Leaving China and the Wrap-up: Thanks Light!

The last week found everyone scrambling to buy souvenirs, see a little more of the city, and squeeze just a little more vocabulary into our heads. I barely the time to visit a high school friend staying with his grandparents in Beijing and find a few final presents for people back at home. The rest of my time was either nap-time or study time (睡午觉 was a Chinese custom that most of us enthusiastically 习惯 to). Friday came pretty quickly and before we knew it, classes were over. We concluded with our final Chinese table lunch, watching a slideshow and reminiscing. Here are a few photos of us and the teachers:

Nick while kneeling was still taller than some of the teachers...


Me and Xiao Li Laoshi (the pose was her idea heh)


哥们儿 with Xiao Tang and Zhou laoshi. I should've worn the program shirt, I know...


I was a little torn up: both because I was leaving China and because I rediscovered how early the next morning my flight was. That night after saying all my goodbyes and promising to email with my yuban, I slept for a short time and woke up extremely early to head to the airport. After being dropped off at the wrong terminal, I was pleased that I could use only Chinese to find my way to the right area for my flight. I hopped on the plane, and my time in China was officially over.

In the time I have had after my trip, I have realized that China is now a major interest for me: the memories and knowledge I gained on this trip aren't going away any time soon and I hope to return sometime in the near future, maybe even in the next summer if I can swing it. I've loved my experience, both because of the environment/people at DSIC and because of the sides of China that I would have never seen or understood without going there. It is my opinion that everyone at Yale who has even a small interest should take advantage of the Light Fellowship and the experience it allows you to have. This year I plan to get enthusiastically involved in another year of Chinese as well as other China/Asia-related classes and much of that should be credited to the Fellowship. Thanks to the Fellowship Staff and everyone else involved in helping me have such a great experience!