Michael Dekur: Final Thoughts

Jinan University, Main Campus 

Studying and living abroad in China was a completely different experience then I am used to. I have previously travelled throughout Europe, lived in SE Asia for a couple years and even been to China 4 times before. This time was different because it was the first time I wasn’t with people who spoke the local language. The average person in China doesn’t know a single word of English. All of a sudden I am being thrown into a city of 18 million not really knowing anyone and not being able to communicate with many of the locals.   

Living in this situation really allows for yourself to grow as a person. It has challenged me to learn how to communicate with people using partial mandarin (I know just the basic single words) and non-verbal communication. On my first day in China, I went to restaurant by myself for lunch. I had to figure out how to order food from the menu. I must say I did a lot of finger pointing and I actually got what I ordered! Eventually doing this numerous of times it becomes really easy to order off the menu. After the initial culture shock it didn’t take much to get outside my bubble and overcome that hurdle. It brought out skills that I had but have never used in Canada before. I started feeling extremely comfortable negotiating for clothes or asking for directions from a random strangers.

To study abroad in China, is to live in a completely different culture for an extended period of time. The differences in culture between China and Canada is what allowed me to have such a unique and interesting experience! I would 100% recommend any student to go study abroad and have this experience in their life!

My Ride 

Michael Dekur is a Bachelor of Business Administration student at Capilano University. Michael studied abroad at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China.