Author: kpowers@rollins.edu

By the end of my trip in Shanghai, I found that there were three overarching themes that I drew from my stay. Here’s a list of top thing I would tell anyone who wants to study abroad in China, or really anywhere: 1. Be Flexible – There’s a saying that I learned early on this…

My favorite experience in China was going to Beijing and visiting the Great Wall of China. There is definitely a reason for why they call it one of the Seven Wonders of the World. One of the best pieces of travel advice I can give to someone wanting to plan a trip to China is…

When you move to a big city the first thing you’re going to do is get lost. You will probably get lost almost every single day for the first couple of weeks. Especially if you’re taking public transportation. And even more so if think you’re too good to use a map like I did. But…

Adjusting to Shanghai was the harshest learning curve of my life. In my first week out of orientation, I quickly began to realize that without the immediate guidance of one of the locals, I was leagues away from being able to function. For that reason most people around you will try to give you a…

“Clearly she was expected to say something, but panic at having to speak stole the thoughts from her head.” ― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl When living in China, it’s important that you try to communicate as much as possible in Chinese, especially with the locals. But don’t, under any circumstance, say things unless you’re…

“Shanghai is (relatively) one of the safest cities in the world,” this is a quote from one of the wonderful Chinese roommates who volunteered to live with us for the rest of the semester. He gave me this fun little nugget of knowledge on my first full day in China, and admittedly when I heard…

“Every week in Shanghai is a fun new challenge,” I say as I smile through gritted teeth. Fun fact: central heating isn’t really a thing in Shanghai, a harsh truth that I was told about earlier in the semester, but hadn’t given much thought to. Especially, since the weather has been pretty hot and humid…

The past couple of months I have been preparing for arguably the biggest and most exciting trip of my life. It’s not every day that a 20-year-old just up and leaves for several months in Shanghai, but here I find myself, doing just that. Obviously an undertaking like this is going to require some preparation,…