All the Right Ingredients

By Anushya Ramaswamy 2011

When I begin telling people of my summer in China, I usually start with a food analogy as Chinese food is so popular here in the US that it is hard for anyone not to relate to it. Yet most Americans, I know realize, have not tasted the real Chinese food. Few have had the immense pleasure of biting into a steaming pork dumpling smothered with chili sauce fresh from the bamboo containers, with a side of boiling hot beef noodle soup.

In much of the “Chinese” food found in the United States, the authentic essence of Chinese food is largely absent, and what is left over on your plate is a heavily diluted version of some of the most amazing dishes in the world.  Herein lies an important lesson:  without experiencing something at its source, it is very difficult to fully grasp the true essence, and dare I say flavors, of anything unless one ventures into the societies that create them.

This was exactly what a group of students at William and Mary (including myself) explored during a two-month summer program at TsingHua University in Beijing. We all took 12 credits worth of classes, including a reading and writing Chinese language class, a speaking and listening Chinese language class, a Chinese culture class as well as Taichi. The Chinese language classes and Taichi were taught by wonderful and highly qualified teachers from the Chinese university, whereas the culture class was taught by Professor T.J Cheng, a professor here in William and Mary. The language classes were long, but certainly never boring. The small number of people in each class, around nine, helped facilitate more teacher student interaction, and everyone began to notice his or her language skills improve at a dramatically faster rate. The Chinese culture class set the stage for our excursions, for example explaining the difference in culture between the north and south, which came in handy since our study tour literally took us from the northern tip to the very south. While on the study trip, we were fortunate enough to stay in beautiful cities and villages, experiencing a life vastly different from our own. All in all, the courses and study tour were wonderfully educative and interesting, a hard combination to achieve in any circumstance.

But we also learned about Chinese culture and society outside the classroom.  Jie Hou ’11 notes China offered “a new adventure in touring and in dining. Since we didn’t have a meal plan, we would have to go out and eat every day. That meant sampling all that Shanghai had to offer. There were Chinese, Japanese, Korean, American and Muslim noodle restaurants all within 15 minutes walking distance from our dorms”.  For her, the food was different from anything she had ever tasted in the US, and was largely surprised to realize she found the Chinese food in China much more appetizing and tasty than even her favorite fare at P. F. Chang’s.  Jie is not alone in her new found bliss; I have often found myself craving authentic pork dumplings when eating Chinese takeout with my family or friends.

Others earned memorable experiences through their travel.  Ariel Shah ‘10, a Government major, vividly recalls her excitement when she camped overnight on the Great Wall with her friends.  “We started out hiking towards the hills in the darkness and were led up the side of a small mountain by a farmer who had to have been over 60.  He seemed to jump up the path (and I use this word loosely) in leaps and bounds leaving all of us young people struggling to find sound footing in the darkness repeating “deng yi xia….deng yi xia” (wait a minute).”  The night on the Great Wall was terribly cold, but it was also an unforgettable sight. “In the daytime the wall may just appear to be a stone construction that shows the wear and tear of dynasties, but in the night, the Great Wall is a different story.  It is truly beautiful.  The darkness is pure, and in it the wall stands out like a pearl against the mountains.  The stars show in the sky above you.  The ridges extend into darkness.  The wall lines the hills in their trip to the edge of the earth.  And time stands still. You can just sit with the darkness and your thoughts and remember the things you never knew”.

Casual social encounters also enriched our experience.  When we visited a small city in Southern China called Jing De Zhen, teachers prompted us to eat at the KFC located within the local Wal-Mart. Initially struck with a feeling of déjà vu, many of us decided to avoid these American stores and seek a more “authentic” Chinese experience. Aaron Stein ’10, was one such peer. “After making our way to Wal-Mart and looking at the establishment with defeat, a group of us,” he noted, “decided to do things our own way.  After scanning the area, we noticed a group of college-aged looking students handing out fliers; figuring that they were local and accessible we decided to approach them. One of them, who called himself Rain, immediately volunteered to take us to his favorite restaurant. Walking through a path of rubble and passing by buildings that looked to be condemned, we finally made it to our destination, literally a hole in the wall. As we entered into the establishment Rain asked us what kind of meats we liked and then went and ordered for us. Not only was it probably some of the spiciest food I have ever tasted in my entire life, it was also easily some of the best. Nothing could have beat the food we had that night, nothing could have beat the guanxi (relationship) we made that night, and nothing could have beat the experience we had studying abroad”.

These kinds of experiences cannot be replicated within the confines of a classroom. Studying abroad is essential in terms of attaining a truly well-rounded education. Experiencing another culture, especially one as complex and different as the Chinese, is a great way of broadening educational as well as personal horizons. I learned more about Chinese culture during my two months in Beijing than the accumulated knowledge of the previous 18 years of my life. I realize none of this would have come about if not for the help I received from Reves Center, who were wonderful in introducing my classmates and myself to this program, making the paperwork hassle free, and most of all allowing students this amazing opportunity to study abroad.

I plan on returning to China as soon as possible, whether on vacation with my family or as a potential site for my future job. I remember every day in China as an adventure, albeit an educational adventure as the learning happening almost unconsciously.  In this day and age, there are few countries in the world that are more complicated, more fascinating, or more important than China. The hard part was never the language barrier, but simply making the conscious decision go study abroad in China.  But I promise you, once you do, the skills you gain and the experiences you have will make you not only more marketable in the business world, but also a much more interesting person than you ever were before. And that's what college is all about.