Mira Costa senior Leah James spent her summer immersing herself in the rich Chinese culture in the small town of Guilin.
James spent 17 days in Guilin studying Mandarin through a program called Summer Programs International Study Abroad (SPI). Her group consisted of six students who all came from different areas of the world. During the trip, James studied a foreign language, attended classes and explored the area.
“I really wanted to go to China, and I was starting to love the language, so it helped that we were constantly exposed to the language,” James said. “This ended up being an amazing opportunity for me and the other students to learn the language, but it was a little shocking not to hear any English in the beginning.”
James decided that studying in China was something she wanted to do because of her vast interest in her Chinese class at Costa. She began working with her college counselor her junior year to find a program that would allow her to achieve this goal. She is currently enrolled in Advanced Placement Chinese.
“Once I heard about the trips that went to China, I decided that it would be really cool to travel there so I could learn mandarin while experiencing the culture,” James said.
Her host family had a daughter and an 18-year- old cousin who stayed with them throughout the duration of the trip. The host family not only helped with shelter and food, but also helped to boost her native experience of the culture through bringing her to various events that would enrich her experience.
“My host family spoke very little English, and most people we met did not speak English either,” James said. “This made it hard because I always had to be thinking about what to say no matter where I was.”
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