Jessica Nikles
The 汉语桥 (Chinese Bridge Competition) observation 2011 was such an amazing trip. I went expecting to sit in a Chinese TV station for days and be part of the studio audience for this international version of the 汉语桥. Even though a free 10 day trip sounded like a sweet deal, I was a little worried about how much of China we would actually get to see and experience. But this trip totally exceeded my expectations in every way. I got to be part of a group of 100 students from 65 different nations, where sometimes the Chinese language was truly our only "bridge," or point of connection.
We visited some beautiful tourist spots, like the mountains where they filmed some of Avatar and ate local Chinese cuisine, like the traditional spicy Hunan food. On Chinese Valentine's day, we spent the day with a Chinese host family. We made 饺子(dumplings) in the morning, went rafting on a creek in the afternoon, and watched the 七夕节 (Chinese Valentine's day) fireworks in the evening, which was a perfect way to end such a fun day. We had lectures about Chinese language and culture, which was a great opportunity to practice my listening skills. The teachers encouraged us to speak in Chinese with each other, so this was a great way to practice speaking Chinese, too.
The memories that I made on this trip will forever be in my heart, as will the friends that I made on this unforgettable experience. 汉语桥，我爱你！(I love you, Hanyuqiao!)
