Parallels On The Other Side Of The Earth
Back home in Belleville, New Jersey I had a basic routine that I followed most days. This routine included things like school, work, extracurriculars, gym, etc. While I was quite familiar with the way I lived, I knew virtually nothing about how people lived outside of my home country besides what I had read online or seen on t.v. To be candid, I didn’t think about it very often anyway. I’m sure there are a lot of people in the world that are the same way. These people-like me-don’t ever really stop to consider the sheer vastness that is the Earth. If you were to travel just five miles in any given direction, you’d find that this new place is unlike where your journey began. Travel five more miles and you’ll encounter further unfamiliarity. No place is ever like the other. The extent of what you know decreases as the distance increases. Traveling to Beijing has made me immensely more cognizant of the fact that there is so much more in this world than the portion I live on. My once one-dimensional perspective of life as a whole has morphed into an ever changing complex of thoughts, experiences and interactions. My newfound view has come with the knowledge that while there truly is no place like home, that is not a bad thing at all. There are billions of people populating this planet, all of which are capable of making any place home for you. Its not the slab of earth that you live on that makes it a home, its the people that live there that bestow this title upon it. Surroundings and people vary all throughout the expanse of the globe, but what does not change is something visceral. In it’s most raw form, humanity is something that we all possess. Often times this can be hard to see. We mask it with the clothes we wear, the language we speak, our mindsets, our demeanor, and the lives we live. If you were to peel back all these things you’d discover something unsullied that isn’t unknown to you at all- a human. At our core we all want and need similar things: food, water, shelter, happiness, camaraderie, people with which we can transpose thoughts, and for lack of a better word, life. Just three weeks into this internship I have discovered more about myself and the world than I have in the previous eighteen years of my life. The most important realization for me was that although I may look at the world and see unknown places full of nameless faces, there is something that we already have in common- our humanity.
When looking at things through a non analytical lens I have also found many surface level similarities between myself and my lab mates. These include:
1)Music
Of all the things that crossed my mind when I was wondering what I could possibly have in common with people in China, I did not think music would be one of them. When I was in the rice greenhouse with my lab mate Weixuan I discovered that he was really into western culture and enjoyed some of the same songs I did. Suffice to say I was sufficiently shocked when I asked him if he knew who Cardi B was and he lit up and said “Cardi B! I know her!” We were listening to the Billboard Hot 100 for the majority of our greenhouse duties.
2) Some Foods
Dominos, McDonalds, and KFC are all very common in Beijing. I was asked at least five times when I first arrived if I liked KFC. Also, most malls have restaurants that have a strong american influence.
3)Sports
I have met many students at China Agricultural University that enjoy playing tennis just like me. We plan on playing sometime soon.
4)Talking… a lot
Personally, I really enjoy conversing with people and finding out more about them. Since I don’t know anyone here, its the perfect chance to do just that. While the language barrier can be difficult at times, I have found that I can still have a full conversation despite this. One of my lab mates in particular named Yifan loves talking too. We could speak to each other for hours about various topics(We also help each other learn our respective languages).
Beijing has taught me a lot in these past few weeks. With nearly five weeks left, I look forward to all the other lessons it has in store for me.
