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Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Intercultural Reflection

Having an opportunity to study on an exchange program in Beijing, China, has been one of the

greatest experiences in the pursuit of my International Studies career. Indeed, this has been a life

moment to make such a big impact on the world around me as I wished. My line of study has

often pushed me to seek opportunities of discussing politics, economics, and culture with citizens

of other countries. For that reason, this academic exchange program bestowed me the chance and

greatly impacted on the way I see the world. My interaction with students of diverse cultures in

Beijing educated and helped me to generate the kind of understanding that exists amongst the

citizens of the world. It gave me the power to cooperate with persons of different cultural

backgrounds in a way that lessened cultural myopia amongst us. My attitude and knowledge

have changed tremendously and in a meaningful way following this exchange experience. I can

tell that I have developed this because I have learned a great deal about the Chinese culture and

broadened my horizons. More encouraging, this lucky chance has largely increased my

capability to deal with cultural differences.

I can attest that the cultural experience in Beijing made an impact on the way I see people

of other nations. For the one month I was in China, the professors I met therein fundamentally

changed the way I see others and most importantly, the way I see myself. The professors were
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cultural ambassadors in a way. They helped me to learn and improve myself for that short period

of academic cultural exchange. Owing to their guidance, I was able to interact more intensively

and more frequently with the local people. I never experienced any feeling of disorientation.

Instead, I came to understand a number of aspects of the Chinese culture that appeared

particularly attractive. For instance, I loved the mentality of the Chinese students. They gave an

impression of the school as an important place for them and it seemed that each one of them was

driven and ambitious. In my life, I had never seen such passion in students before. It was

motivating and refreshing and the experience made me feel right at home. Another thing that

captivated me in Beijing was the polarity of the city. The place was alive with ancient villages,

shopping, lights, and lively people, all of which fascinated my attention. I could not stop thinking

and believe that I was actually in China at that moment. I found myself lowering my camera and

stopping a number of times and I loved learning about the new culture of the Beijing people.

I believe my exchange program in China as a student of International Studies included

various aspects such as life lessons that cannot be taught in the classroom, challenges, and

academics. During my time in Beijing, I traveled around landmarks such as the Forbidden City,

The Temple of Heaven, and The Great Wall. However, I faced a little culture shock all through

my exploration. The greatest challenge was adjusting to the diet, bearing in mind the fact that the

Chinese foods were drastically different from the diet back in my homeland. Mealtimes were

truly a nightmare experience. I anticipated simple foodstuffs like the jelly sandwich and peanut

butter but to my surprise, I met noodles, among other weird foods, which gave me hard time by

constantly slipping from the grip of my chopsticks. Later on, I became accustomed to the foods

but another happenstance subjected me to unfamiliar culture once again despite having an

incredible time in general. As I mentioned before, it was somehow easy to interrelate with the
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local people because at some point, I had started learning the Chinese language and I could speak

it, though not with the fluency it deserved. The two professors I talked about in advance also

helped me with these interactions. However, I had a twist of taste when I met another student

from India who was equally on an exchange program and could neither speak my native

language nor communicate in the first language of the Chinese people. I bumped upon this

student at nightfall when I lost direction to the University Business Center. I needed someone to

help me track my way and this Indian student was the only person at my sight at that particular

time.

The happenstance with the Indian student was an intercultural encounter that was

particularly critical of the use of language. It was unfortunate that none of us understood each

other. Perhaps the student was a Hindi speaker because as I struggled to convey my message to

him, it seemed he never understood anything. I could not get any meaningful information from

him owing to the language barrier. It was certainly an awful experience that I found difficult and

astounding. In that regard, it left me thinking of how I could enroll in a program to learn the

Hindi, or maybe the Punjabi language, in the near future. It was difficult to cope with the Indian

student and for that reason, I had to wait longer for a local person to come by and guide me to the

Business Center. Through this experience, I discovered that doing a study exchange could be an

uphill task at some point irrespective of the entire experience being incredibly great.

Nonetheless, I learned something new from every obstacle I encountered and every mistake I

made. The Beijing moment was a good time to meet new people, take part in new events, and

explore my interests and talents by putting my words into action. For instance, I had time to read,

participate in various activities, and discuss my ideas with other students of the Chinese outfit. I

am happy that I took the challenge to act and never accepted to be afraid of making mistakes.
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I was very much contented with my relationship with the local students. Even though I

could not speak their language very confidently, the best way I continued practicing was to make

local friendships with them. I was neither embarrassed nor shy; I just had to put myself out there

and the confidence helped me to develop day-to-day conversational skills that finally made me

feel at home. Whenever I was alone, I watched movies in the local language, reviewed class

notes, and played around with language-learning apps. I remember downloading the DuoLingo

app to maintain the brightness of my basic vocabulary. It was an easy and enjoyable way to

double-check my skill set whenever I had downtime. Accents can be tough when speaking a

foreign language because persons cannot want to feel like they are mocking the foreigners in

their host country, or feel like they are overdoing the language. This was my greatest surprise in

regard to the Chinese language; I learned extremely fast day after day and adjusted according to

the right accent. Thus far, I can deal with cultural differences without fear and I believe an

opportunity to study on an exchange program in Beijing was one of the greatest experiences in

my career line of International Studies.