Junior Year Abroad – Caitlin Bailey’16 in Beijing

Caitlin Bailey’16 is a rising senior majoring in East Asian Studies and minoring in Economics. She spent a year in Beijing with the CET program. This post is cited from Caitlin’s original blog post at https://blogs.wellesley.edu/admission/caitlin-bailey/another-year-a-whole-new-adventure/ with the author’s consent.

Hello! I’m so glad to be back in the swing of the school year sharing my life with you all! This year, things are a little different on my end, however… because I’m in China!!!! 

I arrived here two weeks ago and I have yet to look back. I’m on a study abroad term with a company called CET that started in China but now has study abroad programs all over the world. My campus is located in Beijing. Beijing is beyond beautiful, in my opinion. Yes, there is pollution but I think it is a lot better now than it was in the past years. There are a lot more parks and green spaces than I was expecting. And I can literally feel the culture seeping into my bones (okay, maybe that’s a little weird… but I’m so happy to be here that it hurts a little)! The food is amazing, the language is amazing, the prices are amazing (eating out costs on average $6 per person).

My classes are taught all in Chinese so the first week was a little rough. We have a language pledge so other than reading and writing, I’m not allowed to come into contact with any English (that includes music)! But I’m getting the hang of it. We’ve already gone on a couple cool little trips around the city. (We, as in the 35 students and our roommates, who are Chinese students at local universities.)

Last week we went to Jingshan Park and the Summer Palace, both of which have incredibly beautiful, traditional, ancient Chinese architecture.

This is me at Jingshan Park.

My roommate, 筱筱, and I on our way to the Summer Palace!

Beautiful tradition architecture and decorations at the Summer Palace.

Exploring Beijing thus far has been more than anything I could have ever imagined it to be. I know I sound so absurdly over the top right now but, in my defense, I have been studying Chinese for the past two years of my life in the hopes that one day I would be able to go to China. Now I’m here. It is unreal. I feel like Wellesley gave me this: an incredible opportunity to grow and learn and figure out who I am. After two weeks here, I am fairly certain that I want to live here in the future. I want to communicate with other people in Chinese every day. I love this.

Wellesley helped me find what I love. I hope that anyone reading this will take this message to heart. Maybe you don’t quite know what it is that you love yet, but finding a school that will help you find your passion is the first step.

再见！(Until next time!)