{"id":3693,"date":"2018-09-24T10:46:56","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T14:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crosscultural\/?p=3693"},"modified":"2018-09-27T10:20:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T14:20:04","slug":"china-adventure-in-the-great-wide-somewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/2018\/09\/24\/china-adventure-in-the-great-wide-somewhere\/","title":{"rendered":"China: Adventure in the great wide somewhere"},"content":{"rendered":"
21 September 2018<\/p>\n
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n
This \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d lyric has resonated with me since I was a child growing up in small-town Pennsylvania. I related to Belle on a personal level, always wanting more, looking for interesting things to happen whether they be positive or negative. As I was watching this film for the umpteenth time with my host family last weekend, I began to ponder what the lyric has meant to me.<\/p>\n
Like Belle when she first arrived in the castle, these first few weeks in China have been rough for me. Changes are never easy for me, but this felt different. Nothing was exciting me nor was it disappointing me. I was just going through the motions, and it felt pretty terrible. I forgot why I wanted to come to China in the first place. I felt like Belle locked in the dungeon. Then, I began to make connections with my classmates, the enchanted household items of my trip, the schedule began to solidify and made days go by swiftly, and I took the time to absorb and explore the world (castle) around me.<\/p>\n