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| At the FEA Reception in DC! |
Well I've officially been home for three months now. THREE. WHOLE. MONTHS. I can't believe it! At times, it feels like I was slurping down tangbao just yesterday. And at others, my entire experience is like a dream. But sometimes things happen that remind me that, no, it wasn't a dream. And that makes me smile.
Last week, I was SUPER fortunate to represent the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) at their 4th Annual Reception in Washington, DC! In addition to meeting all of the fabulous FEA supporters who helped make my semester in China a reality, I was able to talk with guests about my study abroad experiences.
The event was located in a quaint gallery in Washington, DC. And after Google Maps gave me a not-so-accurate time estimate, I arrived at the location 1.5 hours early, and was left to wander the streets of DC on my own. After initially getting over the bitter cold wind and popping into a Starbucks with a oh-too-long line, I started to get the familiar excited jitters I got when wandering the streets of Shanghai, Beijing, or any other major Chinese city.
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| Overlooking the Rice Terraces in Guilin, China |
Although I grew up in the DC suburbs my whole life, I am far from familiar with the city. The tall DC skyscrapers and office buildings looked just as foreign to me as the inner workings of Shanghai. I wandered down one, two, three blocks before running into an intersection with piles of people milling around--I had forgotten the work day had just ended!
As I contemplated my decisions of where to turn next, I decided to just walk until I found a suitable coffee shop (I mean, there has to be a Starbucks nearby, right?). I passed a library that didn't seem to be open to the public, a few conference centers, and a LOT of office buildings before wandering into, guess where?
Chinatown.
How appropriate. Here I was, with a backpack chucked full of every Chinese trinket I could find in my dorm room, donned in my grandmother's traditional Chinese dress, and planning to spend my entire evening talking about China. And I had walked right into the middle of DC's Chinatown!
I greedily ran into the Chinatown Starbucks and ordered a hot chocolate before climbing the spiral staircase to sit at a table overlooking the classic Chinese arch.
And I realized that I don't have to be half-way around the world to find novelty. It exists right here and right now. There's amazing things happening in my own neighborhood that I don't even know about. Being a wanderer isn't exclusive to international travel. There's places right next door for me to wander, to explore, and to cherish. I can be challenged here. And I want to be.
So I sat and drank my hot chocolate, and reflected on the past 18 months of my life. 18 months were I had traveled to Indonesia, Guatemala, and China. 3 places I would have never envisioned myself only a few short years ago. They were awesome, and they built me into the travel-loving, risk-taker, perpetuous explorer that I now am. They aren't isolated experiences that I can push away and forget about when I come home. They are a part of me, and I am glad.
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For the rest of the evening, I mingled and talked with the many FEA donors who were excited to hear from the students they were supporting. I even got to meet MD Representative Chris Van Hollen! Check out a few pictures from the event below (courtesy of FEA):
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| Me with my Education Abroad Advisor |
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| Me with MD Representative Chris Van Hollen |
Labels: Fund for Education Abroad, my story, travel