Jessica Sims 제시카 심스 杰西卡 西姆斯
Senior, Psychology major (Counseling emphasis)
Traveling to Korea and China has been a great experience that I will never forget. I have grown as a person and I am even more optimistic about future traveling. Looking back on those four weeks, the ‘language barrier’ (as some may call it) was the most significant phenomenon that I had to overcome. Even though many of the people we encountered did indeed speak English, it was still difficult to have a conversation with them. Questions would sometimes elicit awkward or erroneous responses. Albert Einstein once stated; “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. The problem that I was facing was coming out of my American mind set and learning to adapt into my new environment. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way they spoke English. The problem was my approach to communicating with them. It occurred to me that English is my expertise, and how much easier it was to converse using simple speech.
My Korean host’s Mother never spoke English during my Homestay until the morning I had to leave. She came up to me looked me in the eyes and grabbed my hands. She told me to never forget, and it was nice meeting me. I was floored by her statement because I knew how hard she had practiced this sentence just for me. This was a very special moment.
Traveling to Korea and China has been a great experience that I will never forget. I have grown as a person and I am even more optimistic about future traveling. Looking back on those four weeks, the ‘language barrier’ (as some may call it) was the most significant phenomenon that I had to overcome. Even though many of the people we encountered did indeed speak English, it was still difficult to have a conversation with them. Questions would sometimes elicit awkward or erroneous responses. Albert Einstein once stated; “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. The problem that I was facing was coming out of my American mind set and learning to adapt into my new environment. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way they spoke English. The problem was my approach to communicating with them. It occurred to me that English is my expertise, and how much easier it was to converse using simple speech.
My Korean host’s Mother never spoke English during my Homestay until the morning I had to leave. She came up to me looked me in the eyes and grabbed my hands. She told me to never forget, and it was nice meeting me. I was floored by her statement because I knew how hard she had practiced this sentence just for me. This was a very special moment.
Rachael Stansfield 레이첼 스탠스필드 蕾切尔 斯坦斯菲尔德
Freshman, Chemistry major
At the Summer Palace in China, there was a sidewalk painter and he wrote out the character and the word "Longevity". I hadn't really put much thought into how much of an impact this trip had on me until I saw that our second the last day in Asia. Before the trip, I known a bit about both countries from history and books, but to actually see how much both Korea and China have grown in person was a phenomenal experience. Before this trip, exciting travel meant going to Europe. Now, Europe just doesn't excite me as much, it's more like visiting your cousin. Visiting China and Korea was like visiting another world. This trip put everything back home in perspective in ways I still don't think I fully appreciate.
I realized how much I appreciate my home and wide open grassy fields. Though, the thing I miss most is the sense of community. Everyone in the group is trying to help everyone else. Here everyone is only trying to help themselves. I miss every part of the meals, the food, the companionship, the conversations, all of it. I love food, but the "icing on the cake" during meals was the experience. If my friends weren't so afraid of germs, I would have all of my meals in Asian style complete with chopsticks. Just getting to know the cultures of both Korea and China has definitely changed me. Since I've been back there have been quite a few difficult situations arise where I have had to make difficult decisions. When making these, I used to think about how a choice would affect me. Now I think about how it will affect everyone involved. I've also noticed how much I appreciate being able to read signs and understand conversations, though it does still feel strange to understand the conversations taking place around me. I would love to return to Asia one day as it has touched me more than I feel I will ever know.
At the Summer Palace in China, there was a sidewalk painter and he wrote out the character and the word "Longevity". I hadn't really put much thought into how much of an impact this trip had on me until I saw that our second the last day in Asia. Before the trip, I known a bit about both countries from history and books, but to actually see how much both Korea and China have grown in person was a phenomenal experience. Before this trip, exciting travel meant going to Europe. Now, Europe just doesn't excite me as much, it's more like visiting your cousin. Visiting China and Korea was like visiting another world. This trip put everything back home in perspective in ways I still don't think I fully appreciate.
I realized how much I appreciate my home and wide open grassy fields. Though, the thing I miss most is the sense of community. Everyone in the group is trying to help everyone else. Here everyone is only trying to help themselves. I miss every part of the meals, the food, the companionship, the conversations, all of it. I love food, but the "icing on the cake" during meals was the experience. If my friends weren't so afraid of germs, I would have all of my meals in Asian style complete with chopsticks. Just getting to know the cultures of both Korea and China has definitely changed me. Since I've been back there have been quite a few difficult situations arise where I have had to make difficult decisions. When making these, I used to think about how a choice would affect me. Now I think about how it will affect everyone involved. I've also noticed how much I appreciate being able to read signs and understand conversations, though it does still feel strange to understand the conversations taking place around me. I would love to return to Asia one day as it has touched me more than I feel I will ever know.
Joshua de Leon 조슈아 드리온 约书亚 德里昂
Freshman, Biology and CIS major
My trip to Asia can be summed up in just a few words, although this does not reflect truth of the experience for. It was a trip of unexpected surprises. Simply put when going to a foreign country you have things you expect to blow you away. I being no different had these same expectations, in fact my goal for the trip was to be left speechless! So to my utter speechlessness, I was surprised when I was left without a voice in the most unexpected situations. While visiting with a school in China we were given the privilege to be an audience for some the most talented people I've ever seen. They made melodies that captivated me and had me on the edge of my seat. The final performance, forever endured to me as the Ching Ching song by Boyoung, was speechless moment for me. It was of a set of young ladies who danced while one sang. Even now almost two months later I still struggle to understand what that moment was for me. Sometimes I feel as if it was the history of China through her voice that I heard. Other times I think the future. Regardless of the confliction between my thoughts, I learned that the most beautiful and endearing moments are often the ones we least expect.
My trip to Asia can be summed up in just a few words, although this does not reflect truth of the experience for. It was a trip of unexpected surprises. Simply put when going to a foreign country you have things you expect to blow you away. I being no different had these same expectations, in fact my goal for the trip was to be left speechless! So to my utter speechlessness, I was surprised when I was left without a voice in the most unexpected situations. While visiting with a school in China we were given the privilege to be an audience for some the most talented people I've ever seen. They made melodies that captivated me and had me on the edge of my seat. The final performance, forever endured to me as the Ching Ching song by Boyoung, was speechless moment for me. It was of a set of young ladies who danced while one sang. Even now almost two months later I still struggle to understand what that moment was for me. Sometimes I feel as if it was the history of China through her voice that I heard. Other times I think the future. Regardless of the confliction between my thoughts, I learned that the most beautiful and endearing moments are often the ones we least expect.
