Week Ten: Saying Goodbye
Wrapping Up and Saying Goodbye
This week, we were assigned to work with different groups from Zhengfa University (known in the U.S. as China University of Political Science and Law) on a topic of their choice regarding modern technology and public interest legal work. I was initially nervous, since my Chinese is definitely not up to the task of talking to Chinese teenagers - I had several of them add me on WeChat and the slang they used in their "moments" baffled me. Things turned out fine, thankfully, since we were able to converse in my standard strange amalgamation of broken Chinese and English. The topic my group selected was the use of a national platform for university students to sign up for volunteer opportunities. I tried my best to be as hands-off with the process as possible, and told them to just direct me to a chunk of research they wanted me to do, and the section of the powerpoint, and I would do whatever they needed. As a result, they asked me to do research into the history of volunteerism in the United States, and see if there were any sort of international volunteering platforms, particularly those designed for college students.
We ended up compiling all of our research into a paper written in English, and a presentation that would be given at the Zhengfa seminar. As I wrote my portion of the essay, I noticed (much to my dismay) that I was finding it more and more difficult to write fluidly in English. I've spent so much time in the past three months trying my hardest to become more proficient in Chinese that English grammar just sent up a bunch of question marks in my head at this point. It was a struggle to write in a professional tone instead of my day-to-day casual way. I never thought something like this would happen, but it was amusing to say the least. Between the research and wrapping up the ECPAT report that Anna, Emily and I had been working on for the past few weeks, as well as doing some transcriptions for the seminar, I found myself swamped. I laughed at my memories of puttering around the office in early May, stretching my work out to match the number of hours I was working. While I yearned for a little bit more breathing room - and to be able to go home directly at five, not staying until six or so - this was perhaps one of the most fulfilling weeks of the semester. I was out at dinner with coworkers most nights, spending time in the office laughing and working on important things, and gearing up for an exciting presentation.
On top of that, I found myself saddled with several translation-related responsibilities, which was a bit shocking to say the least. I was by no means the best person to ask to translate something, but I bucked up and took the task head on, or at least as best as I was able. It was disorienting and startling to have Chen Qiang walk into the office and ask me to translate something in real time to Emily regarding requirements for the presentation conference, and I was left dizzy and shocked that I had managed to get all of the important bits and pieces across. I was also asked to translate several certificates and the closing speech for the entire conference. I ended up enlisting the help of Anna and Lawrence on those two pieces, however, as they were significantly more complicated, and required some level of literary flair that I didn't think I was capable of when translating from Chinese.
The week flew by, and I found myself boarding a bus to go to the literal middle of nowhere - at least the middle of nowhere relative to living in one of the world's largest cities - and dropped off with the college students and the rest of the internship cohort at Zhengfa University. Our presentation went relatively well, though all of them seemed to be extra long, and we left to change and go to grab dinner in order to celebrate my last night with the group in Beijing. It was six or so of us, including Lawrence's girlfriend, who came up from Chengdu to visit. We spent the rest of the night walking Ghost Street and singing karaoke, and they gifted me with a bottle of erguotou to say goodbye (which now sits atop my cabinets as part of my collection of unique bottles).
It took me a long time to process the trip, but it truly was the most life-changing experience I've ever had. I'd give just about anything to have had one more week, or even just a few more days. The people I met during my time here have been some of the most dedicated, hardworking, kind, and intelligent individuals I've ever had the pleasure of befriending and working with, and the fact that I won't be back in Zhicheng's office potentially ever again is a more than a little heartbreaking.
When I accepted this position, I was terrified of the concept of going abroad by myself, upset about being away from friends and family for so long, and dragging my feet at the concept of being potentially the only fluent English speaker at a job where the working language was something I could fumble through embarrassing, but certainly not hold a fluid conversation in. I also never thought it would have such a profound impact on my life, which in hindsight is a little ridiculous. Living in another country for this long is bound to have a big impact regardless of what you spend your time doing. But working at Zhicheng, with such amazing colleagues, has completely changed not only my perspective on the world and the legal field, but also who I am as a person. I truly believe that being in Beijing has turned me into one of the best versions of myself that I've ever been, and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity.
If I could, I would spend the next year thanking my colleagues and friends for accepting me with open arms, and providing days worth of laughs and amazing memories that I will keep close to my heart for the rest of my life. This is probably the shortest blog post I've written this summer, but I've found that there are some things that just can't be put into words (that and I'm sure you're all tired of reading my pages and pages of blather) and there are some memories that can't be described in a way that does them justice. Either way, I'll be spending a significant portion of my time in the future figuring out how to get back to China as soon as I can.