Hi it’s Athena- welcome to my blog! Follow me on my adventure to China 🙂

I love to travel and I have been fortunate enough to travel with my family to various countries including Mexico, St. Martin, England, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. I am very comfortable traveling abroad. My father has family living in Greece, so I grew up traveling to Europe almost every summer. In addition, I have plans to visit Denmark in June.

I would like to travel to China because I have never been given the opportunity to experience the culture and China has always been a place at the top of my bucket list to visit. Although I have traveled to many different countries, I know that Asia is going to differ greatly from the US and Europe and I am curious to see those differences for myself. In addition to immersing myself in the culture, I look forward to learning more about the country and history by visiting sights such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

I believe that the main professional work differences will be that Chinese workers might harder workers and work better in groups. I would imagine that being part of the professional work force in China might more collaborative. I feel that working in the US is often very individual. I look forward to learning, in general, if China has better workers than the US. Hopefully the site visits will give me a better look into these differences.

I expect the Chinese culture to differ from US culture. One difference I would expect to see is a difference in family respect. I expect that Chinese elders have more respect from younger generations compared to American elders. I also expect there to be different holidays and celebrations. For example, a Chinese holiday includes Chinese New Year and a US holiday includes Fourth of July.

One major political difference I would expect is freedom. I believe that the US has a stronger emphasis on individuals’ freedom, while China may value political stability more. Another obvious political difference is that China is a Communist state and the US is constitutional federal republic. I look forward to talking to other students in China and learning more about these differences.

I predict that students I meet in China will be very similar to US students. Between the internet and use of social media, teens everywhere have something to bond over. I’m sure the students we meet will know songs we listen to or perhaps know of shows or movies we watch in the US. One obvious difference between us will be that the Chinese students we speak to also know English. Most of the students traveling on our trip do not speak Chinese.

I believe that the size of homes will be smaller in general compared to US homes. Many houses in the US are excessively large. Because China is very populated, I would expect the homes to be much smaller, especially in the city. I predict that the living conditions will be simpler and less spacious than US living conditions.

I think that the most enjoyable experience of this trip to China will be getting to be immersed in the Chinese culture while getting to know the students I will be traveling with. Specifically, I look forward to trying new foods and authentic Chinese food with the other students. It will be interesting to see others reactions. In addition, I am excited to see the historical sights and company visits.

Stay tuned to hear more about my trip to CHINA!!!