Week 1: Shanghai, China

As week one comes to a close, I’m getting a lot more used to the culture and life here in Shanghai! It’s definitely a big transition from the foggy, sunny Bay Area but it’s a new experience that I’m very excited for. Life here in Shanghai is so much more different than I ever imagined. It surprised me on the mass of people actually living here along with the economy that they live in.

As being here for a week already, I noticed that laws here are so much more relaxed which makes everything different compared to the states. You’ll walk down the street and you’ll encounter numerous honking, mopeds whipping by on the street, people shouting, and just cars and people everywhere. It’s definitely something to get used to but at the end it all works out and functions way more smoothly than you’ll ever imagine.

Meeting new people is always fun and that’s just what it was, meeting my new friends, teachers, and host family. With never being with a homestay before, it was definitely a new experience. I thought it was going to be awkward and weird at first meeting my host family, but they turned out to be one of the nicest and most caring people I’ve ever met. We talked a lot about my family and life in general back in the states along with theirs here which was really cool learning about how life is so different here in Shanghai compared to America.

The local teacher is super nice as well and I think she maybe my new favorite teacher of all time! She makes the class super fun and two hours flies by in no time. As an American born Chinese, I am able get by the language barrier pretty well which makes talking to the locals so much easier. The classes here compared to the US are actually not alike at all. The classes here are aimed toward a more language usage type. They encourage you to talk to the locals and actually put your language knowledge to the use, unlike the states which is generated toward the vocabulary and structure of the language.

So far I’ve had a blast here in Shanghai, from laughing countlessly in my Chinese class to visiting famous landmarks like the Yu Garden and Shanghai Disneyland; I can tell that it’s only going to get better from here.

-Benjamin L.

'Global Navigator Voices' is a collection of blog articles and pictures by our very own high school study abroad participants. Follow their adventures before, during, and after their experiences abroad!