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D AVID S OLOMON , ‘13

When I came home to Boston this past May, returning from a nine-month Chi-nese adventure that included two semesters in IES Beijing’s Language Intensive program, I took great pride in the language skills I had gained. Travel to Manchuria and Yunnan province—each two-week excursions—as well as weekend trips to Nanjing and Shanghai exposed me to China’s great cultural and ethnic diversity, with new faces and dialects at each stop. The experience of translating a lengthy conversion between my parents and my Chinese host-father during my parents’ visit to Beijing was one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve ever had. Indeed, living in one of the world’s oldest and most dynamic civiliza-tions—one currently experiencing an unprec-edented economic rise to the top of the world order—provided something new and exciting for me each day I walked out the door. But it wasn’t always so easy. When I first arrived in China’s capital, I had a mix of emotions. My interactions with Chinese were certainly unconventional. Using what primi-tive Mandarin I knew, I (hopefully) communi-cated successfully what type of dumpling I wanted and what subway stop I was trying to go to.

But I also felt the frustration of lacking necessary vocabulary and listening comprehension to articulate my ideas and questions. Spending four hours a day/four days a week in the classroom and studying 50+ new vocabulary words for daily 8:00 a.m. quizzes was sometimes a difficult task— literally rising out of bed each morning to new challenges, as I faced another day in a truly foreign culture.

Yet, it paid off, as I gradually came to better understand this fascinating country with improved language skills and increased

familiarity with my surroundings. It didn’t take too long for the experience to become the most memorable I’d ever had.

Living with a Chinese host family that spoke no English was a very special expe-rience. My host-father—an entertaining char-acter—took great care of me, each night giving me a taste of authentic Beijing cuisine, while indulging me in the wild world of Chi-nese television. This included televised Chi-nese opera, nightly news, and, quite often, World War II soap operas that portrayed the Chinese defeating the Japanese single-handedly. I needed to make sure I showered with a bucket beneath me, so I could use that collected water to circulate the toilet. I mopped the bathroom floor afterward each time. Daily, I would say hello to him during class breaks (his office was next door) and he would point at an object and teach me a new vocabulary word with his very thick Beijing accent. Then, he would roll his eyes and tell me how awful my Chinese was—his way of pushing me to improve as quickly as possible. His tough love encouragement motivated me and, after about six months, my skills really started to catch on.

Barely able to say “hello” when I first arrived in Beijing, I spent my last days with him discussing topics such as Chinese history, the AIDS epidemic, the court system, Chinese modernization, and US foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the classroom, my teachers—all of whom were wonderful— often chuckled, as my Chinese accent gradual-ly began to resemble that of my host-father, a true Beijinger.

The IES program was rigorous and standards were high. I spent 8-9 hours per day studying Chinese—made up of 4 hours of class, 1 hour with a Chinese tutor, and several other hours reading new lessons and studying

vocabulary words. Our language pledge was strict and, ultimately, very helpful, as it forced us to use only Mandarin to communi-cate our ideas and thoughts.

However, in addition to this daily Chinese, I also took a series of area studies courses that included Chinese politics, envi-ronmental policy, an independent research project about migrant worker access to healthcare in Beijing, and, during my first semester, an internship seminar that comple-mented a weekly internship with an interna-tional research NGO in Beijing’s business district. The IES experience was busy and sometimes tiring, but each activity was special and interesting. The teachers in my program were so talented, kind, and patient—a tribute to the type of society that China is. They be-came friends in addition to being teachers. The opportunity to live, study, observe society, and meet new people in China was unlike any other I have ever expe-rienced. Many of my peers from the program

became great friends, and we still keep in close contact. They shared this experience with me, seeing so many of the same sites, eating much of the same food, learning the same challenging language, and indulging in the China’s dynamic culture alongside me. These shared experiences will likely keep us close for many years to come.

Now a senior at Skidmore, I am seeking out various job and scholarship oppor-tunities that could allow me to return to Chi-na as soon as post-graduation. A Government and International Affairs double major, I hope to participate in international relations and development in China, doing my part to help maintain stability for this dynamic country during its unparalleled rise to global influ-ence, and continuing to strengthen Sino-US relations in the process.