Shivam is from Saratoga, CA and participated in the Chinese Summer program 2019 in China.

As exciting as the prospect of studying abroad for an extended period of time is, there also many questions, concerns and worries. What food will I get to I eat? Will I get along well with my host family? Will I make friends? Will it be hard to learn the language? Questions like these tend to dominate one’s mind before embarking on a life-changing journey such as this one, at least for me they did. Each and everyone one of these concerns evaporated quickly as I became acquainted with my host family, teachers, language partners, and my fellow NSLI-Y participants.

Most days started out with me springing out of bed, excited to start the day! I'd get ready for school, and greet my family with ”早！” (Morning!) and proceed to the breakfast table. My host family would sit around the table, and I would get to eat a meal like I had never experienced before...at least for breakfast! The usual meal of hot dumplings and a glass of almost boiling water was something to get used to! I went to school with my ID and schoolbag in tow, greeting my friends and language partners. The days always started with a game of 乒乓球(ping pong!), a singles match, and as more people came in, it turned into a doubles match, and eventually an eight-player king of the hill game!

The next six hours were nothing short of an enlightening experience. Every day, the teachers, language partners, and my fellow NSLI-Y participants brought a level of enthusiasm and excitement in class that I have never witnessed. My teachers, Roy, and Bai Laoshi are probably some of the funniest and most interesting people I have ever met! As for the food at school, 回锅肉 (Twice steamed pork), and 西红柿炒鸡蛋 (Scrambled eggs and tomatoes) were my all-time favorites.

The six weeks went by fast, and were well above and beyond my expectations. Apart from improving my Chinese significantly, my most cherished memories were the people, the food, the sights, and of course, all the great friendships I made, Chinese and American!

If you are interested in languages, if you are interested in foreign cultures, and if you want a once in a lifetime experience, I highly recommend applying to the NSLI-Y program. Below are five special memories of my time in China.

我在中国的五个最佳的经历 大家好！我叫王傲。我住在加州，我2019年去了中国留学。我要告诉你们一些我在中国的经历。当我在中国的时候，我参观了很多有名的地方，学了很多中文，和中国文化，交了很多朋友。我在成都市双流县留学了六周。

去纽约以后，所有美国留学生都坐了飞机去北京！在北京，我们参观了一个非常有名的地方，就是中国最有名的名胜古迹，万里长城。我们坐了公交车去长城，然后我们在长城探索了。这个机会让我了解中国的历史，NSLI-Y前，我对中国的历史感兴趣，所以参观长城是一个特别的旅行。我们也看见了北京的市区了解中国的发达。

第二个记忆是我在成都跟我的接待家庭见面。在双流下车以后，所有美国留学生都去了跟他们接待家庭见面。这是一个特别的记忆，因为我跟我的第二个家庭见面了！随之而后，我和我的新家庭造成了个地久天长的友谊。 我每天早上跟我的接待家人吃早饭了，当我感冒了的时候，他们照顾了我。我很感谢他们的照顾。有的时候，吃晚饭以后，我跟我接待弟弟一起去了附近的小卖部买东西，然后我们建筑前面一起吃饭了谈谈人生，手机游戏，和学校。这些记忆永远住我心里。

在中国，我的课非常有意思！我的老师，白老师和Roy每天开心，所以这个总是让我和我同学满特别高兴。我们都很兴奋地学习，因为我们的老师们和语言伙伴很热心，也很周到。老师们和语言伙伴很幽默。我和一些同学们汇集Roy一些的些的特别搞笑的引述，离开成都以前，我们送给了一本有他的引述的书！我非常感谢我的老师们和语言伙伴。

去卡拉OK！我去了三次卡拉OK唱歌，很好玩！第一次去卡拉OK是跟我中文班的时候。学生，伙伴，和老师们都去了卡拉OK一起唱歌。我的老师，Roy，唱歌唱得很好，他特别喜欢阿姆。所有人都一起唱了一首非常有名的歌，就是”成都“。我们的中国朋友们唱了英文歌，和美国留学生唱了一些中文歌。我觉得卡拉OK或者唱歌让人们了解别的国家的文化，这件事情能成为一个文化交流。

所有我的美国同学们都很善良，很热情，很幽默，也很开朗！我跟我的朋友们一起去了很多有趣的地方，尝尝了不同的菜，和聊天了很多。我觉得我在中国交了我最好的朋友们之一。虽然我们是从不同的地方的人，我们都喜欢中国的语言，中国的文化。我跟我的美国朋友们的经历让我了解美国的多样。