Do you remember your first day at school? We're you nervous? Excited to make new friends? Eager to learn new things? Worried you would get lost? I felt all of those things my first day at the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF). Even though I had many "first days of school", this was in a whole different country, so I was extra anxious.
The Chinese Academy of Forestry is where I work, so I spend more time here than anywhere else. It's a small university in the northwest corner of Beijing. One of the things I found different between college campuses here and in the United States is that campuses here in China function as communities where not only students but also current and retired staff and their families, also live. There are dorms, apartments, restaurants, grocery stores, banks, places to get your hair cut and small hospitals all within the gated confines of the campus. Everyone gets to know everyone very well, and I certainly stood out when I first arrived.
I'm the only foreigner working at CAF full time. My first visit to China was the summer of 2017. It can be difficult to integrate yourself into a new culture and place and I immediately noticed how different I was perceived. People would ask me questions but I couldn't answer because I didn't know any Chinese.
