For the spring semester of 2009 I was selected to attend the Study Abroad Program in Dalian, China. The opportunity to go to another country for an entire semester is an experience like no other. My life will never be the same after everything I 
went through/accomplished on the other side of the world.
Dalian is a beautiful city in China with millions of things to do. Sometimes it was easy to get distracted from my studies because of all the great people, food, and places to see. One thing I learned in China is how to prioritize my life. Ironically, the culture shock wasn’t that tremendous when I got there, but more when I returned home to America. I was able to see through the eyes of another culture for four months and this can change your outlook on many things in your everyday life.
Being that far away from everything that is familiar can be pretty hard. I stayed in touch with my friends, parents, and boyfriend through Facebook and Skype. For indirect communication and sharing my photos I used Facebook because even people I’m not that close with were able to keep tabs on my journey. Almost all of my family has a Facebook account so they were thrilled to check up on me on a daily basis.
Skype is an instant messaging, calling, and video chat program and was great for talking “face-to-face” with loved ones. I heard about Skype from previous people who had gone to China and they told me about its great features and how universal it was. Since I hadn’t found any other chat programs I was too fond of I decided to go to www.Skype.com to download and try it out. I ended up really liking it and recommend it to other web users. Anyone can install it on his or her computer because of the easy installation process and the quick download time. The program is also very user friendly. People from all over the world use Skype too, so I am able to keep in touch with all my Chinese and Korean friends I made in China.
It took a little time to explain to my parents how to use Skype just because they had never used an instant messenger before, but with a little practice they became pros. Basically you just click the call button, which looks like a phone, next to your buddy’s name to have a voice chat, click the video camera icon to have a video chat, and the text bubble to have a text chat. I would definitely recommend Skype to anyone who is traveling and wants to keep in touch with family and friends back home. I also use Skype as a substitute for a cell phone. Why not? It’s free!
I highly recommend that students apply for the China Program because nothing can be lost from this experience, only gained. I also recommend that people obtain a Facebook account if they haven’t already and consider Skype as an alternate way of keeping in touch with loved ones. Xie xie (thank you).
-Tasha Jacobson