My Adventures in Beijing, China: Summer 2015

I can still clearly remember the first time I met Leslie Dong in class and how after talking for a couple of minutes, she told me about the student run program that she had developed. I can also remember how enthusiastically she talked about Global Student Initiative and told me that the program was planning on traveling to Beijing during the summer. As a college student and aspiring journalist, one of my biggest dreams has always been to travel the world and experience different and unique cultures from the ones that I am normally accustomed to. Even though I had many times thought about traveling, China is the one place that never crossed my mind. Not that I wasn’t interested in going to China, but I simply didn’t know much about it. This is why when Leslie told me about this summer trip I immediately became interested and intrigued. I began to think of what my experiences would be like if I went to China.
As I began to imagine the type of culture, people, food and traditions that I would encounter in this country, immediately I could feel the blood rushing through my body while she told me about the trip. I got that unexplainable feeling when you become excited or anxious about something. What I felt while Leslie told me about GSI and the trip to China is what ultimately convinced me to become one of the group members of the program.
As I mentioned earlier, Global Student Initiative is a student run program/internship that focuses on topics such as politics, healthcare and education, and how these issues affect different parts of the world. GSI (The American team) is a student group that is composed of students who go to school in the U.S. What’s amazing about GSI and ultimately made me feel like I had made the right decision by joining is that everyone in the program is unique and diverse in their own way. Everyone from GSI comes from a different background which is what made us become close to one another. Since everyone in the program is so different, each and every single one of us has something different to offer which always makes things interesting and fun. Some members of GSI are fluent in languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese and even Spanish like myself. GSI celebrates diversity and inclusivity.
GSI is an exchange type of program that is supposed to expand and benefit the minds of both the American and Chinese students. In order for us to get the best experience in Beijing, we worked closely with a team of students who reside in China. Everyone from the China team is fluent in English which definitely made things easier for people like myself who aren’t fluent in the language. Upon our arrival to China, we will be meeting with our Chinese team so that we can do hands on activities in the country which will give us an authentic experience in China. A few weeks after the American team visits Beijing, the Chinese team will travel to Boulder so that they can experience and study the issues that affect our country.
I must admit that going through the process of planning this trip to China was both challenging and rigorous, but today as I type this in the airplane I know that all of my time, effort and work will be worth it. As one of the three marketing representatives for GSI, my job along with my two other peers was to find ways to fund our program through sponsors and fundraisers. All of this might not sound too difficult, but it was definitely challenging trying to find sponsors, then informing them about GSI and lastly, convincing them about why it would be beneficial for both parties if they supported GSI. The marketing team is not the only team that spent long hours and worked hard on creating a successful and effective program. The planning and finance teams also played a key role. The planning team had to come up with activities and ideas that they believed would be beneficial for the Chinese team for when they visited us in Boulder this summer. They were in charge of contacting local businesses and organizing the program for the Chinese team. The finance team had to manage the expenses of the trip and find affordable solutions that were within reach of our budget. All three teams of GSI played a key role in creating an educational, fun and eye opening program.
A personal challenge that I encountered while trying to get everything ready for my was getting my visa so that I could enter the country. I don’t even know how many days, weeks and even months I spent trying to get my Chinese Visa. This alone was a process of it’s own that gave me so many headaches. I wish that the process of getting a Chinese visa was less difficult and affordable. After trying multiple times with different online visa services I found out that the Chinese Embassy was in Chicago, and coincidentally I was going to be in the windy city to visit my family. At the time I thought that it was a perfect idea for me to go to the Chinese embassy in Chicago to get my visa. Sadly, I was very wrong. I spent almost an entire day at the embassy filling out paperwork only to find out that it was a requirement for me to type all of my documents. I was greatly disappointed when I went to the front window and was told that I couldn’t get my visa. At this point I was very frustrated and angry at the rigorous process of obtaining a visa. It was not until I got back to Denver that I had to start my visa process again. I applied and paid for my visa only about 3 weeks before coming on this trip and honestly I was very afraid that I wasn’t going to get it on time. Fortunately, I received it just on time and everything worked out perfectly.
Today as I write this in the airplane while some noisy kids in the row behind me kick my seat, I reminisce about the many months of hard work and dedication that all of us put into developing and planning this trip. After many months of anticipation the day to leave for Beijing, China has arrived. Even though I knew that this day was coming, I don’t think I was quite fully prepared for this long and extensive trip. I must admit that the sooner this day approached, the less I tried to think about it. I knew that if I spent too much time thinking about it I would just become stressed and overwhelmed.
This morning I had to wake up at around 4:45 a.m and get ready for my flight which was scheduled to leave at 8:00. I must admit that waking up was very difficult because not only was it very early, but I was feeling extremely nervous and anxious. I knew that today was the day in which I was going to leave my comfort zone and travel to a foreign country which I know is nothing like what I am used to. As I left my house I tried to think of anything that I might be forgetting, but as I found that nothing was missing, I left my house with my family at around 5:30.
The thing that I hate the most about traveling is checking in my luggage and going through security. Fortunately, all of that tedious process went smoothly. What didn’t go so smoothly was when I tried to exchange US dollars into the Chinese currency (yuan). Before I went through security, I exchanged money only to find out a couple minutes later that the lady at the window had given me the Japanese currency instead of the Chinese one. Luckily, my parents caught the mistake and immediately they called me before I boarded my plane. I was able to get the correct currency at the gate where I was going to catch my flight.
I’ve lost track of how long I have been on this plane, but I know it’s been somewhere close to almost 8 hours. I feel hungry, tired and excited all at the same time. I am looking forward to the memories and friendships that I will be creating in Beijing, China. I will try to document every single day of this trip, or at least every other day. I will be sure to take lots of pictures. I’m excited and nervous for what is yet to come.