Coming to college can be an intimidating experience for most freshmen, but imagine attending a year abroad in a different country with an entirely new culture. Meet Anna Wong and Albee Xu, two friends from Nanchang, China. Anna and Albee are spending a semester at Bluffton and offered these observations about their experience thus far.
What do you find strange about American culture?
Anna: I found a lot things strange about coming here, like why do American girls get to wear sport/casual clothes instead of dresses? It’s very odd. Also, why do people eat fast food for every meal? And people don’t lock their doors.
Albee: There’s no city life. Also, Americans don’t separate their laundry which is very odd, because wouldn’t it get ruined?
How is the American school system different from the Chinese system?
Anna: In China we go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., but I was able to leave early because I had band practice. We would always study during school and then go home to review the material even more.
Albee: We were told to take certain classes. You were never able to choose. The size of the classes at Bluffton is much smaller than back home. In China, classes were with our graduating class so we had about 200 people in every class.
What were your reasons for choosing Bluffton University?
Anna and Albee: It was a partnership between our university, China West Normal University, and Bluffton.
What do you hope to gain when you go back home after being gone for one year?
Anna: I want to improve my abilities of reading and writing in English, gain more independence and apply my new experiences when I return home.
Albee: Applying the different American culture and improving my English with reading and writing.
—Compiled by Becca Tourney
