Informational

More Informational, not much in the way of stories or anything like that. Mostly just updates

Finally Home

Well everyone, this experience has finally come to an end and I made it home safely. It was absolutely amazing to participate in this program and I learned a lot. I have so many people to thank for this amazing experience. First I should thank STEP for helping me pay for this experience, I’m not sure if I would have been able to afford it without this funding. Then I should thank Jian Laoshi and the rest of the Chinese Department, without him and the department this program would have never happened. I should also thank Jia Laoshi, who took her summer and decided to go to Suzhou China to teach us. I also want to thank all of my friends and family for their support throughout this whole process. Finally, and most importantly I should thank my parents, but not just for this Suzhou program, but for so many more things. They have always been there for me. They encouraged me to take risks, capitalize on opportunities, to learn from mistakes, and let me make my own decisions and supported me when I did. Going into my freshman year of high school, I decided to take a Chinese language course. My parents encouraged me to explore all the opportunities that it could offer, and it has led to wonderful experiences and adventures. Without their support, love , and encourage, I would have never been able to participate in a program like this.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this program a reality and have supported me along the way.

Heading Into the Final Stretch

Hello there everyone,

This is my last weekend here in China, I come back next Saturday. It’s going by quick, but there is still plenty to do!!

First, this weekend I am travelling a little on my own. First I am going to Nanjing, the city that I studied in my first time here. I’m going to spend a little time exploring and then I’m going to meet up with my host family for dinner! I haven’t seen them in 4 years, so there will be a lot of catching up to do. I’ll spend the night the night at their place and then the next morning I will go to Shanghai. In Shanghai, I will meet up with my TA from Mount Union named Sha. Some of you may know her, but for those who don’t she is the best! I am so excited to see her, I haven’t seen her since freshman year, so there is definitely a lot of catching up to do. Then I’ll come back to Suzhou Sunday night.

Next week I’ll be crazy busy. I have to finish what’s left of my normal homework, plus I need to do 2 presentations, 2 papers, and my community service project. My two presentations are on my latest research project and also one on my life in Suzhou. My current research project is on what apps/websites Chinese people use to watch movies online.  For that I have to interview 20 people, create a slideshow, give a presentation, and then write an 8-10 page paper. Then my other paper will be on my community service project, which we will all do as a group. We are going to sit down with firefighters on Wednesday and talk, get to know them, and of course thank them for their service. It’s not really community service in the traditional sense, but it counts and I think it will be a good way to get to know the community better. Then on Friday night, we are having a banquet to celebrate our time here in Suzhou. All of our professors, TA’s, and language partners will all be there to share one last meal. Then on Saturday I head home. It’s going to be a crazy week, but you better believe I’m going to get it all done and have some fun along the way.

This past week hasn’t been anything super special, but I have had fun and been learning. I have been hanging out with some friends here, played some pool, met some new people, and explored a little. This afternoon (Friday) we all went to a traditional opera house. It was actually really cool and I wish I had the time to see a show there, but with my travel plans I can’t make it happen.

I must admit that I have mixed emotions about coming home so soon. I am having fun here and learning quite a bit, but it’ll be nice to have a short break before heading back to OSU for RA training. I come home on one Saturday and then leave for school the next; time is really flying.

All I can do is enjoy the time I have left here and do a good job on the work that I have left. I’ll see you all soon!

What’s New With Me

Hello again Everyone, hard to believe it’s been over a week since I have posted last, so my apologies for waiting for so long. It’s been one of those weird weeks where it felt so long in the moment but last Sunday doesn’t seem all that long ago. This week has forced me to do a bit of planning as I have so much left to do but I have only 2 weeks left here. My time here is quickly coming to an end, but I have so much work and travelling left to do. But before I can really get into what I have left to do, I should probably tell you what I have been doing since I last posted.

It’s about 6:30 PM on Sunday July 19th as I sit here writing this, I’ve just spent most of my day writing the rough draft of my research report for my latest research project. That’s pretty much been the story of my week, that research project. This time around, because I had less time to do it, I picked a simpler research topic, but I think that it’s still fairly important. This time I researched how college students watch movies. I interviewed 9 people about what kind of movies they watch, when they watch them, how many they watch a week, how they watch them, and would they watch banned movies (yes, in China they do ban movies. In America they ban books as well.).

