Study Abroad in China: Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing – Alumni Reviews

Beijing Alumni

Curt Gottschalk
Gettysburg College      
Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
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My name is Curt Gottschalk and I’m from Gettysburg College. I attended CET Beijing in fall of 2011 and spring of 2012. One of my favorite and most vivid memories of China was when I went to Feicuidao with my Chinese friends and camped out on the beach overnight!      

Youjin Jennifer Kim
Wake Forest University
Fall 2011, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
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I am a senior double-majoring in communications and Chinese at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. I studied abroad in Beijing, China in fall of 2011. It was an unforgettable time of learning in and out of classes, experiencing new (and sometimes exotic) things, and creating memories and friendship with roommates, teachers and local neighbors. I’ll always remember the excitement that my roommate and I shared whenever we went on food/restaurant adventures around the city.

Rebecca McAfee
Colby College
Summer 2011, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
Fall 2011, Intensive Chinese Language in Harbin
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I am a current senior at Colby College who attended CET Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing in the summer and the CET Intensive Chinese Language in Harbin in the fall. Pinning down one favorite moment at CET is almost impossible. I loved the time I spent with my roommates, all of the trips we went on as a group, and the relationships I formed with both American and Chinese friends.

Anna McCreedy
Colorado College
Spring 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
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I am currently a senior at Colorado College and attended the CET Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing program during the spring of 2012. My favorite memory of my time abroad is traveling to Guanxi province during spring break and being able to use my newly acquired Chinese to navigate the foreign cities!

Ashley Rivenbark
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Spring and Summer 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
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Ni hao! My name is Ashley Rivenbark and I am a rising junior at UNC Chapel. I am so thankful to have been given the incredible honor of attending the CET Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing program for the spring and summer of 2012. If I were to describe every meaningful moment gained from my time studying abroad through CET, there would be endless pages of stories. Yet one of the most poignant memories of my trip was being able to work with a local NGO aimed at inspiring creative potential in Chinese migrant workers and children. As a counselor at the NGO’s children’s summer camp, I was able to use the Chinese skills gained through CET’s incredible teachers and academics in order to teach the children Tae Kwon Do self-defense lessons.

Samuel Sabasteanski
Bowdoin College
Spring 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
Summer 2012, Summer Intensive Chinese Language in Kunming
E-mail Samuel
Hi, I’m Sam and I am a senior at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. I spent summer and spring of 2012 in China studying abroad with CET, first in Beijing and then in Kunming. Perhaps my fondest memories from studying abroad in China are just talking with locals; they were so friendly and so excited that I was studying Chinese!

Robert E. Seck
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Summer and Fall 2011, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
Spring 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Harbin
E-mail Robert
Living and studying in China for a year has forever changed how I view the world and how I view myself in this ever-expanding global environment. The CET program, my exposure to other Chinese students on both the Beijing and the Harbin college campuses, and my travels to areas throughout China, allowed me to see and experience first-hand life as it is experienced by the Chinese people. One of my favorite experiences was meandering the streets in the Russian district of Beijing on my bike and finally realizing I was completely lost. As I asked for help on how to get back to the zoo, it occurred to me that I understood not only what they were saying to me, but I also recognized the names of the streets they were sharing. It was the perfect nudge and reminder to continually speak to the people on the various streets that I traveled.

Paisley Singh
Bryn Mawr College
Fall 2011, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
Spring 2012, Chinese Studies & Internship in Shanghai
E-mail Paisley
Hi! I hail from Bryn Mawr College and I chose to spend my junior year abroad. In the fall, I participated in the Intensive Chinese Language Program in Beijing and in the spring, I choose Chinese Studies & Internship in Shanghai. China granted me many memorable moments, but one I cherish greatly is spending fall break in Shandong at my Beijing roommate’s house. Getting away from the program and simply living in an unstructured environment, while heavily using Chinese, truly contributed to my experience in Beijing.

Jessica Tatiana Tamayo
Seton Hall University
January Term and Spring 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
E-mail Jessica
I am a senior at Seton Hall University, New Jersey, double-majoring in diplomacy and international relations, and Asian studies. I was born in Brazil, raised in Colombia, my home town is Miami, and I chose Beijing, China as my study abroad destination for both Janterm and spring term—talk about diversity! During the summer after my CET experience, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at the US Embassy in Beijing in the Public Affairs Section.

Doug Tsui
University of California – Santa Cruz
Summer and Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, Intensive Chinese Language in Beijing
E-mail Doug
Hi! My name is Doug Tsui and I’m awesome. Why? Because I did not one, not two, but three semesters at CET! You can also be as awesome as I am but in 1/3 of time by attending a semester at CET, I guarantee it! Heh, in all honesty I really did have the time of my life at CET. Interacting with the faculty, students and Chinese roommates on a day-to-day basis made the time fly by, and in turn made something as dominating, enigmatic and confusing as China become a lot more like home.