Today, we built bridges instead of walls. Starting the day, I didn’t know a lick of Chinese, but by midnight, I was confident in my ability to say “I don’t understand” in Mandarin. As such, our trip to Central Park was certainly one that brought two sides of the globe together by flattening out language barriers through casual conversation. Strolling through Central Park with the Chinese students and Ellie, who displayed an extraordinary ability in tackling vague map-given directions in order to lead us to our destination, I was able to embrace New York City’s trademark diversity by virtue of spending the day with Chinese students in NYC’s most iconic park.
What fascinated me the most was the Chinese students’ fascination with squirrels; when they stopped to take photo of a squirrel snacking on an acorn near Sheep’s Meadow, I couldn’t help but wonder – what are some things that I would see in Beijing that I would feel compelled to take photos of, despite their ubiquitous nature?
After taking some time to sun ourselves under clouds bloated with pre-storm gray in Sheep’s Meadow, we continued along the park. As we headed towards Bow Bridge, a light shower started up, and Ellie and I found ourselves rescued by our new Chinese friends, who had each come prepared with an umbrella of their own. Under the safety of umbrellas and side-by-side with our new friends, I found that the pitter-patter of the rain actually added to the ambience of our surroundings.
Only a day in, and I have already been humbled by this experience; I have learned so much more than I ever expected to learn, and I am so excited to see what the rest of the month has in store for me. Working around language barriers has taught to how to express what I am trying to say much more creatively than I knew how to before by finding substitute words and using online translation tools, as well as the occasional hand gestures). I look forward to learning more Mandarin, and making lifelong friends! 