All of the work that I put into this project just wore me out though, so I had a pretty relaxed weekend. Friday night and almost all of Saturday I spent watching movies and relaxing. I did go out on Saturday night for dinner and spent a little time at Jinji Lake, but overall it was a very relaxing and quiet weekend.

Next weekend will not be that way at all. Sometime in the next two weeks I need to do some sort of community service project and write a report about it. Next weekend I’ll be doing some travelling. Sometime on Saturday I’ll leave from Suzhou and ride the train to Nanjing. I’ll spend most of the the afternoon exploring all of the places that I used to hang out and then that night I plan on treating my host family to dinner to say thank you for putting up with me everyday for 5 months. Sometime on Sunday I’ll take a train from Nanjing to Shanghai to visit my TA, Sha from Mount Union. At Mount Union, I was in a special Chinese language program and the university put us all 10 of us in this one house with our TA, so we all became quite close with her. I’m so excited to see my host family and Sha again!!

It should all be fun, but quite tiring on top of school work and our new research projects. This trip will be over before I know it, and I have mixed emotions about this trip ending. On the one hand, I love being in China, eating real Chinese food, and speaking Chinese everyday. I can definitely tell that my Chinese has improved a bit since I’ve gotten here. However, as I get further along in my academic career, I find myself with more and more responsibilities, leaving less time time to spend with my family and friends. I must admit that I am really looking forward to getting back so that I can spend a week with my parents and see some friends before I move back into school.

I think now I’m going to actually post some of my pictures. Stay posted gang.

*Edit: Due to some technical difficulties, pictures won’t be put up tonight

As always, I welcome any emails that you want send me and will answer any questions that you have about what’s going on!

See you all soon!

 

-TR

The Week in Review

I can’t believe that it has already been a week since I lasted posted. So many things have happened this week both in and out of class. I have started a new research topic, I’m now researching how Chinese college students watch movies.  I’ve been working hard in class, especially on the Chinese-American relations book. It is a lot of work, but it’s paying off. I can already tell that my Chinese is improving.

Outside of the classroom, I have been exploring the city and meeting people. On Wednesday night I went to this really fancy mall that I found and did my homework in the Starbucks. However, on the outside there were these strange carts that you could drive that were basically a wide cylinder in the center with 1 wheel that was the same size as the cylinder on each side, allowing you to drive it. It is almost like a rough prototype for the gyrosphere from Jurassic World. It was pretty fun to drive! Afterwards I met up with some friends and had a great night.

The next day after class a few of us went to the lake with our tutors and treated them to dinner and ice cream to thank them for putting up with us trying to learn Chinese. It was a lot of fun, at the lake we rented those peddle cars again and rode around. Then we went to Cold Stone Creamery and Pizza Hut. It was a great time!

Then on Friday I played some ultimate frisbee with some people on campus. It was so darn hot and humid but it was a lot of fun. Later that night we all went to a bar and began to celebrate the 4th of July. I would be lying if I said that we didn’t sing the National Anthem while walking down the streets of China.

Today, the 4th of July, I plan on going out with some of my friends and our tutors to sing karaoke and then get dinner. It should be a good time! Today will be the last day that we see them before they go home and we get new tutors. They’ll leave for home while we go on our study trip.

On Monday morning we will leave for our study trip to Hangzhou, Nanjing, and then Shanghai. I am so excited to go back to Nanjing, it has been 4 years since I have been there and I have missed it there. It will be so nice to see that wonderful city again.

I hope that you all have a wonderful 4th of July! I’ll be home again soon! I’ll keep you updated on my life here is going!

Till next time

This Past Week

This past week has gone by so fast and so many things happened. This past week I had to do a research project and present my findings. For this project I chose the topic of “How American Pop Culture Effects the Youth of China” (美国流行文化对中国年轻人的影响). For this project, I had to go and interview people around Suzhou about their thoughts and feelings towards American pop culture. I sort of got the results that I expected, but not entirely. They mostly said that movies have the most influence on Chinese youth, but it wasn’t as large of a majority as I was expecting it to be. The hardest part about it all was either finding the courage to ask random strangers their thoughts on this or the presentation of my results, I’m not sure which. Overall though, I’d like to think that my research was successful and it might be the start for my research in the future for the OSU Flagship program.

