Reflections of my 2011 China Summer Camp Adventure ~ by Sherry Chen

9/8/201111:22:53 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

abroad, camp, china, ni hao, summer, summer camp, teach, xie xie

I’m not quite sure what word I would use to describe my adventures this summer. Exciting? Unexpected? Hectic? Spontaneous? Rewarding?

All of those words are fitting, I think, when I reminisce about the days I spent rushing from class to class, brainstorming interesting lesson plans for the students, and interacting with them on a day-to-day basis. While I’ve come to China more times than I can count on my fingers, this year’s experience was definitely one of a kind! While upholding the position as an English teacher for the Cultural Embrace summer program, I discovered so much more about this country and the people that live in it than I would have ever known had I just remained a tourist.

The greatest part of this trip was definitely the friendships I formed not only with other foreign teachers and the Chinese staff working at the school, but also with the students, some of whom were not much younger than me. These memories of bonding and working with people you would have never met had you not made the adventurous leap are the ones worth remembering and keeping for a lifetime!