Chao Wang visits Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for a traditional Thanksgiving weekend.
Many study abroad students need some time to decompress from their eye-opening, often transformative experiences to realize what they’ve learned from their host country. Chao Wang is a little different. He’s only been living in the U.S. for three months, but he’s already able to reflect on the ways his experiences have made him examine issues of American life, happiness, faith and family.
A sophomore electrical engineering student, Chao came to Poly through its 1-2-1 Joint Degree Exchange Program which “aims to encourage academic and cultural exchange” by having students study at their home university for one year, two years at Poly, and then their final year at their home university. Chao’s home university is the South West Jiaotong Unviersity in Chengdu, China.
1-2-1 students are encouraged to participate in activities outside of the classroom to enrich their learning. In November, Chao decided to volunteer at a Sunday breakfast for seniors at New York Methodist Hospital in Park Slope. Chao has volunteered before in China. Naturally, though, this volunteering experience was quite different.
Chao was paired with a woman who came to America in the 1930s. “We talked about daily life, food and music,” says Chao who enjoyed being able to learn about a specific, personal story of America. “It was different from what I learned in China,” he says.
A couple of weeks later, Chao took a bold step in his pursuit of learning about American culture by attending a four-day trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving organized for international students like Chao.
In nearly every way, the world that Chao visited for those four days was diametrically different from his world back home. His host family are active Christians who speak of their faith openly; Chao comes from a traditionally atheist culture. The children, parents and grandparents of the host family play board games and joke around with each other; in China, children are “in awe” of their elders, speaking little to them let alone goofing around with them.
Chao was “very impressed” by his host family and how their approach to life “makes them happy.” In a letter to his host family, he wrote:
I think your happy life must have something to do with your faith. I could not understand your religious faith before…I thought religious faith is a way to avoid exploring the true meaning of life. I thought people with religious faith lived blindly, throwing everything about meaning of life to their God.
…
I always tell myself that I am happy enough because I have food and water, I don’t have disease, and I even can study abroad…My idea is influenced by the traditional Chinese culture very much. The leaders in Confucianism said that people should take the social responsibility before others take it and enjoy happiness after others have happiness.
From Chao’s letter and in speaking with him, it’s clear that he has been changed by his recent experiences. It’s also clear that he is on a journey of discovery, one that has just begun.
Chao’s makes his first gingerbread house with his host family.
Chao and his fellow study abroad students on their four-day trip.
Chao dives into the experience of fall in Pennsylvania.