Pearl Gilbert Submitted photo

POLAND – Before she was accepted into a month-long study abroad program to Beijing, China, Pearl Gilbert already had a love for Asian culture.

A fan of the Korean pop musical genre (more commonly known as K-pop), Gilbert said that she applied for a study abroad program during her junior year at Poland Regional High School through a Portland-based company called the Council on International Educational Exchange and was accepted.

Gilbert said that she plans on majoring or minoring in Asian studies after high school and saw the trip as an opportunity to experience Chinese culture up close and personal.

Name: Pearl Gilbert

Age: 17

Hometown: Poland

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How did you find yourself being accepted into a program that allowed you to fly to China for a month? Our school has something called “Daily Announcements” where students receive updates via e-mail about programs that are available. I got an e-mail that had a link to a study abroad program available to high school and college students. There were opportunities to spend a semester abroad or a summer abroad. I applied for the Chinese Language and Culture program and got accepted.

I’ve never been out of the United States before, so it was definitely nerve-wracking. The only time I’ve been on a plane was when I was 7 years old and flew to Georgia. This was completely different. I ended up flying out to China on July 6th and came home on August 4th.

Have you always been interested in Asian culture or was your summer abroad your first foray into it? I’ve been interested in Asia for awhile. In my application, I wrote that I was interested in Japan, South Korea or China. China was actually my third choice, but I’m not at all upset that it was China. Part of being accepted into the program meant that I got a full scholarship to go. I’m really happy that I went and happy that I got accepted.

What did your daily schedule look like in China? Was there a lot of studying or did you have a lot of time to explore? Part of the program meant doing a lot of presentations and doing something called “community conversations.”

We had an hour for lunch, and during that time, we were able to explore a little bit. After lunch, we had afternoon activities, which also gave us a lot of time to explore.

During one of our afternoon activities, we went to the Great Wall of China, which was amazing. I don’t really know how to describe it.

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Another interesting experience was using the subway. There aren’t any subways in Maine and I’ve never used one before. It was pretty scary the first time. Everybody else in China is used to using it, but since I had never used it, it was a little overwhelming

Can you talk a little bit about your host family? Did you find it easy to acclimate to living with a new family for a month or was there a learning curve? My host family was really nice. It was a father, his sister and the father’s two children: a 12-year-old and a 4-year-old.

The father and the oldest daughter spoke really good English, which made it easier to adjust. I’m the youngest kid in my family, so I wasn’t used to living with a 4-year old. There was a little bit of a language barrier, which was difficult at first, but we figured it out.

We did a lot of things over the month that helped me and the host family grow closer with each other. We visited Tianjin, which was one of our “weekend excursions,” Madame Tussauds wax museum and also visited a Temple of Confucius.

What do you do for fun outside of school? I really like K-pop music. I also like to learn new languages. Right now, I’m teaching myself Chinese and Japanese. I’m using an app called LingoDeer, which helps you learn languages easier, especially Korean, Chinese and Japanese. I also use DuoLingo.

My mom also bought me a bunch of books to help me learn and remember Chinese words and characters better. Chinese is not an easy language, but the books have been helping.

After graduating, I’m planning to major in Asian or Chinese studies. I may make that my minor and major in international business or English as a second language. I’d still like to study abroad, if possible, but right now, I’m looking at colleges in Canada. I’d like to get out of the country for college, but not go too far.


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