
Hello Language 4B Friends and Family!
I’m Benjy Renton — an alum of the Language 6-Week program with Dragons in 2015 and currently living and working in Beijing this summer.
I had the opportunity to meet this wonderful group yesterday as they’ve begun settling into their transference spot near the Gubeikou section of the Great Wall. After a great home-cooked meal, we all shared our experiences and I gave a short talk titled “Seven Lessons for China Travelers.” In it, I shared my experiences post-Dragons in China and gave some advice on how students can apply their experiences back home or potentially in China on a future trip. We also had the opportunity to go around and discuss how our perceptions of China have been changed. While some commented on the Westernization of China and the rise of Western brands, others noted that a city like Kunming does not have many of the Western brands that a city like Beijing would have. Another noted that the country was quite different from what their parents told them 20 years ago!
Here were my seven lessons:
It was a great group to spend the evening with and I wish them all the best through their transference and their journey home!
Benjy