Even though I was working hard on my research, I did get to have some fun this week. On Thursday night, I watched “The Big Lebowski” with one of my classmates who had never seen it before. Friday night after all of our presentations were done, we went and explored the city a little bit together. We found a really cool sports bar that has a couple of pool tables and western food, so we had some fun and a little change of pace when it comes to food. Saturday morning our class and our language tutors all went to a nearby mountain and hiked to the top. It wasn’t that tall and it had a path on it so it wasn’t too difficult. It was really nice though because it a drizzling the whole time and it kept me cool. The view from the top was so pretty, especially when you watched the fog blow over the mountains. It was such a beautiful sight and I wish I had a better camera to capture that moment. Saturday night a few of us all hung out together and had a pretty quiet night. We played some cards and shared a few laughs, so I have to say that this weekend was a big success all around. Today, however, will be nice, relaxing, and productive.

I’m really excited for a couple of weeks from now when we go on our study trip. We will all go to Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Shanghai. For those of you who don’t know (which is probably very very few of you at this point because some of my friends have told me that I never shut up about it, haha) that the first time I was in China, I lived in Nanjing for 5 months and went to high school there for a semester. I haven’t seen Nanjing in 4 years and I am so excited to go back and see the old stomping grounds.

Unfortunately, I have to wrap this up and go be productive today. Have a good one everyone!

We Made It!

I am officially safe and sound in China. Although Chicago o’Hare tried to make me as late as possible with a broken plane, I have made it to Suzhou. Almost the whole group is here and we got a nice dinner together. I must say, it feels good to be back. Tomorrow is orientation and the day that I get a Chinese phone number!

I can’t wait to hit the ground running with learning Chinese. I feel as though I’m already getting a little better just by having to speak the language to do anything.

I’m so pumped about everything that’s happening and will happen during this study abroad experience.

The only negatives about this program is that I missed my Grandpa’s birthday and that I will miss my Dad’s birthday as well. Luckily, thay are just as excited for this opportunity as I am.

If any of you ever want to contact me, please feel free to email me or to add me on wechat!

Have a good one!

Here It Comes

The time has arrived for the long flight. Luckily I have a good seat so I can get up and move around. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be 12 hours ahead of you and in China!

Time to go. Have a good day everyone!

And So It Begins

Today is the day; I’m flying to China today. My morning started at 5:30 AM so I can catch my flight. I’m leaving from Cleveland and flying to Chicago O’Hare. At O’Hare I will have a short layover before I fly to Shanghai Pudong. I will land in Shanghai at 2:05 on Sunday afternoon local time, which for those in our eastern time zone is 2:05 AM Sunday.  Then I’ll have to wait in the airport for a couple of hours to catch a bus to Suzhou, which will take about another 2-3 hours. I’m in for a long day, but it will be worth it.

What This Is All About

Hello,

Thanks for visiting my blog! I plan on keeping it updated somewhat regularly (as long as the Great Firewall allows it). For those of you who don’t know who I am or my story, I’ll give you a quick introduction. My name is Trey Rainey, a senior at Ohio State University. I am double majoring in International Studies and Mandarin Chinese.

You’re probably wondering what this is all about, so let me explain. This summer I will be taking extremely intense Chinese Language classes at Suzhou University in China this summer! Classes start on June 15th and I fly there on this Saturday! It’s coming up quick but I’m excited. It will be a lot of hard work, but it will pay off for both my academic and future professional aspirations. While I’m there, I will have four hours of class and one hour with a language partner every day.  My classes will be:

08:00 AM-08:50 AM Listening and Speaking 《体演苏州》

-Your basic Speaking and Listening Class

09:00 AM-09:50 AM Interview and report “学而时习之”，《研讨中美关系》

-Discussing lots of different topics with local Chinese people.

10:10 AM-11:00 AM Reading and composition application《研讨中美关系》

-Understand different hot topics from the Chinese perspective.

11:10 AM-12:00 AM Reading and composition development 《研讨中美关系》

-Also learn how to understand different hot topics from the Chinese perspective

Although this will be an invaluable experience for my future, it definitely has a dollar value today. Luckily for me, I was able to join STEP at Ohio State. STEP stands for Second-year Transformational Experience Program. The goal of STEP is to help second year students make their goals a reality by providing a grant of up to $2000. Without this grant, it would have been next to impossible for me to participate in this study abroad program.

I can’t wait for this experience to start! I’m excited to learn more and have a lot of fun! I’ll also try to post some pictures as well!

Thanks for reading, keep checking in for new updates!