The returning students in my program are looked to as a source of knowledge the first couple days of class. They become your best friends when your realize they know where to find the closest ATM or how to order in the local restaurant. I admit last semester I relied heavily on the 老学生。However, the tables have turned for this new semester. All of the sudden I’m the wise guy on campus. I’m the guy who ends up leading tours to Wal-mart for some necessity shopping. Its a scary thought, I know!
Returning to China for a second time has allowed me to realize the progress I’ve made studying abroad. Remembering back to the first few days of first semester is almost scary with how little I knew. I’m glad to not have to go through that intense culture shock again. Hopefully, my progress will be even greater this semester knowing that I don’t have such a steep learning curve.
Time for a funny/disturbing/unfortunate story. I left the majority of my belongings in the basement of my dorm over winter break to avoid the hassle of lugging everything back to America and then to Europe. When I went to retrieve my luggage, I was told that there is a likely chance that all my stuff was infested with little mites. So I was told to spray my belongings with a “safe” insecticide. However, I wasn’t comfortable spraying down my clothes with an insecticide from China. So I opted to pour boiling water over all my clothes, wash my clothes and then let them dry. This process took a good four hours seeing as I had to boil the water with my teapot. This was definitely an unwelcomed start to the semester. I can only hope now that I got rid of the little guys.
