YFU High School Study Abroad Program in China

During my time abroad through YFU, I worked as a student teacher at a bilingual school teaching Chinese 4-5 year-olds English. The teacher I shadowed was pregnant, so she couldn't do some of the more physical activities with the students. I took on many of those more physical tasks, such as leading the students through their morning dance routine.
Morning dance routine? Yes, morning dance routine. Every morning at 8 o'clock, myself and the other teacher would lead all 5 classes of 30 5-year-olds outside to do a routine that we all had memorized. I would bring the boombox and play the song as soon as all the students were assembled in orderly lines. We would do the choreography in front of the students to help them if they forgot, and made sure none of them were fooling around instead of doing the routine.
After multiple months of doing this with them every morning, the Chinese teachers delegated me as the teacher who would lead the students in the routine on the school open house day. I was terrified of forgetting the choreography or something silly happening, but I accepted the responsibility! I led all of the students onto the field, had them all line up into orderly lines, and then we began performing the dance routine in front of an audience of parents, faculty, and even the president of the school. Before we were done, the audience had multiplied because everyone was excited to see the foreign girl doing the dance routine. We finished the dance routine flawlessly, and I turned around to see a massive, wide-eyed audience of students, parents, and faculty clapping in amazement at the foreigner successfully directing the students in Mandarin to do their routine.
It was an unforgettable experience, and felt like an amazing accomplishment for both my language and cultural understanding of China. Thanks to YFU's support and arrangements they made for me, it all became possible.

My favorite moments from my six months abroad in Beijing were exploring the city. Where I'm from, my independence is limited due to transportation, safety and many other factors. Being in Beijing completely changed my life. Many nights after class, a few friends and I would decide to go exploring through the city. In any other city this might be a challenge, but not in Beijing. Transportation was easy and cheap, my host family and I lived nearby, and as foreigners we were always completely safe. From station to station we rode the subway exploring each shop, taking notes, and buying little souvenirs. We saw many things being sold in markets and skyscrapers as far as the eye could see. We discovered places that were hidden and unique and tried new foods every night. While abroad I learned to be independent and brave. Never would I ever have imagined being able to explore a new city with only a few others in a country where I barely spoke the language. If it weren't for YFU, I would have never had these once in a life time opportunities and I will forever and eternally be grateful for them.