thank you to my friends who made my experience there so amazing. This post is dedicated to you guys.
