Today, as I join Instagram Travel Thursdays**, I thought I would share some of my Instagram photos from China (as well as some thoughts).

As you may know, I was in China as part of an internship program for my master’s degree from June to August 2013, along with two other ladies from school (who you will spot in the photos below). I have to admit, I’m not sure I’ve completely processed China yet, even though it was months ago now (ah! the ever-turning wheel of time!). When people ask me how China was, I always answer “intense!” and leave it at that.

(Maybe they just want to hear “awesome!” or “life-changing!” or “fine, how are you?” but if I’m going to answer in one word, that’s the word I pick!).

It was certainly intense. It was hard: crowded, polluted, stressful, busy, sad, confusing, overwhelming, and just gigantic. However, I also enjoyed it. The people were fun, generous, incredibly hospitable and just happy to have us there (see the pictures!). Despite the massive language barrier, I feel that I made true friends there, and it was with tears I said farewell.

The language barrier was a large part of feeling confused and overwhelmed. I’ve done my fair share of traveling, but I’ve never experienced the lack of communication I did in China. In Peru, I was enrolled in Spanish classes, and was able to communicate rather quickly, albeit simply. In Thailand, my friend Liz, a Peace Corps volunteer there, was almost always with us, translating everything she could. But in China, even our appointed translators struggled to keep us informed, or were told not to keep us informed as we were guests. Even though I tried to learn some Chinese, the only phrases that stuck were “watermelon,” “I love you,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome,” as well the type of words you learn playing games with children. This left me often silent and confused, two unnatural states for me.

Despite this, or maybe because of this, China was an important learning experience for me. I felt both completely welcome and very unwanted, often at the same time, which taught me to be grateful for the kind of government I live with now, as stressful and frustrating as it may be. I learned that the world is still giant, and while globalization is rampant, there are parts of the world it’s merely glazed over. China taught me what a true disaster situation looks like, should I decide to follow that career path. China forced me to “go with the flow” and accept confusion, and tried to make me comfortable with the unknown.

Often, when I’ve traveled, I’ve found that there are so many things to see, and just not enough time.

I was not expecting this to happen to me in China, however. I went into China with few expectations, other than seeing a panda and the Great Wall, because I knew I would be devoting most of my time to work. I also mistakenly believed that the China of my imagination would be right on the surface.

Instead, you have to hunt for it. China is in the midst of an Industrial Revolution of sorts, and the China you expect to see has been buried under this progress. It’s not impossible to find–I found it on the Great Wall in a thunderstorm, in a small mountain village, at an old temple in Beijing. The China of my mind and the China in reality left me intrigued, and confused. Even though I was ready to leave when the time came, a part of me still left, wanting more.

So, China, if I have one thing to say to you, it’s this: I think I’ll come back someday. It may be awhile, and who knows how much you will have changed. But, as my translator informed me, “China will still be here, even if you come back as an old lady.”

       

**Instagram Travel Thursdays are hosted by Skimbaco Lifestyle, an online magazine, both in the form of a weekly link-up for bloggers, and through the hashtag #IGTravelThursday. I’m so excited to join them in sharing some of my Instagram photos this week, and hopefully will again in the future! If you’d like to, link-up below! 🙂