1. My international experience to date is:
To this date I have been to a number of countries in the Western hemispere, not yet have I ventured to the Eastern hemisphere. I have been to Mexico, multiple islands in the Caribbean, Jamaica, and Bermuda. None of these; however, were educational experiences, they were all family trips or on occasion with my dad for medical conferences.
2. I want to go to China because:
China is a rapidly expanding and developing nation, it is a process that happens to only a handful of nations in a lifetime and I would like to not only see the finished product (America) but the road taken to that product. Additionally, seeing a culture so divergent from my own should be a fascinating experience.
3. I think the main professional work differences I will experience will be:
I have no basis for this idea, but I anticipate a lot of the work environment to be much more formal than in the United States, I always assumed that the U.S. had a relatively lax work environment. This is solely based on my past work experiences, which consist of working a summer job with a handful of other teenagers. Having never experienced the true work environment in the U.s. it is hard to guess what will discern the two.
4. I think the main cultural differences I will experience will be:
I think there will be too many differences to identify just one, but if I had to guess (which I do) I would think the cuisine and sanitation are the two big ones. As was said in the lecture, at the university they have limited amounts of hot water time and much less equipped rooms. As far as food goes, I assume there are much less strict regulations so you can experience a wide variety of foods.
5. I think the main political differences I will experience will be:
Being that it is under a communist leader forces me to assume that is the biggest difference. Not seeing businesses operate in a free market but under the leadership of the government is sure to pose some sort of stark contrasts. Whether or not we actually see the implications of a closed market is beyond me.
6. I think the students in China will be:
In high school, we had foreign exchange students from China attend our school. Since it was a relatively small school we all got to know each other. The differences were minimal if any, they enjoyed playing basketball, listened to similar styles of music, and complained about homework. I don't see the students we meet in China being drastically different than us except for the language spoken.
7. I predict I will be surprised to find:
I'm not certain how to predict what will surprise me, perhaps the clothes they wear and the styles of clothing that they appreciate. When the foreign exchange students visited in high school they wore brands and styles that were unbekownst to me. Also, I am very curious to see what the night life for a Chinese college student is like compared to that of a college student in the United States.
8. I think the major differences in living conditions will be:
It would have definately been the restricted hot water times if were were staying in the dorms. Since we are staying in a hotel I don't anticipate that many differences. I am not sure what to expect with the living conditions because I know Beijing has parts that rival the upper echelons anywhere and, like any city, have parts that are hard to look at much less live in.
(optional)9. Anything else you want to say:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX