This summer, on the other side of the world, some young Americans couldn't help the fact that they stood out almost everywhere they went. As part of a study abroad program, an ambitious group of UB students lived, studied, learned and explored in Chinese cities amidst the coming of the Summer 2008 Olympics.
For a total of eight weeks students attended the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) in Beijing, living in international dorms for a majority of the trip.
One of the trip's highlights came when students in the program were invited to attend a ceremony for the opening of the Summer Olympics, said Sarah Bohn, a senior communications major who participated in the program. The ceremony's attendees included the Prime Minister of Greece and the President of China.
"It was a small venue-so small that we were sitting only about 20 feet from [the Greek prime minister and Chinese president]," Bohn said.
Yongbo Tian, a linguistics professor and faculty guide to, gets students off campus and into the city at the very start of every trip to prepare them for eventually doing it on their own.
"Some of them may run into difficulty, but that's part of the experience," Tian said.
According to Tian, students were very interested in the local market as shopping and bargaining became a large part of their language and cultural education.
"Our bargaining got better as our speaking got better," said Lisa Nelson, a senior linguistics major and CUFE student.
Students got a bit of a culture shock when they realized that residents were only allowed to drive on certain days and that some amenities they considered normal weren't available, Tian said.
"There's a lack of paper products like toilet paper and napkins," said Alexander Strait, a senior media study major and program participant.
"No one uses dryers in China," Bohn said. "We washed our clothes in the bathtub and hung them to dry."
Nelson said the food was cheaper and better than American food and that she was in awe of Chinese art.
"The terra cotta soldiers were breathtaking," Nelson said. "There are so many of them and each one has a different face."
Culture shock went both ways as students drew attention from the locals when they left the campus to explore outside of tourist areas, according to Bohn.
"People were just in awe," Bohn said. "Some people would look like they were talking on their phones, when in fact they were taking pictures of us."
So many pictures were taken of the students that some began to circulate among locals. Nelson told the story of a man who worked at the local market and one day showed her a picture that had been sent to him on his phone. The image was Nelson and her travel companions at Tiananmen Square.
Despite all the cultural excitement, students had to focus on their progress in learning the language. Every participant took a language pledge in which they promised to speak Chinese all the time, even outside of the classroom, according to Tian.
"When I arrived in China I had pretty much no idea how to speak Chinese," Strait said. "Now I am able to participate in conversations."
Class lasted from 8 a.m. to noon with an hour for lunch and then another one to two hours of speaking practice, Nelson said.
Students witnessed the intense daily preparation for the Olympics.
"The entire city was under construction," Strait said. "Nothing could be on the street. I saw a man playing violin on the sidewalk and the police made him leave."
According to Tian there was a special amount of activity in Beijing this past summer in light of the Olympics.
"This summer was just crazy," Tian said. "So many foreigners moving to Beijing to learn Chinese and so many Chinese trying to learn English."
The study abroad program departed back to the U.S. only days before the Olympic Games due to the cost of travel and heightened security; however, some of the travelers hadn't had enough, according to Tian.
"Some of them stayed in China when we all left," Tian said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
