#CovinChina

I'm back from China and jet lag free now and  I couldn't wait to share my experience with you. The past two weeks in China have opened my eyes to so much. From the different landscapes, food, culture, people and the way their live their lives has been extraordinary to see for myself and experience. 

These past 2 weeks have been full of eye opening experiences for me, from trying out new food, to learning about their culture and history. I feel like I've gained more confidence than I ever thought I would not only in myself but my work. There were a lot of presenting and talking involved in front of lots of Chinese students, their very polite manner and the fact that some didn't understand a word we were saying helped me greatly in growing. They were all so grateful to have us there and some students were quite emotional to see us and have the chance to meet us, It was a really humbling experience meeting them. 

I had the please of taking part in lectures and seminars with the Chinese students and share our work from a project we had both been given to work on and see how difference in work techniques and styles. I was also lucky enough to be part of some workshops they held for us in calligraphy and visiting artists studios. I was very fortunate to be given a painting as a gift for visiting and speaking with the artists. A group of us were invited to see another artists studio along with the Chinese students which I unbelievably was given another painting as a gift. Their gratitude and welcoming attention to all of us from their culture had us all astonished and we all felt very overwhelmed towards the end of our experience from the welcome we received during our stay. 

Whilst their to work and study we also had plenty of opportunities to have our own free time to explore Changsha. The Chinese hosts took us to places to shop, eat and enjoy some activities such as Karaoke and see some of their culture. As part of our stay our host Professor took us away for a few days to see Zhangjaijie mountains, the place where avatar was set and filmed around. It was fascinating to see such a beautiful landscape against the city we had been staying in. We learnt so much about their culture and traditions from a traditional performance of dances and songs we attended one night of our stay in the mountains. 

Some of my fellow students put together a summary video of our experience. 

  

NAP x