When declaring my East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) major last year, I built my plans around studying abroad. My choice to study in China was multifaceted: to visit the country of my birth for the first time as an adult, to experience firsthand post-COVID China, and to surround myself in a China-focused academic environment unattainable in America.
Studying abroad anywhere is very attractive. The common study abroad experience in Europe entails easy academics, travel around the continent, and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. But it also provides a newfound independence that makes you reevaluate a world in which America is not the center.
China, however, presented unique challenges: special approval from Haverford to apply for the program, a complicated visa application, and being one of few Americans in the country. Having visited China at a time when few Americans are even remotely interested in the country—l'll be the only EALC Ford graduating in the spring—positions me to contribute to US-China dialogue, starting with a renewed interest in the country.
抛砖引玉, literally translated as "cast a brick to attract jade" is an idiom that means to create interest and dialogue by sharing your ideas. Originating in the Tang Dynasty and involving two poets, Zhao Gu (赵嘏) and Chang Jian (常建), the phrase came about when Chang Jian wrote two lines of poetry that inspired Zhao Gu to write two lines of better poetry. The idiom is a chengyu (成语), a famous four-character Chinese idiom. Just like the idiom, I hope to widen the discourse about China past an us vs them mentality and towards a more balanced and nuanced conversation.
—Zhao Gu Gammage ’25
Supported by the Hurford Center for the Arts and Humanities and VCAM’s Malcolm Baldwin 1962 Fund.
