My STEP experience was composed of two parts: a week in Shanghai with a friend and three weeks in Dalian for a study abroad course.
While I was in Shanghai, I was staying with a close friend and her family. My friend, Yilu, and I explored her home city and she showed me all of her favorite spots. We visited the city center, Shanghai Museum, People’s Square, Nanjing Road, the Bund, a food department store, Yu Garden, and the Shanghai Zoo. It was amazing to see the similarities and differences between U.S. cities and Shanghai, especially since this was the largest city I had ever been to. Yilu’s family was wonderful and very welcoming. Her mom is an amazing cook and I loved all of the food she prepared. I had several long conversations with her dad while drinking tieguanyin (a type of oolong tea) during which we discussed education, economics, and culture. Shanghai is a beautiful city that cannot be completely explored in a single week and I can’t wait to return.
The next three weeks I spent studying public health at Dalian Medical University (DMU) in Dalian China. We were paired up with two students from DMU to help show us around campus and the near by city of Dalian. My partners, Xiaohui and Xioaqin, were not there for the first day, so another student, Suki, took care of me the first few days. Most of the first few days were spent getting to know our partners and the others on the trip. Suki and I spent a lot of time together, when we weren’t in classes, and Xiaohui joined her in showing me around the beautiful DMU campus.
The campus is located on the ocean about an hour outside the city of Dalian. There is a street not far from campus, called Seafood Street, where you can buy fresh seafood and take it to restaurants. Our favorite places in seafood street where a hot pot restaurant, a Korean BBQ restaurant, and an adorable stationary shop. Hot pot was a particularly special experience, because it is less about the food and more about the people. Before I left for China, a friend of mine, who had been to China several times, gave me 50 yuan with the express instructions to use it for hot pot. I didn’t understand why until we went. Hot pot is a meal that can take around 3 hours to eat, because it involves cooking the food in a pot of boiling broth as you eat. The whole point is not just the food, it is the friends with whom you share the meal that matter. Everyone who came along to the meal left better friends. The food was amazing too.
I did get the chance to explore Dalian during one weekend when most of our group went to Beijing. Dalian is a beautiful city, but it is really a city under construction. There are sky scrapers and apartment buildings going up everywhere in the city, but that does not detract from the city itself. During our adventure through Dalian, we visited Xinghai Square and road two and three person bikes around the park. it was a lot of fun and more difficult than I expected. We also visited Russia street, which showed the influences of the former Russian colonies in northern China. Later on, we also visit several historic sites in Lüshun and the Dalain Zoo.
Besides touring around and eating, we were there for a class on public health. The course was mostly an introductory course on global public health and we got to listen to several lecturers form DMU. I am currently studying engineering and it was really interesting for me to see how important public health is in our lives. It was also interesting to see how the public health system in China has developed over the last 20 year. During our class, we visited the local CDC, EPA, a community clinic, and a cardiac hospital. Dalian is leading the way in many public health initiatives, some of which are worth bringing home to the U.S.
I was very sad to leave China at the end of May. I miss my new friends, the cities, the culture, and the food; but I now know international travel is not scary and can’t wait to see more of this amazing country. I’m not sure what I was expecting from Shanghai and Dalian, but it surprising in almost every way. China is a amazing welcoming country, with fascinating history and culture. My experience there has only made me want to travel more and reinforced my thoughts about how it is possible to really connect with people who seem very different from ourselves.
In the future, I want to study and do research around the world. There are a plethora of perspectives and ideas that people around the world have to share. I can’t wait to build new relationships and learn more about the world through traveling and international cooperation. Also, I can’t wait to go back to Shanghai and visit, Yilu’s family again.